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Date Published: 16/06/2024

These are the beaches in Alicante awarded the dreaded Black Flag

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Four coastal retreats in Alicante province have been blacklisted by environmentalists

These are the beaches in Alicante awarded the dreaded Black Flag

Just over a month after the Valencian Community was awarded the most Blue Flags in all of Spain for its flawless beaches and exceptional facilities, Alicante has been dealt a major blow by environmental group Ecologists in Action, which has essentially blacklisted four of its shorelines and advised people against swimming or sunbathing in these coves.

Since 2005, Ecologists in Action has been releasing its dreaded annual Black Flags report and this year, after inspecting more than 8,000 kilometres of Spanish coasts, it has ‘awarded’ a total of 48 damning black badges nationwide.

These beaches have been criticised for several infractions, including poor environmental management and pollution, and the 2024 edition was especially hard on the coasts of the Canary Islands, due to tourist development and urban sprawl.

Interestingly, the number of Black Flags in Spain is exactly the same as last year, meaning that while the beaches haven’t become any worse in theory, there haven’t been many improvements in the last 12 months, either.

In Alicante province, the group has condemned four beaches because of “mismanagement”. These include Cabo de las Huertas, Albufereta, Postiguet and San Gabriel. In addition, the Amerador beach and ravine in El Campello has been shot down over high levels of pollution.

As the environmental group explains in its report, the ravine and the Amerador beach “have been affected on two occasions by fecal discharges, in March and April of this year, pollution which flows in copious amounts from the pumping station”.

The group also pointed out that over-development in the area has led to the pumps and treatment plants becoming overloaded, which has contributed greatly to the problems.

In terms of the four blacklisted beaches, the flags have been bestowed because of “the massive arrival of waste washed into the sea from this enclave of the macro-urbanised coast in the face of the bad conservation and deficiencies in the channelling systems, collectors and outlets, with untreated water reaching the Mediterranean, dragging sediments and waste in its wake, evident by the large number of toilet wipes and plastic bags”.

Ecologists in Action say they have already reported this situation to Seprona and point out that Alicante City Council "is not assuming responsibility as it is passing the buck and justifies this contamination with marine currents, meteorological phenomena and, to a lesser extent, incivility. And it is wiping off the blame by generating greenwashing by launching campaigns to clean up the city with wipes."

In other news: Contract issues threaten summer opening of several more Costa Blanca beach bars

Image: Zarateman via Wikimedia Commons

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