This year the island of Ibiza has earned nine new blue flags, two more than last year, as Port de Sant Miquel and the beach of Santa Eulària have regained their flags.
The other beaches awarded flags are Es Figueral, Cala Llenya, Cala Llonga and Es Canar, all in the area of Santa Eulària des Riu, and the beaches of s’Arenal Gros de Portinatx, Benirràs and Cala de Sant Vicent, in the Sant Joan de Labritja municipal district.
The Environmental Education and Consumers Association (Adeac) awards blue flags to beaches with exceptional quality in terms of service and cleanliness.
Ensuring that the beaches are properly cared for and enjoying them without affecting the beauty and charm of the surrounding areas is the motivation behind the Consell de ibiza’s campaign “Take the bus to the beach”, designed to keep these areas car free, and to facilitate access in the event of emergency. The island now has a total of 30 beaches which are connected in this way, and which can be accessed by public transport, freeing up space in areas that are extremely popular in summer. This is the case of Benirrás, which on Sundays can now only be accessed by bus, and Cala Salada, which has been closed to traffic for the whole of the summer season, providing examples of how public transport can be the best way of enjoying the Ibizan coast.
With 210 kilometres of coastline and 50 beaches, the Consell de Ibiza, which is responsible for promoting and organising public transport, plans to further extend the “Connected Beaches” programme to those beaches which receive most visitors, so that the nature of the island and its landscape will remain unspoilt while at the same time enabling visitors to enjoy its coast and countryside.