Eloise HorsfieldALMERIA has once again come under fire for being the Andalucian province with the most beaches suffering from pollution and urban sprawl.
According to the latest Black Flag report by Ecologistas en Accion the province has a shocking 29 flags.
The report – the antithesis of the European Blue Flag awards – highlights beaches that are deemed unclean or overbuilt to show how ‘human activities are causing deterioration or destruction’.
In particular the report highlights many beaches in Cabo de Gata Natural Park, which it says are in danger of ‘urban speculation’.
In total, Andalucia has 62 black flags this year with a further 81 ‘black spots’, which indicate a lower – but still noteworthy – level of pollution.
This is actually slightly lower than last year, when there were 64 black flags and 80 black spots.
It comes after the beaches including Playas Cruz del Mar y Regla, in Chipiona, Playa de los Banos del Carmen in Malaga and Punta de Banos in Estepona improved quality.
Cadiz is the province with the second highest number of flags with 16, followed by Malaga with eight, Huelva with six and Granada with three.
“In most cases however, they have not solved the problems that we highlighted in previous years,” said the group.
It comes as the EU Blue Flag beach results for 2012 show Spain has recorded its ‘best ever’ outcome winning a total of 638 blue flags, 35 more than last year.
