With summer just a few days away, Benidorm's beaches are embarking on a new season with all the certifications accrediting the quality of their waters, sand, and services, awarded by various external organisations, including the Institute for Spanish Tourism Quality (ICTE), the Generalitat Valenciana (Generalitat Valenciana), and the Association for Environmental and Consumer Education, which respectively award the Q for Quality and S for Sustainability, and the Qualitur and Blue Flags.
Also operational since June 1st are all technical and human reinforcements in the rescue and lifeguard services, cleaning, and accessible beaches, as announced by the Councilor for Beaches, Mónica Gómez, and to which the special Local Police unit is added.
Also coinciding with the start of June, and as is customary every year, the City Council "is intensifying the quality controls on water, sand, and footbaths carried out by the municipal laboratory, which are now carried out weekly instead of biweekly," according to Health Councilor Ana Pellicer.
Specifically, "from the beginning of June to the end of September, laboratory staff take weekly samples at nine points on the beaches, which are always the same: three in Levante, three in Poniente, one in Mal Pas and also one in each of the coves, Ti Ximo and l'Almadrava."
After taking samples, the last of which was done yesterday, the analysis begins, measuring, among other parameters, pH and the possible presence of bacteria in the water. "If any incident is detected, laboratory staff take additional samples to verify any possible anomalies," he explained.
Pellicer emphasised that these analyses "are tremendously useful because they allow us to have up-to-date information at all times on the state of the beaches, and even detect potential events that may arise and respond immediately."
The head of Beaches, for her part, recalled that "the results of these analyses are posted weekly on the municipal website, Click Here, and on all access panels to the beaches and coves, thus providing users with all the information on the condition and quality of Benidorm's bathing areas and sandy beaches."
He also emphasised that "in addition to these weekly analyses by the municipal laboratory, there are also those carried out at the same intervals by the Ministry of Environment, Infrastructure, and Territory, which between June 1 and September 15 monitors the bathing areas of all Valencian beaches to ensure they are in optimal condition."
We also publish these analyses from the Ministry so that they can be consulted by the public.
In addition to these analyses during the summer season, "there are also those carried out at different times of the year by quality control bodies that audit Benidorm's beaches year after year." As a result of these "demanding audits, Benidorm's beaches now fly the Q for Tourism Quality, the Qualitur, the Blue Flag, EMAS certification, Ecoplayas, and the S for Sustainability."
Gómez emphasised that "Benidorm's beaches are almost certainly the most monitored and audited in the entire Mediterranean, and they are so throughout the year, not just during the summer."
The new Qualitur, Ecoplayas, and Blue Flags, revalidated this year, are scheduled to be unveiled today, Thursday; and the Q for Quality and S for Sustainability will follow suit in the coming weeks.