The director of the Biodiversity Foundation, Ana Leiva, participated today in the presentation of the “Blue Flag 2010” awards to sustainable beaches and ports in Spain, in an event organized by the Association of Environmental and Consumer Education (ADEAC) and held at the headquarters of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) in Madrid.

In 2010, 605 Blue Flags have been awarded to beaches and ports in Spain: 521 have been awarded to beaches and 84 to marinas. In this way, our country remains at the top of the 33 participating countries in the northern hemisphere. This result represents an increase of 34 Blue Flags (28 for beaches and 6 for ports), compared to 2009, which is in addition to the comparable increase experienced last year, despite the tightening of the award criteria.

The “Blue Flag” Programme, created in 1985 by the FEE (Foundation for Environmental Education) in France, was extended to the European Community in 1987, the European Year of the Environment. The Association of Environmental and Consumer Education (ADEAC) is the NGO responsible for the development of the FEE Programs in Spain.

Blue Flag is the oldest voluntary initiative in favour of the sustainability of tourism and the coast. Today it is a distinction of quality for beaches, ports and boats recognized worldwide.
Throughout the northern hemisphere, the International Blue Flag Jury has awarded, this time, 3511 Blue Flags (2884 for beaches and 627 for ports). The Jury includes, together with the FEE, the United Nations Environment Agency (UNEP) and the Tourism Agency (UNWTO) and other entities such as the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), among others.

Balearic and Canary Islands in the lead
A large part of the auspicious results obtained by Spain in this edition of the Blue Flag awards has focused on the Balearic Islands (+9) and the Canary Islands (+2), which, in this case, are added to the 8 won in 2009. There, ADEAC has given training sessions, with the support of the Biodiversity Foundation.

Likewise, the results of the Cantabrian Coast (+22) improved substantially, from the Basque Country (+1), Cantabria (+5) and Asturias (+8), to Galicia (+8), which suffered decreases in 2009, due to rainy and stormy conditions that had affected their coasts. These same conditions have had an impact this year on the coast of Andalusia, which had experienced a sharp increase in 2009, and that of Catalonia, although to a much lesser extent than could be expected after the impact of the spring storms. For their part, Murcia, Ceuta and Melilla remain stable.

All this means that during the next summer, 1 in 6 Spanish beaches will fly the Blue Flag and that 1 in 6 Blue Flags in the world will fly in Spain.

Blue Flag aims to serve as a stimulus to design, define and implement the new sustainable model of sun and beach tourism, as well as a concept of global quality that respects the environment, legality, equity and accessibility.