Burriana and Torrecilla beaches will once again be flying the ‘Q’ for Quality flags this summer with an awards ceremony planned for June 5th. In total, nine beaches on the Costa del Sol have been awarded ‘Q’ flags based upon criteria such as equipment, cleanliness, safety, lifesaving and information or services that benefit the tourist.
Burriana and Torrecilla retain ‘Q’ flags
21 thoughts on “Burriana and Torrecilla retain ‘Q’ flags”
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Mark says:
It still amazes me how the raw sewage up to the shoreline, clear for anyone to see, always seems to get overlooked when these awards are handed out.
What hope is there for any work on the sewage treatment works if ridiculous cleanliness and safety awards like this are given out. I appreciate that the award may not cover the quality of sea water but it damn well should. Nerja needs to be named and shamed into action. Awards like this do not help.
David says:
Absolutely ridiculous! There should be signs warning people that there is raw sewage in the sea not Q for quality flags.
Unless of course it is for the quality of the sewage
Jerry says:
We were Burriana beach yesterday with our kids and suddenly we saw raw sewage being washed up onto the beach and when we looked 5 – 10 meters out to sea there was absolutely loads of the stuff. Beyond belief. But the Spanish families were happily swimming amongst it and just swishing it away with their hands. Unbelievable. The beach should be condemned not awarded a Quality flag.
Mark says:
I will never ever forget the time I found myself swimming amongst sanitary towels and feces. A memory I’m sure hundreds if not thousands of vistors take away with them vowing never to return. It’s a crying shame as Nerja is the true gem of the Costa Del Sol and this situation is totally unacceptable.
friggykeith says:
Is it possible that this flag is allocated by Seb Blatter and Fifa -seems to have the same relationship to reality as awarding World Cup football to the Gulf in summer.
Previously we had a boat and even when Burriana was clean, a few hundred meters of the beach the smell and sea pollution was disgusting.
I’m afraid to say the inevitable disease outbreak that empties Nerja will be the only thing that will bring this situation and the ruling powers to it’s needed conclusion.
Roger says:
Well, how can we believe anything that Spanish officials tell us now?! Or ever take notice of Official so called ‘awards’?
Shame on them all. Even if people are not warned of the contamination in the sea they will soon see it for themselves. There are breaks along the length of the pipe that is supposed to carry it further out to sea, so the situation is certainly not going to improve.
Nerja is gaining a reputation. Unfortunately, not the right one.
Mark says:
Can anyone please explain to me how on earth Burriana beach is awarded a Blue Flag http://www.blueflag.org when the Water Quality criteria quite clearly requires:
The beach must fully comply with the water quality sampling and frequency requirements.
The beach must fully comply with the standards and requirements for water quality analysis.
No industrial, waste-water or sewage-related discharges should affect the beach area.
The beach must comply with the Blue Flag requirements for the microbiological parameter faecal coli bacteria (E.coli) and intestinal enterococci/streptococci.
The beach must comply with the Blue Flag requirements for physical and chemical parameters.
Tony Slade says:
Perhaps the people awarding the Q flag inspected at night. The other comments say it all. I love Nerja dearly but I am ashamed at this major blot on its ambiance. How can anyone justify the lack of such an important facility as a sewerage treatment plant when some other towns have two? There has clearly been a dereliction of duty going back over the last three decades.
Nerjafan says:
Yes, sorry to say that although I love Nerja and Burriana beach, it is not clean. Just returned and a couple of days there was sewage in the sea. Come on Nerja Council, get your act together and really improve the beach and the sewage disposal.
Nerjafan says:
Yes, sorry to say that although I love Nerja and Burriana beach, it is not clean. Just returned and a couple of days we were there, there was sewage in the sea. Come on Nerja Council, get your act together and really improve the beach and the sewage disposal.
Laurence says:
It’s now July 7. What is the current status of the beaches please?
Jch1000 says:
Just got back from Burriana beach after spending 9 days on holiday. What a beautiful place (first time), the surf was up on our first day and we all had a great time on our body boards. Well how much did that change when we returned to the beach on the third day. A thick brown slick could be seen close to the shore which stretched for about 50 feet at least and also consisted of white paper. I’m sure you can imagine what this was! It was absolutely disgusting and made me sick to think that I was going to snorkel later that day. What amazed me more was the Spaniards, they were swimming amongst this as though it didn’t exist – Yuk!
To make matters worse, this reoccurred on a number of occasions whilst we were there and we also encountered a Jellyfish invasion for the remainder of the week. The absence of a beach flag until after lunchtime was also a concern. Maybe they were waiting until the daily cleanup had finished before letting the us know if it was safe or not…
We really loved Nerja but needless to say that we will be returning to Majorca until this is sorted out once and for all which I can’t see happening in the near future with the current economic climate. Forget the new Marina and golf course and get the basics sorted first please!
Martin says:
Can anyone see the sewage plant ever happening, not a chance in this current climate so people will go elsewhere and one day soon someone will die from swimming in the sea, in the meantime local regional and town councils will continue to posture and make political capital out of other peoples failings. Nerja will become a ghost town no tourists no income no work no future, I fear it’s too late, word of mouth is a powerful medium, no matter how much they try and promote Nerja it is becoming known as the place your lunch returns to you on the beach the following day. Lovely.
Martin
W Glencross says:
As a part time resident of Nerja I agree with all the comments re the disgraceful state of the sea on Nerja beaches I find it appalling that those responsible on the council have ignored this apalling situation for many years and would ask that they wake up now before it is to late
Nigel says:
Perhaps a link to this page should be sent to the Town Hall so that they are made aware of what the British Tourists are saying.
jojo gunne says:
Nigel, you win the gold medal in naievete. The Town Council could CARE LESS about what the “British Tourists” are saying. Wake up!!
Peter says:
I have just read this a week or so after returning from a few days in Nerja in October. I swam in the sea at Burriana. It looked clean, though I was a little suspicious and took care to swallow as little sea-water as possible. I did not swim very far out. Now that I look at some of my holiday snaps taken from the hill overlooking Burriana, I can sea several patches of nasty-looking brown stuff just a few metres from the shore. This has certainly put me off returning to Nerja, which I thought was lovely. A great pity.
Joe says:
Just found myself surrounded by toilet tissue today in water at Torrecilla beach in Nerja. Horrible. Leaving early after good long shower.
RICHARD says:
The local authority obviously avoid reading this web site. as they, and the locals don’t give a dam about the tourist, Think about the pretence to do something about the dog poo all over the town. Nerja is the smelliest dirtiest town on the Costa Del Sol .Nerja Today wont bring these comments to them as they are locals and don’t want to rock the boat.
The Captain says:
It would be incredible to imagine that a local authority does not, in this day and age, monitor public opinion on this and other sites, Tripadvisor being another where these kind of issues are very frequent topics.
Many individuals and organisations do make their feelings known to the local authority, both Spanish and foreign.
However, the local authority appears to have its own agenda, such as deriving income from building thousands of unnecessary houses, luxury hotels, various ‘infrastructure’ projects etc.
The local authority cannot be anything other than painfully aware of the shortcomings of the town and the effects of the constant delays in building, for example, a sewage plant, such as people changing holiday plans or being put off from returning for a second visit.
The proposed sewage plant is to be built on a hill, requiring heavy duty pumping stations for around 90% of the waste. The logical location would have been the low-lying Playazo area, where 90% could be gravity feed. But oh yes, they want to build houses and hotels at El Playazo.
The sewage plant situation spans several governments, both locally and nationally, and of different political persuasions, tending to suggest that the problem must be other than political dogma.
Nerja Today reports on news items, events etc and provides, hopefully, useful information for all and does not shirk from being critical of the authorities. Or anyone else for that matter. Disturbing the equilibrium of the sailing vessel is not a concern. However, we are not political and are not lobbyists.
The ‘Q’ flags, incidentally, are related to such things as signs on beaches, tannoy systems and other ‘services’ on offer rather than being anything all to do with the quality of water or the amount of dog poo on the pavement.
Jorge Tevez says:
There is an interesting aerial view taken by Bing that shows the spread of the polution and you can see it effects Torrecilla just as much as Burriana. http://binged.it/1aENy0C