Spain maintains its world leadership in blue flag beaches, with a total of 642 flags, of which 32 are in the Balearic Islands, and 20 of these have been awarded to Mallorca. This international recognition endorses the quality of the waters, facilities and services on our coasts. Fifteen per cent of the world’s beaches with environmental flags are located in Spain, which demonstrates ‘the excellence of its waters, accessibility and safety’, according to the report, which collects data from more than 5,000 points in 52 countries on five continents. In total, Spain will have 749 flags on its coasts this summer: 642 on beaches (four more than in 2024), 101 in marinas and six for sustainable tourist boats.
By municipality
The Galician town of Sangenjo (Pontevedra) tops the list by municipality, with a total of 19 flags (17 for beaches and 2 for marinas), followed by Vigo (Pontevedra) with 13 flags (12 for beaches and 1 for a marina) and Orihuela (Alicante) with 11 flags (10 for beaches and 1 for a marina). In total, 247 municipalities in 13 autonomous communities and the two autonomous cities (Ceuta and Melilla) will be able to fly the blue flags this summer.
José Palacios Aguilar, president of Adeac, the success of the blue flag is due to municipal, regional and national collaboration, as well as that of companies, universities, foundations and, in general, citizens who ‘demonstrate a responsibility to make these results a reality’ thanks to a combination of environmental education, management and information, as well as compliance with current legislation and excellent water quality.
‘We can proudly say that this is another year of extraordinary results for Spain,’ said the Secretary of State for Tourism, Rosario Sánchez Grau, who emphasised the importance of this programme in “the ongoing pursuit of quality and excellence to preserve the environment and, in particular, water quality, natural resource management and biodiversity”.
By autonomous community
The Community of Valencia leads the Spanish list by autonomous community with 143 flags (5 more than in 2024), followed by Andalusia with 138 (8 more), Galicia with 108 (6 fewer) and Catalonia with 101 (6 more). The other regions with this distinction are the Canary Islands with 47 flags (9 fewer than last year), the Balearics with 32 (1 more), the Region of Murcia with 29 (2 more), Asturias with 14 (2 fewer), Cantabria with 11 (1 more), Extremadura with 7 (2 fewer), Melilla with 4 (1 fewer), the Basque Country with 4 (4 fewer), Ceuta with 2 (1 fewer), Madrid with 1 (1 fewer) and Navarre with 1 (1 fewer).
In this edition, 697 Spanish beaches were submitted, of which 642 (91%) obtained the coveted award, ‘demonstrating the high standard of the entries submitted’, according to data from the organisation.
The main reasons for not obtaining this distinction are ‘failure to achieve excellent bathing water quality’ and ‘non-compliance with the Coastal Law, due to overcrowding or the presence of unauthorised facilities’.
In this context, Palacios Aguilar pointed out that it is ‘not necessary’ to have showers on beaches in order to obtain the blue flag and, in fact, he advised against their installation due to the ‘unnecessary waste of fresh water’ they entail, as well as being ‘a source of infection’.
The organisation highlights the beaches where a blue flag will fly for the first time: Puerto de Sotogrande (Cadiz); Los Monteros, Adelfas and Cenicero-Las Dunas (Malaga); Helgueras (Cantabria); Varador, Del Callao and Barques-Estaciò (Barcelona); El Bol, Punta Negra and Ortigues-Campo (Alicante); Fuente de los Baños (Castellón); Guardamar de la Safor and Malvarrosa (Valencia); O Mende (Pontevedra) and Calblanque and El Arenal (Region of Murcia).
Other aspects include special mentions for Environmental Education to Badalona and Gavá (Barcelona) and Torreblanca (Castellón); for lifeguard services to Fuengirola (Málaga), Palma and Sant Llorenç des Cardassar (Balearics); for accessibility and attention to people with disabilities: Arnuero (Cantabria), Chipiona (Cádiz) and Málaga.