The port of Segur de Calafell hosted today the ceremony of awarding the Blue Flags 2024 to the ports and beaches of Catalonia. Sitges has collected nine of these awards, a number that sets Sitges apart as the Catalan municipality with the most beaches with this distinction. Blue flags are awarded annually by the international Blue Flag jury of the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE), in collaboration with the Environmental and Consumer Education Association (ADEAC). The award, recognized internationally, values ​​and rewards correct management and environmental information, the excellence of water quality, the facilities and the optimal provision of services, and the accessibility and attention to people with functional diversity. Likewise, it requires excellent environmental management from the ports.

Specifically, the beaches where the blue flag will fly in Sitges are Les Botigues, Garraf, Aiguadolç, Balmins, Sant Sebastià, La Ribera, L’Estanyol, La Barra and Terramar. In addition, the marina of Port Ginesta also obtained this distinction. The nine blue flags for the beaches were collected by the mayor of Sitges, Aurora Carbonell i Abella, who explained that “one of the main responsibilities of the Municipal Government is to keep the beaches of Sitges in optimal condition and offer excellent services and quality of water. In this sense, being the municipality with the most blue flags for quite a few years now is a recognition of the work done and a strong support for the renewal of the beach model that we have been implementing progressively”.

The Sand Issue: Sant Sebastia & Garraf Beaches

Carbonell recalled that “on the beaches of Sant Sebastià and Garraf we are waiting for the action planned by the Ministry of Ecological Transition to bring sand from the ports and recover these beaches after the last storm. From the government we think that this is a temporary solution and we are asking for definitive solutions in the medium and long term”.The Minister of Territory, Ester Capella i Farré, presided over the event and also spoke in this regard, stressing that action against the climate emergency must be taken . “We must get out of the habit of removing sand from one place to another, and find a way for the sand on the beaches to regenerate naturally. And this also means we must think about how we act in ports, how we build new port areas, and also how, in towns and cities, we think about how we can make it possible for our promenades to be more natural as well. Therefore  we must act so that everything goes back to its place naturally”, said the minister.

The event was also attended by the secretary of the Ministry of Climate Action, Food and Rural Agenda, Anna Barnadas, and the president of the Environmental and Consumer Education Association (ADEAC), José Palacios, in addition to the representatives of the majority of municipalities with beaches that have achieved this distinction. In total, 118 blue flags have been awarded, 95 to beaches and 23 to marinas.

Of the 95 awarded beaches, 27 correspond to the territorial area of ​​Girona, 20 to Barcelona, ​​22 to the Penedès, 18 to Tarragona and 8 to the Terres de l’Ebre. Regarding the 23 ports, 9 are from the Girona area, 7 from Barcelona and 7 more from Tarragona and Terres de l’Ebre

Adapted from the original article here