British tourists are being warned to avoid 48 ‘black flag’ Spanish beaches polluted by sewage spills and rubbish – is YOUR summer holiday destination on the list?
- Environmental group Ecologists in Action named and shamed the worst offenders
British holidaymakers have been warned against visiting almost 50 ‘black flag’ beaches in Spain.
Spanish environmental campaign group Ecologists in Action has named and shamed the worst offenders in a report highlighting problems such as chemical pollution, marine waste, overdevelopment and sewage discharges.
Ibiza’s Talamanca beach has been placed on the list after being singled out for catastrophic damage to underwater plants by boats illegally anchored off the coast and a sewage treatment plant pumping salty wastewater into the sea.
El Amerador beach in El Campello, just north of Alicante, has been awarded one of 48 black flags by Ecologists in Action due to disease-causing faecal pollution blamed on a nearby, poorly maintained pumping station.
The organization highlights two recent cases of human waste entering the sea on the Costa Blanca beach, one in March and one in April.
Ibiza’s Talamanca beach (pictured) has been listed after it was singled out for catastrophic damage to underwater plants by boats illegally anchored off the coast and a sewage treatment plant pumping salty wastewater into the sea
El Amerador beach in El Campello (pictured), just north of Alicante, has been awarded one of 48 black flags by Ecologists in Action due to disease-causing faecal pollution attributed to a nearby, poorly maintained pumping station
The Canary Islands, where thousands of locals took to the streets in April in a protest against mass tourism to highlight problems including ocean pollution, are also beaten up in the report.
A spokesperson for Ecologists in Action, a grassroots confederation of 300 ecological groups, said: ‘One of the biggest problems we face is the ‘tourism’ and urbanization of our coast and this is an issue that particularly affects the Canary Islands.’
The organization claimed its political leaders were prioritizing business interests in a ‘suicidal race’ and boasted of record tourism while locals suffered from record poverty and unemployment: ‘The ecological footprint of the Canary Islands is 27 times that of an area. taller.
“In other words, we need an area 27 times larger to meet all the demands of the economic model and the development of the archipelago.”
A horror description of the situation on the most popular of the eight islands with British holidaymakers overnight claimed: ‘In Tenerife, 57 million liters of waste water are discharged directly into the sea every day, equivalent to 17 Olympic swimming pools with polluted water.
‘The problem extends to all eight Canary Islands. Underwater outlets discharge 24/7, 365 days a year in all archipelagos of the islands.
‘More than 90 percent of wastewater from urban, industrial and agricultural centers reaches the sea with virtually no treatment.’
A horror description of the situation on the most popular of the eight islands with British holidaymakers overnight claimed: ‘In Tenerife, 57 million liters of waste water are discharged directly into the sea every day, equivalent to 17 Olympic swimming pools with polluted water. ‘ In the photo: La Tejita beach in Tenerife
Lanzarote’s popular Playa Blanca beach (pictured) will receive one of the group’s black flags this year due to a sewage leak caused by a pump station failure that led to the beach’s temporary closure in May
Lanzarote’s popular Playa Blanca beach is receiving one of the group’s black flags this year due to a sewage leak caused by a pump station failure, which led to the beach’s temporary closure in May.
Ecologists in Action warned today that last month’s tragedy was not the first and described it as ‘normal’. They say pump treatment managers have blamed the problem on people flushing wipes and diapers down the toilet instead of throwing them in the trash.
The 48 black flags assigned to the country’s beaches in the latest report have been split into two per province.
Pellets identified as dangerous to marine life and humans have been identified as a problem on Tarragona’s Costa Dorada, which also includes resorts such as Salou.
Further north on the Costa Brava, private boats are blamed for damaging marine biodiversity.