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Date Published: 11/05/2022

ARCHIVED - Spain is once again world leader awarded the most coastal Blue Flags

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In the latest round of coveted Blue Flag awards, Spain's beaches, marinas and tourist boats have received 729

<span style='color:#780948'>ARCHIVED</span> - Spain is once again world leader awarded the most coastal Blue Flags

Spain has retained the title of world leader in terms of coveted Blue Flag awards in 2022 with the country's beaches, marinas and tourist boats having received a total of 729, 16 more than last year.

Coastal stretches across Spain have been awarded 621, marinas have received 103 and five tourist boats have been accredited. Amongst the beaches that get the distinction for the first time are La Casita Azul (Isla Cristina, Huelva), Escollera (Cullera, Valencia) and Porto Suevos (Arteixo, La Coruña).

Spain has been the worldwide leader for Blue Flags since 1994, with the Valencia region at the top of the table with 158 followed by Andalucía with 149, and now accounts for 15% of all those awarded, followed by Greece and Turkey.

In addition to 16 new flags, seven municipalities join the brigade of towns and cities which now possess a Blue Flag, bringing the total to 250.

Also read: "Watching you" Benidorm to put CCTV on its beaches to prevent overcrowding

Following the awards, Secretary of State for Tourism, Fernando Valdés, said Spain has "the best quality and best prepared beaches" waiting for tourists to "enjoy them this summer", and added that he is confident "these Blue Flags will be an incentive for holidaymakers to visit Spain".

"After the biggest crisis in the history of the tourism sector, Spain has not only recovered what it had, but is deploying an unprecedented volume of resources to recover and maintain tourism leadership," he said.

The iconic Blue Flag is one of the world's most recognised voluntary awards for beaches, marinas, and sustainable boating tourism operators. In order to qualify for the Blue Flag, a series of stringent environmental, educational, safety, and accessibility criteria must be met and maintained.

Central to the ideals of the Blue Flag programme is the aim of connecting the public with their surroundings and encouraging them to learn more about their environment. As such, environmental education activities must be offered and promoted in addition to a permanent display of information relevant to the site in terms of biodiversity, ecosystems and environmental phenomena.

The International Jury Blue Flag 2022 for the northern hemisphere, chaired by the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE) has awarded 5,042 Blue Flags in 74 countries, 4,194 for beaches, 732 for marinas and 116 for tourist boats.

Also of interest: Regenerating beaches in Spain with Saharan sand could result in huge ecological damage

Image: Blue Flag

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