Playa Jardín and San Telmo will not display a blue flag this year as analyzes determine that the sea water, despite being suitable for bathing, does not meet the required criteria of excellence, as reported by the Puerto de la Cruz City Council.
The Canary Islands will wear 58 Blue Flags this summer, six less than in 2021
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The City Council works together with other administrations to improve the quality of sea water on the beaches of the municipality. After receiving the news that Playa Jardín and San Telmo will not have a blue flag this year, the Consistory emphasizes that, according to the analyses, the quality of the water is good and perfectly suitable for swimming.
The Consistory has reported that in recent years actions have been carried out to eliminate discharges into the sea and pointed out that there are already new actions scheduled and others that are being planned with the aim not only of recovering excellence in water quality and, with it, the badges on its beaches, but, above all, to advance in the solution to the structural sanitation problems that, like the rest of the Archipelago, have affected the city for decades.
The Councilor for Beaches, Alberto Cabo, indicated that the Association of Environmental and Consumer Education (ADEAC), an entity that awards the blue flags, has determined, according to the analyzes carried out in 2021, that the quality of the bathing waters in the coasts of the municipality, although good, has not been excellent, and that this is an essential criterion to receive the distinction.
Cabo added that the municipal administration “has worked hard so that Puerto de la Cruz was awarded blue flags” during the three years in which he has been responsible for Playas.
In this sense, he stressed that in this time “a significant effort has been made together with the lifeguard team and the beach service staff to improve different aspects of the bathing areas, starting with the opening for the first time of an administrative file on the blue flags and continuing with improvements in the equipment of the lifeguard and first aid stations, signage, accessibility and selective waste collection, among other aspects”.
However, he indicated that, although these actions made it possible to recover the two blue flags that the organization temporarily withdrew in 2019 and maintain them for the following two years, this time it has not been enough, since the criterion of excellence in water quality it’s imperative. For the councilman “it is not good news, obviously, but it should be taken as an incentive to continue working with the aim that, next year, Puerto de la Cruz obtains the award again.”
Regarding the actions carried out to improve the sanitation system and reduce discharges, those carried out by the Sustainable City and Planning area in the surroundings of the old municipal swimming pool stand out, with the elimination of several irregular connections of sewage to the rainwater network. , and in San Telmo, where the locker room pumping system was repaired, as well as those developed by the Community Welfare area and the concessionaire company Aqualia to repair various pipes in Playa Jardín.
Along these lines, the Administrative Concessions area is working on drafting the new contract for the sanitation service concession, which entails an investment in the improvement of the facilities amounting to 9.5 million euros, which includes actions in the Garden Beach environment.
Likewise, the City Council has already planned various actions to improve the sanitation network together with the state, regional and island administrations in the town, Punta Brava, Calle Nueva, the surroundings of El Botánico and other points in the municipality.
In addition, new toilets have been built in San Telmo and the bathrooms and changing rooms have been renovated on the beaches of El Castillo, El Charcón and Punta Brava, in Playa Jardín, which will soon be fully open to the public.
