Two and a half years ago we explained the meaning of the Blue Flag, which is nothing more than the distinction awarded annually by the European Foundation for Environmental Education to beaches and ports that meet a series of requirements: safety and services offered, environmental information and education, water quality and environmental management.
Spain has long been at the top of the ranking of countries with Blue Flag beaches and harbours. Its first place is not in danger and even less so with data as good as those of the last evaluation.
There are now 648 beaches and harbours with the label, which is the best result in history. This year, 11 more have been added compared to last year and they are now divided between 551 beaches and 97 ports. The Valencian Community has grown the most with 7 new awards, but is still behind Galicia.
Ranking by autonomous community (beaches + ports)
1- Galicia with 145
2- Valencian Community with 127
3- Catalonia with 114
4- Andalusia with 78
5- Balearic Islands with 46
6- Canary Islands with 42
7- Murcia with 24
8- Asturias with 17
9- Basque Country with 4
10- Cantabria with 4
11- Ceuta with 2
12- Melilla with 1
13- Extremadura with 1
Extremadura is not a bad joke. The Costa Dulce de Orellana inland beach, located in Orellana la Vieja (Badajoz), has kept its Blue Flag for the fourth consecutive year.
World ranking (beaches only)
1- Spain with 551
2- Grecia with 393
3- Turkey with 383
4- France with 365
5- Portugal with 280
6- Italia with 248
7- Denmark with 243
To finish, I would like to say that in terms of award-winning ports, Germany takes the lead with 108. Spain is second with the 97 I mentioned above, followed by Holland (95), France (88) and Italy (62).