Spain tourists warned after beaches hit with ‘Black Flag’ over pollution and dog poo

Holidaymakers are being warned after nearly 50 beaches in Spain were given the substandard “Black Flag” rating, with dog poo, pollution and poor urban development being blamed.

In the annually released ratings, the environmental group Ecologistas en Acción (Ecologists in Action) slammed areas that, in its view, fail to meet environmental and sustainability standards.

Following this year’s inspection of more than 8,000km (4,970 miles) of Spanish coastline, 48 Black Flags have been issued, according to the Banderas Negras (Black Flags) 2023 report. This is the same as the number listed last year.

Many of the beaches, including spots in Alicante, Barcelona and the Canary Islands, are popular with international tourists. In one particularly damning assessment, Calzoa beach in Pontevedra, Galicia, was dubbed the worst dog beach in Spain, with the Black Flag report stating that the country is facing problems with “the proliferation of designated dog beaches without a prior environmental impact assessment.”

Other affected areas include the Basque Country, Andalusia (such as beaches in Malaga and Almeria), and Valencia.

The Balearic Islands received a Black Flag due to the proliferation of jet skis, as well as for pollution from parties around Colonia de Sant Jordi, a resort town in south-east coast of Mallorca.

More than 10 of the Black Flags issued were due to chemical spills, faulty sanitation and purification problems, while other issues included chemical, noise and light pollution, the accumulation of marine litter, and the urbanisation of the coast, “sometimes even invading the maritime-terrestrial public domain”.

Ana Aldarias, a spokesperson for Ecologistas en Acción, said: “We have to emphasise that ecological attacks will continue to occur as long as economic growth prevails over any other criteria and respect for the environment is conspicuous by its absence. Without a planned economy under democratic control, life will always lose out.”

In April, tourists were informed that there would be a smoking ban on Ibiza and Mallorca beaches this summer, as part of a major push to improve health standards and tackle the problem of cigarette butts being discarded on the sand.