Costa del Sol beaches win more blue flags.
The Blue Flag is awarded to the cleanest beaches in the European Union, so it is understandable that those countries that are major tourist destinations aim to have as many of these as possible. Spain leads the world for the greatest number of Blue Flag beaches – it has 684 – and 90 of them are in Andalucía, which is 15% of the national total. The Costa del Sol is able to boast that this year 24 of its beaches have been awarded the coveted Blue Flag, which is two more than in 2016. Marbella and Estepona are among the resorts on the Costa del Sol with the most Blue Flag beaches. Indeed, Marbella has a total of six including: Artola, Casablanca, El Cable-Pinillo, El Faro and the stretch from Guadalmina to San Pedro de Alcántara and the Puerto Deportivo marina, while Estepona has Blue Flags for the El Cristo, El Saladillo–Villacana, La Rada and Playa del Padrón beaches. marbella-beach-playaAt one point Marbella had the distinction of being the Andalusian resort with the most Blue Flag beaches, but it must now share that honour with Roquetas de Mar in Almería and Rota in Cádiz each with seven qualifying beaches. Of course, it may regain its leadership next year! Seventeen marinas along the Costa del Sol coastline have also been awarded Blue Flags including those in Marbella, Estepona, Manilva and Sotogrande. In addition to this, two of the five flag awards won by Andalucía for sustainable boat tourism have been given to the Costa del Sol. Andalucía and the Costa del Sol must be congratulated for the success this year, especially considering the way in which the storms of last winter devastated so many of the area’s beaches and the municipal councils have been working hard to ensure that these mainstays of tourism are in pristine condition for the upcoming tourist season. Andalucía may be a little behind Valencia, Galicia and Catalonia in the Blue Flag league table, but it continues to make progress and we expect to see even more Blue Flags here next year.
