Levante, Poniente and Mal Pas beaches renew their Blue Flag

Levante, Poniente and Mal Pas beaches have renewed their Blue Flag, awarded by the European Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE) and which certifies that the three sandy areas meet the most rigorous conditions and requirements regarding water quality, information, environmental education and management, accessibility, security, services and facilities.

The Councilor for Beaches, Mónica Gómez, stressed that "the Blue Flag comes, one more year, to recognize the environmental quality of our beaches and their waters, as well as the services we provide to users, also showing the commitment of Benidorm in the defense and care of its most precious asset ”.

In addition to the Blue Flag for Levante, Mal Pas and Poniente beaches, the FEE has awarded Benidorm a Thematic Distinction for being "an example of excellence" in the field of Environmental Information and Education. Thus, the “special effort” made by the city during 2019 promoting and organizing environmental education activities on or linked to beaches is recognized. Some actions that “we have developed directly from the City Council; hand in hand with the concessionaire in charge of the comprehensive management of our beaches, RA Benidorm; or together with collaborating companies that have chosen Benidorm as the place to carry out their actions, understanding that we are a benchmark in terms of sustainability and beach management ”.

Among the initiatives aimed at environmental awareness carried out in 2019 are ‘Libera’ Project, for waste collection on the coastal environment of Calas Tío Ximo and l’Almadrava, coordinated with Biodiversimal, SEO Bird Life and Ecoembes; ‘Don't forget to collect all your belongings’ campaign, an installation made up of large-scale reproductions of some of the belongings and waste that citizens usually leave on beaches; the campaign ‘The beach is not an ashtray’ to avoid the presence of butts and which included the delivery of ashtrays –both with the collaboration of RA Benidorm-; Coca-Cola's 'Circular Seas' action aimed at disseminating and raising awareness about the conservation of beaches and marine environments, as well as the proper management of packaging; and ‘Seabed Cleaning’ conference, together with Mundomar Foundation.

Gómez stressed that "our beaches are the perfect setting to carry out environmental awareness actions, since the extremely large volume of users ensures a remarkable reach and impact and, therefore, much greater effectiveness." "The sustainability and care of our environment, where beaches occupy a capital place, are a hallmark of Benidorm and that is why we constantly work to achieve and maintain excellence also in this area".

Water quality

About to their opening, Benidorm beaches the excellence of its waters and sands, attending to RD 1342/2007, of October 11, on Quality of Bathing Waters, which through the tests carried out by the Municipal Laboratory get, once again, the consideration of Excellence, which places Benidorm beaches as an international benchmark of quality and purity.

The quality of waters of Benidorm beaches is determined by taking samples - and the subsequent tests - at 9 points on the coast (three on Levante Beach, three on Poniente Beach and the other three on Mal Pas Beach and Tio Ximo and l'Almadraba coves and they are analyzed with the established quality parameters. Analytics considers physical-chemical and microbiological vectors. At the same time, measurements of the sea water temperature are made.

After the closure of beaches, on March 14, the pertinent tests have been carrying out and the quality of these bathing waters has been verified, as well as the general environmental improvement of the complex due to the cessation of anthropic pressure.