This morning, June 8th, World Oceans Day, Adeje council unfurled its two blue flags. Present at the official raising of the flags were representatives of the town hall and of the companies who hold the concessions for the two beaches in question, and without whom the blue flags would not be possible. Representing the Adeje town hall were Mercedes Vargas Delagdo, councillor for safety, Amada Trujillo Bencomo, health councillor, and Adolfo Alonso Ferrera, councillor for tourism.
Adolfo Alonso Ferrera stated clearly that “we haven’t lost any blue flags this year – we applied for two and we were awarded those two, one for Playa El Duque and Playa Torviscas.” The councillor also congratulated the cross-departmental work that goes into the making sure these beaches are in a safe and secure condition for public use.
Adeje council applied for two flags this year and was successful in both applications, meeting all the criteria as laid down by the Blue Flag organisation. This year the two flags will fly on El Duque beach and Torviscas beach. Among the services that must be available to the public for the flags to fly are water quality, environmental management, control and information, safety services including the presence of lifeguards, and information panels in various languages.
The Blue Flag requires special attention is paid to the security and quality of the water in the borough, and that the water waste management system was within all the controls needed as established by ‘Directiva 91/27/CE. The Adeje council has a full time water testing laboratory carrying out period and regular checks on the quality of water all along the coast.
The Blue Flag programme is operated under the auspices of the Foundation for Environmental Education, in Spain through the ADAEC (the association for environmental education and the consumer). In order to qualify for this prestigious award, a series of stringent environmental, educational, safety-related and access-related criteria must be met and maintained. The foundation also works at promoting participation in voluntary environmental initiatives by local groups and municipal authorities, as well as tourism operators and the population in general.
To be awarded a flag, beaches will undergo a series of technical inspections by independent specialists examining various factors such as water quality, environmental surrounds and information, safety for bathers, accessibility, etc.
