Summer has its own rituals. And one of those more usually like to the town councils of the coastal areas is to boast of their ‘Blue Flags’the distinctive features that have identified the most comfortable sandy beaches and marinas for decades. In Spain, however, there is another much less comfortable recognition: the ‘Black Flags’banners of Ecologists in Action that point out the opposite. They basically serve to locate on the map the beaches most affected by pollution or poor environmental management.
And we already know those of 2026.
What has happened? That Ecologistas en Acción has just starred in one of the most uncomfortable moments of the year for coastal cities: the presentation from his ‘Black Flags’ report. Said like this, it may not seem like a big deal, but what the organization does is publicly point out the 48 beaches in the country (both in mainland Spain and the archipelagos, Ceuta and Melilla) that have received the worst results from their quality examination. It is interesting because its authors are dedicated to evaluating two aspects: pollution and the efficiency of environmental management.
Are there many beaches? In Spain there are more than 3,500 beaches registered and the Ecologistas en Acción report includes only 48 black flags. It is a low figure. Especially if we take into account that there are 677 with blue badge.
That does not mean that the vast majority of sandbanks are in optimal conditions. That there are only 48 ‘failures’ is explained by the NGO’s way of working: although its technicians analyze more than 8,000 km of coast, they limit themselves to giving two flags per province. One for dirt. The other due to mismanagement.
“The report, as in previous years, includes the most serious environmental conditions on the Spanish coast, but not all. Unfortunately there could be many more flags that we award year after year,” explains the environmental organization.
Their report is interesting for another reason: it is not a new study or a study that just came out of nowhere. It has been taking place since 2005 and its authors have included a “restoration proposal” for each specific case, a kind of diagnosis with which the NGO aspires to contribute to the recovery of the Spanish coast.
Why are the beaches suspended? Each of the 48 black flags points to a specific problem, but in general the NGO groups them into eight categories. The most common (responsible for 14 distinctions) are “discharges, deficiencies in sanitation systems and serious purification problems.”
Next in frequency are “affects to biodiversity”, causing another nine black flags, and urban developments and works that invade the maritime-terrestrial public domain, which has also caused eight black flags. In seven other cases the problem has been “chemical contamination.”
The list is completed by beaches where there is “environmental degradation” caused by tourism and overcrowding, others where the NGO has registered “unnecessary or poorly managed works” and the accumulation of garbage, waste and microplastics. In a specific case, on the Santander coastal paththe flag was assigned for “damage to historical and cultural heritage.”
Do we know anything else? Yes. In your report The NGO includes a slap on the wrist to the administrations of the coastal regions, to which it warns: “A good part of the coasts have been and continue to be subject to a continuous process of degradation.”
“The regression of beaches, destruction of wetlands and dune systems, marine pollution, loss of biodiversity and increased vulnerability to storms and floods are some of the most visible consequences of a model that puts the coastline at the service of economic interests,” ditch.
Images | Ecologists in Action
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