Have you seen the Blue Flag on the beach? What does it mean? Apparently, not many people know this. Therefore, it is worth figuring out what the special flag means and whether it makes sense to look for beaches marked in this way in advance.
Beach vacation
Many people cannot imagine their vacation without the gentle sun and sea. Therefore, every year the warm southern resorts receive a huge number of tourists who tend to the beaches. But their requests differ: someone likes a calm sea, while others like small waves and wind. For some, it turns out to be critical whether the beach is pebbly or sandy, but there are people with special requests in general. But be that as it may, everyone understands that they need to relax on the other side, which is completely safe, where there is all the necessary equipment.
Many beaches around the world have a special system of colored flags, which shows that, for example, there are dangerous creatures in the sea, or the waves are too big, and therefore swimming is prohibited. But the same colors are not always used, so it is easy to get confused in the notation. But there is also an international sign - the Blue Flag on the beach. What does this mean?
Blue flags
Evaluation problemThe quality of beaches has become relevant for a long time, and already in 1985 a special system began its work. Initially, it operated only within Europe, but in 2001, the organization involved in the certification of holiday destinations by the sea became worldwide. Today it has about 50 participating countries in Eurasia, Africa, Oceania, North and South America. Initially, the blue flag on the beach meant the high quality of the sea water (according to several parameters), today only those places that meet almost 30 different criteria are marked with it. Obviously, this sign is very prestigious, and such beaches attract more tourists. That is why every year the requirements become tougher, but more and more recreation areas receive these awards, and more and more countries join a kind of club. Evaluation of beaches in the Eastern Hemisphere is held in May-June, and in the Caribbean - in early November.
Award criteria
Before each season, the beaches of the countries participating in the project are certified. Many parameters are taken into account, divided into the following categories.
1. Water quality:
- Compliance with EU Directive requirements.
- No industrial wastewater discharge.
- Availability of local or regional action plans in case of pollution from accidents.
- Prevention of algae accumulation in recreation areas.
- Meeting the demands of municipal wastewater treatment.
2. Environmental awareness:
- Availability of at least 5educational programs.
- Timely reporting of actual or suspected beach pollution.
- Providing visitors with information about applicable laws and codes, as well as rules of conduct.
- Information about dangerous areas near the coast, including habitats of local flora and fauna, representatives of which can harm people.
- Availability of a special educational center.
- Timely updating and updating of all information provided.
3. Environmental management:
- Sufficient trash bins regularly serviced and emptied.
- Regular and, if necessary, daily cleaning of the beach area.
- Availability of land use and coastal zone development plan separately or regionally.
- Complete ban on vehicles without special permission, unauthorized camping, dumping and car or motorcycle racing on the beach.
- Having secure access.
- Actively promote sustainable modes of transport for coastal visits.
4. Security:
- Presence of all first aid on the beach.
- Strict enforcement of state laws regarding the presence of various animals in the recreation area.
- Presence of lifeguards and necessary equipment on the beach and/or other meanssafety and accident prevention.
- Access to drinking water source.
- Having a working phone in case lifeguards are not working on the beach.
- All buildings and structures must be kept in order and clean.
Not all of the above criteria are mandatory, some of them are advisory in nature. And yet, in order to get the highest rating - the blue flag - every year the authorities try to make the beaches better and better. And many succeed: in 2015, there were 4,159 places on the world map that were awarded this quality mark. The Blue Flag beaches received a huge number of tourists during the summer, while maintaining the necessary level of safety and cleanliness. The prestige of this award is so high that many people even plan their holidays, focusing on the most highly rated recreation areas by experts. So where are most of them located?
Spain
Every year the Blue Flag is awarded to a huge number of beaches. In 2015, Spain became the first in terms of the number of such places - 577 certified sections of sea coasts were counted on its map. Most of the beaches, ecological purity and safety of which are confirmed, are located in Galicia. In second place was Valencia, and in third - Catalonia. Let's see if Spain will be able to keep the lead in 2016 and possibly improve the result? In the meantime, it is much more difficult for an inexperienced tourist to get to a beach that is not marked with a flag, and soon it willit will probably be completely impossible.
Turkey
In the spring of 2015, it turned out that another popular southern country received "silver" in the competition for the number of certified beaches. Turkey became it with a score of 436. Most of the marked beaches are located in the traditionally popular regions among Russians - Bodrum, Kemer, Antalya, Marmaris. And it is hoped that more places will receive the Blue Flag badge next year.
Greece
Hellas moved to third place from last year's second, with a result of 395 recreation areas, losing as many as 13 marked coasts. Obviously, the crisis that affected Greece was the reason, among other things, that the government focused on more burning topics. Most of the local beaches, over which the Blue Flag flutters, are concentrated in traditional resort areas - in Crete and Halkidiki.
France
The country that spawned the Blue Flag movement ranked fourth in 2015 in terms of their number. France lagged behind Greece quite a bit - on its territory there are 379 beaches that meet all the criteria for environmental cleanliness and safety. Places for recreation, marked with the Blue Flag, are located on the coast fairly evenly. A sufficient number of them are located both near the English Channel, and near the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean.
Cyprus
Another country enjoying the sameloved by the inhabitants of the northern latitudes, in 2015 received 57 awards, as in the previous year, and almost all of them are concentrated in the southern part of the island. This may seem like a small number compared to hundreds in previous countries. However, let's not forget about the small size of the island. By the way, it is worth mentioning that Cyprus is a kind of record holder: firstly, there is the largest number of marked vacation spots in terms of per capita, and secondly, the largest number of them per unit length of the coastline. Basically, the beaches of Cyprus with the Blue Flag are located in the areas of Limassol, Larnaca, Ayia Napa and Famagusta.
Russia
Despite the fact that the Russian Federation does not have many warm places with beaches, it has been participating in the Blue Flag program for several years. Unfortunately, for all this time only a couple of yacht clubs have been awarded the prestigious award, but not a single beach has been certified to European standards. However, let's not lose heart: perhaps in the coming years the situation will change for the better.
