Lecce (San Cataldo), Patù and Manduria

The number of coastal locations that will be able to boast the 2024 Blue Flag recognition has risen to 236, ten more than last year.
Liguria is always first on the podium, marking 2 new entries but losing two Flags, thus confirming 34 locations; Puglia rises to 24 with 3 new Municipalities and one exit while Campania and Calabria follow on equal terms with 20 Flags, with one more recognition each. With a new entry, the Marche region receives 19 Blue Flags, while Tuscany loses a Municipality to 18. Sardinia confirms its 15 locations, Abruzzo also rises to 15 with a new entry, Sicily reaches 14 Flags with three new entries, Trentino Alto Adige rises to 12 with two more Municipalities, Lazio remains at 10. In Emilia Romagna awarded 9 locations and reconfirmed the 9 Flags of Veneto. Basilicata confirms its 5 localities, and there are also 5 Municipalities in Piedmont that obtain the Flags. Lombardy confirms 3 Municipalities, Friuli Venezia Giulia maintains its 2, like Molise.

This year there are 23 Blue Flags on the lakes, with 2 new ones.
In total there are 14 new entries: Ortona (Abruzzo), Parghelia (Calabria), Cellole (Campania), Borgio Verezzi (Liguria), Recco (Liguria), Porto Sant’Elpidio (Marche), Lecce (Puglia), Manduria (Puglia), Patù (Puglia)Letojanni (Sicily), Scicli (Sicily), Taormina (Sicily), Tenno (Trentino Alto Adige), Vallelaghi (Trentino Alto Adige).
Four municipalities were not reconfirmed: Ameglia (Liguria), Taggia (Liguria), Margaret of Savoy (Puglia) and Marciana Marina (Tuscany).

In the Blue Flag award ceremony, today at the CNR headquarters in Rome, in the presence of the mayors and the Minister for Civil Protection and Maritime Policies, Nello Musumeci, the president of the Fee Italia Foundation, Claudio Mazza, underlined that increasing the number of flags, «but what is growing is above all the sensitivity and awareness of the citizens, who deserve the credit for this recognition. Every Blue Flag Administration knows well that virtuous management of the territory also necessarily involves the training and involvement of individuals, schools, associations, local activities and all operators”.

And in fact, great importance is given to the management of the territory implemented by the municipal administrations which aim for the Blue Flag also to promote their territory on a tourist level. The 32 criteria of the Program, explains Fee Italia, are updated periodically in order to push the participating local administrations to commit to solving, and improving over time, the problems relating to land management for careful protection of the environment.
In the evaluation phase carried out by the Commission according to a rigid procedural scheme, various institutional bodies made their contribution, including the ministries of Tourism, Agriculture, Food Sovereignty and Forestry, the Environment and Energy Security; the Istituto Superiore di Sanità; the Orders of Chemists and Physicists; the National Research Council; University of Tuscia and the University for Foreigners of Perugia; and private organizations such as seaside unions (Sib-Confcommercio and Fiba Confesercenti). The subsequent approval by the international jury led to the achievement of the final result.

The 81 award-winning landing places, explains Fee Italia, demonstrate that the tourist port has consolidated the sustainability choices undertaken, meeting the requirements for the international award, guaranteeing the quality and quantity of the services provided in full environmental compatibility.
The Fee, founded in 1981, is an international non-governmental and non-profit organisation, registered as a charity in the United Kingdom and with headquarters in Copenhagen, Denmark, currently present in 81 countries on five continents. The main objective of the Fee programs is the dissemination of good practices for environmental sustainability, through multiple education and training activities, with particular attention to schools of all levels. (

APPLAUSE FROM THE MAYOR OF LECCE SALVEMINI