After a snap inspection of Nerja’s beaches carried out last week, two of Nerja’s beaches have lost their Blue Flag status and two more are under threat.
ADEAC, the Spanish Association of Environmental and Consumer Education that awards the Blue Flags, carried out the inspection on Saturday the 21st of July and found several deficiencies in Nerja’s beaches. These deficiencies were enough to warrant the immediate withdrawal of the flags from Maro and El Playazo, with Torrecilla Beach and Burriana also under threat unless certain improvements are made.
Among the reasons provided by ADEAC for removal of El Playazo’s Blue Flag, was that a 2011 Blue Flag was flying on one of the masts. The inspectors also noted the presence of illegally parked vehicles, which were obstructing the traffic and even in one case a vehicle parked on the beach itself within metres of the water. Other serious problems discovered were loud music playing and people having barbecues on the sand. The beach lifeguards, part of whose job it is to police the beach rules, did nothing to stop these serious infractions.
At Maro, more problems were found with parking, with vehicles double-parked leaving only one lane open. ADEAC also proposes that the rubbish is collected more frequently and that the area around the beach be cleaned up.
The council have 10 days to correct the problems found at Burriana, which include rubbish on the road from the beach restaurants (rather than in the rubbish containers), old posters with out of date information, and the lack of oxygen equipment amongst the first-aid equipment on the beach.
The council also have 10 days to sort out Torrecilla, including the need to mark the existing boat channel with a sign indicating that it is forbidden to swim in it, repair the PA system, and include an information panel on the flag colours that indicate the sea state.
The council have said that they have started work immediately to correct these problems and also pointed out that the withdrawal of the Blue Flags has nothing to do with the quality of the water at those beaches.
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