The Association of Environmental and Consumer Education, ADEAC, has withdrawn the ‘Blue Flag’ status of El Playazo and Maro beaches and ordered the Council to remedy some deficiencies relating to Torrecilla and Burriana beaches.
The beaches of Nerja were the subject of an inspection on Saturday July 21st by representatives of ADEAC, the organisation responsible for awarding the flags. The new Councillor for Beaches, Nienes Atencia, reported that the withdrawal of the flags was to do with public and private behaviour and had nothing to do with the quality of the water on the beaches.
Among the reasons for the withdrawal of the Blue Flag for El Playazo are that, on the day of the inspection:
- A 2011 Blue Flag was flying from one of the flag poles
- Cars were parked on the beach road/track, hampering access
- Cars were parked on the sand, just metres from the water
- There were barbecues being held on the sand
- There was excessively loud music
The Councillor for Beaches reported that none of these problems had been reported by the lifeguards on the beach.
Maro beach lost its Blue Flag status due to:
- Inadequacy of parking facilities due to the influx of visitors
- Vehicles double-parked, effectively leaving only one lane for vehicles travelling in either direction.
- A need for the Council to introduce more frequent rubbish collection
- A need for a general clean-up and improvement in the peripheral area where the kiosk is located
- The absence of marker buoys
Torrecilla beach was deemed to have the following deficiencies:
- Inadequate marking of the navigation channel to inform people that it is a ‘no swimming’ area
- Broken PA system
- No information showing the meaning of the various beach warning flags
Burriana was deemed to have the following deficiencies:
- Rubbish from the beach Chiringuitos piled up outside the rubbish containers
- Posters and signs giving out of date information about the beach
- Need for oxygen-therapy equipment to be included with the safety equipment
In the case of Burriana and Torrecilla beaches, the Council has ten days in which to remedy the deficiencies. Presumably, failure to do so would lead to the withdrawal of Blue Flag status to these beaches as well.
The Council apparently began work early this morning to carry out the necessary changes.