Kimberley Mannion
SPAIN has once again kept its position at the top as the nation with the highest number of blue flag beaches in the world.
Valencia is again the region with the most award winning playas in Spain while Andalucia has seen the largest increase in beaches recognised.
Blue flags have been awarded to 4831 beautiful beaches around the world which comply with a series of environmental, accessibility and safety criteria. 15% of these are found in Spain.
The Spanish coasts are home to 621 blue flagged beaches, which is six more than last year, located across 250 municipalities, which is an increase of 7 than last year.
The region with the most blue flag beaches in Spain also remains unchanged on last year, with Valencia taking the lead with 139 award winning beaches.
Three Valencian beaches have been recognised for the first time: Cala Baladrar in Benissa, Escollera y Marenyet-L’Illa in Cullera, and Auir in Gandia.
Breaking it down by province, Alicante wins, holding 91 of Spain’s recognised beaches, ahead of Pontevedra in Galicia with 63 and Andalucia’s Malaga which has 44.
In terms of improvement, Andalucia has made the most gains, with 121 blue flag beaches compared to 115 in 2021.
Amongst the new Andalucian beaches to be recognised are Sabinillas in Malaga and Maro in Nerja, Malaga.
Andalucian tourism minister Juan Marin said: “Without a doubt the sun and beach continue to be a key element for the region that this summer will allow us to attract thousands of visitors and complete a tourism year of clear recovery after the pandemic.”
Coming in second in the global standing is Greece, and third Turkey.
England boasts 77 blue flag beaches while Ireland has a total of 36.
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