Spanish beaches under scrutiny: 48 black flags raised for pollution

Just before the start of the season, worrying news about the state of Spanish beaches spread through the media. It turns out that many of them do not meet standards, and sewage and various contaminants, including chemical waste, are being discharged into the waters of coastal resorts. Environmentalists have published a list of places with black flags.

Spanish resorts, both on the mainland and on the islands, have no reason to be pleased. Experts are sounding the alarm about which places have serious environmental problems.

Ecologists in Action has presented an annual report since 2005 highlighting the most significant pollution and poor environmental management on the Spanish coast.

This year, 48 black flags were awarded. Emphasis was placed on the social and environmental problems caused by tourism and coastal urbanization, particularly in the Canary Islands, which have been in the spotlight recently due to mass protests by residents against mass tourism.

- One of the biggest problems we are facing is the 'touristification' and urbanization of our coast, and this is a problem that especially affects the Canary Islands - said a spokesperson for Ecologists in Action.

Members of the initiative accuse the authorities of boasting about tourism records while the local population suffers, among other things, from unemployment. It is highlighted that the ecological footprint left by the Canary Islands is equivalent to a territory 70 times larger.

"In Tenerife, 57 million litres of wastewater are discharged directly into the sea every day, equivalent to 17 Olympics swimming pools of polluted water." - environmentalists thunder in the report. - "More than 90 percent of the wastewater from urban, industrial and agricultural centres reaches the sea practically without treatment."

However, the list includes beaches in the Canary Islands, the Balearic Islands, and the mainland.

For example, El Amerador beach in El Campello, north of Alicante, received one of the 48 black flags due to a nearby sewage treatment plant that pumps some of its waste directly into the sea.

Talamanca Beach in Ibiza made the list compiled by environmentalists due to the catastrophic damage caused to underwater vegetation by boats illegally anchoring offshore.

The full list of beaches can be found at www.ecologistasenaccion.org.