In Spain as a whole, there will be 688 Blue Flags. These represent an increase of nineteen, there being 23 more beaches and four fewer marinas. Valencia has the most of any region. Of 662 beaches in Spain which presented applications, 89% (589) were awarded with Blue Flags for this year.
Spain maintains its international leadership for the number of Blue Flags, a position the country has held since 1987, which was when the Blue Flags scheme started. After Spain come Greece (514), Turkey (508), France (507), Italy (482) and Portugal (387).
The secretary of state for tourism, Isabel Oliver, said on Tuesday that the Spanish coast maintains high standards of quality that strengthen ever more the image of Spain as a tourism destination leader and as the most competitive tourism country in the world.
Spain's coast has always been "a strength and a sign of the identity" of Spain as a tourism destination in the same way as the climate and the hospitality. "And today this is once more a reason for pride. Health security is going to be essential this year, when it will not be sufficient that our beaches have easy and safe access and teams of lifeguards. This year we will be offering safety-plus to residents and tourists. Our wish is that this season we will all be able to enjoy the enormous variety of the sun and beach offer in our country and to do so in conditions of maximum safety and well-being."
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Puerto Pollensa has some serious sewage spillages last year on the pine walk beach. It is supposed to be one of the island's premier resorts, focused on family holidays. What made it worse was the appalling lack of concern from the authorities, who made very little effort to close off the beach. We witnessed children still playing in the polluted water and swimmers out in the sea. It is no wonder it has not been awarded a blue flag and I guess Covid 19 has in a perverse way protected the people who may otherwise have visited this year. Pollensa does not deserve its status and I suspect tourists may well vote with their feet in future.
So, actually, blue flag beaches in Mallorca have fallen in number, but you don’t mention the six which failed by name. An observation: With the welcome protection of the sea grass comes the consequence of tons of the stuff totally engulfing some smaller beaches and coves, especially after stormy weather. The authorities will have to deploy more resources and more promptly to ensure these beaches remain useable, especially with social distancing rules. We’ll need all the space we can get.