As if they were the reverse of the Blue Flags, which reward the most attractive and sustainable tourist beaches, the Black Flags awarded by Ecologists in Action aim to draw attention to those stretches of the coastline that are especially threatened or degraded. This year, the entity has granted 48 of these negative distinctions, after having analyzed 8,000 kilometers of coastline and reflected its results in a 200-page report.
Poor wastewater treatment, which is polluting the sea; Urban overcrowding, the accumulation of rubbish, dredging or port expansions, coastal erosion and effects on biodiversity are the main reasons why this year’s black flags have been awarded.
Noteworthy, for example, is the flag awarded to the beach of Nerja, in Malaga, due to the impact suffered by its marine biodiversity due to the substances contained in the sun creams used by bathers. These creams contain sunscreens that “constitute an important polluting agent in our waters,” says Ecologists in Action.
“Sun creams can contain substances such as endocrine disruptors, among others, that not only affect the health of human beings, but also reach the seas, rivers or lakes every time a person smears on chemical sunscreens before bathing & rdquor ;, says a statement from the organization. The multiplier effect of the large number of swimmers who use these substances causes an impact that is “difficult to visualize.”
In Murcia highlights, one more year, the Mar Menor and Portmán Bay. In the case of the Mar Menor, the poor management of the territory and the lack of regulation of the economic sectors, especially agribusiness and intensive livestock farming, are taking the ecosystem to the “limit of its resistance capacity”.
The report on the environmental state states that the Spanish Institute of Oceanography (IEO) recognized in 2021 that the lagoon ecosystem had “lost its capacity for self-regulation & rdquor ;, so any impact such as the excessive input of nutrients generates serious consequences for it.
However, in the same document, the IEO transmitted that there is still the possibility of recovering a good part of the Mar Menor, provided that the really necessary and effective solutions are urgently adopted.
At the moment, although there have been some “hopeful” movements, according to Ecologists in Action, the reality is that “almost everything remains to be done” in terms of reducing pollution at source and in measures that prevent it from advancing towards the Mar Menor.
In the case of the Bay of Portmán and the Sierra Minera, Ecologists in Action has indicated that they represent the reflection of an “absolute” institutional and social failure.
After decades of allowing environmental contamination due to destructive mining activity, the Sierra Minera is today a “scorched earth”, where a private company obtained benefits from the exploitation of natural resources, destroying the landscape and generating tons of toxic waste that accumulate in pools without adequate insulation, inertization and sealing. The amount was such that the bay was almost completely clogged, leaving local populations with a “very black future: without landscape and with an enormous debt in the form of toxic waste.”
In the Valencian Community, receive the Black Flag for the Colossus Project, planned for a humid area in the municipality of Calp (Alicante), as well as Cala Lanuza and Cala Baeza, due to the pollution suffered by its waters. In Valencia, the macro-festivals are threatening the “only dunes of Tavernes de la Valldigna beach”, a space of great environmental value. Also in the same capital, this distinction has been awarded to the Pinedo treatment plant. In Castelló, Tirador beach (Vinarós) and Les Fonts beach (Alcalá de Xivert) also obtained the flag.
In GaliciaBlack Flags have been awarded to the municipality of Vigofor “the ecologically disrespectful management of the beaches of the municipality & rdquor ;, and the Foz Estuary, in Nigrán.
In A Coruna the environmental dredging of the sediments of the O Burgo estuary, in Culleredo, as well as the San Fix mines, in Lousame, are denounced.
In Balearicsthere are two flags of Ecologists in Action, both in Mallorca: Porto Colom, due to the pollution suffered by its waters, and Port d’Alcúdia, due to the poor management of this stretch of coastline.
In Asturiasthe Xixón regasification plant and the industrial sanitation of the Avilés estuary have been ‘awarded’, activities causing a strong impact on the immediate stretches of coast, according to environmentalists.
In Canary Islandsthe Charco de la Araña Beach, in Tenerife, and the Waikiki Beach (La Goleta) in Fuerteventura, as well as the Acuicultura Piscifactorías del Atlántico company in Yaiza (Lanzarote), receive flags.
Catalonia receives several black flags. In Barcelona, one is awarded to the city airport, for its poor environmental management, and another to the port, for the pollution generated by this large industrial facility, which receives a large number of cruise ships.
Trabucador beach, in Sant Carles de la Ràpita (Tarragona) and Pineda d’en Gori (Palamós) are also included in the list.
This year’s report, however, also admits some progress, such as the new treatment plant that has been started up in Barbate (Cádiz), the repair of the outfall in Roquetas de Mar (Almería) and the expansion of the treatment plant.
To consult the complete list: https://www.ecologistasenaccion.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/informe-banderas-negras-2022.pdf
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