Enter, among the 14 new features, Ortona, Porto Sant’Elpidio, Lecce, Taorminae Borgio Verezzi. Instead, four come out: Ameglia And Taggia (in Liguria), Margaret of Savoy (Puglia) e Marciana Marina (Tuscany). They are the municipalities that take turns in the new edition of Blue Flags, the awards assigned by the NGO Fee (Foundation for Environmental Education) to coastal municipalities and tourist ports that stand out for the quality of their waters combined with the level of services offered to residents and visitors, analyzed taking into account a large number of parameters. Also for this edition, number 38, Repubblica gives a preview of the stretches of coastline (the flags go to the municipalities but they only concern specific beaches and not the entirety of their beaches) selected by the national jury on the basis of 32 very detailed criteria and updated from year to year.
The numbers of the 2024 edition
This year’s numbers say that the flag will be able to fly in 236 coastal locations compared to 226 in the last edition and in 81 tourist ports (three less than in 2023). Overall, these 236 municipalities bring together 485 award-winning beaches (each locality can include multiple Blue Flag sections but, it is worth remembering, municipalities cannot plant the flag on all their beaches), corresponding to approximately 11.5% of those awarded worldwide.
During the awards ceremony at the CNR headquarters in Rome, the Fee he recalled the scope of the evaluations conducted by the commission, to which various institutional bodies contributed including the ministries of Tourism, agriculture and the environment and energy security, the Higher Institute of Health, the orders of chemists and physicists, naturally the National Research Council and universities such as that of Tuscia with the Marine Ecology Laboratory and that of Perugia for Foreigners. Added to these are private organizations such as seaside resort unions (Sib-Confcommercio, Fiba and Confesercenti). The subsequent approval by the international jury led to the final maps, which can be explored on this page to identify municipalities, landing places and individual beaches, a very useful compass in view of the summer season.
How they are assigned
To evaluate the condition of the waters, the FEE considers those bathing areas classified as excellent in the last four years, as established by the results of the analyzes carried out by the regional agencies for environmental protection as part of the national monitoring program conducted by Ministry of Health. The municipalities then present these results, to which is added the evaluation of the other program criteria. These are parameters that revolve around land management and environmental education implemented by administrations to protect the local ecosystem and promote sustainable tourism as much as possible.
They range from the presence and functionality of purification plants to the percentage of sewer connections up to waste management, moving on to the initiatives launched by administrations for better liveability in the summer period. The presence of pedestrian areas and cycle paths, landscaping and health services are also considered. Not only that: the valorisation of any naturalistic areas present in the area, the care of street furniture and beaches and the possibility of access to the sea for all without limitations are evaluated.
Mazza: “From sea management to the community”
“There are 485 beaches awarded the recognition, both free and under concession, all characterized by the rigid criteria of the program: from accessibility to safety to services – he explains Claudio Mazza, president of the Fee Italia Foundation, at Repubblica – a management of the coast and the entire territory, which allows the Blue Flag municipalities to be virtuous examples of an integrated policy that starts from the sea and extends to all sectors and the community. On the other hand, the Blue Flag increasingly represents an important indicator for tourists in choosing a tourist destination, and this happens because each municipality awarded the recognition – from the largest to the smallest, from the sea to the lakes, from north to south – is a guarantee of quality, from the valorization of natural resources to services for tourists. A round of applause therefore to the Blue Flag administrations and an invitation to the municipalities still outside the program to start the process, even if it seems long”.
The ranking by regions: Liguria, Puglia, Campania and Calabria
Coming to the ranking by regions, the Liguria marks two new entries (Borgio Verezzi and Recco) but loses the two flags already mentioned, therefore confirming 34 locations. There Puglia goes up to 24 awards with three new municipalities (Lecce, Manduria and Patù) and one exit (Margherita di Savoia). They follow with 20 Flags Campania and the Calabria, which both obtain an extra recognition, Cellole and Parghelia respectively. With a new entrance (Porto Sant’Elpidio), the Marche they receive 19 Blue Flags, while it drops to 18 Tuscany who loses Marciana Marina.
There Sardinia confirms its 15 locations, reached byAbruzzowhich rises to 15 with a new entry (Ortona) while the Sicily touches 14 Flags with three new entrances (Letojanni, Scicli and Taormina), the Trentino Alto Adige (the Flags they go too to the lakes) rises to 12 with two more municipalities (Tenno and Vallelaghi) while the Lazio stay at ten. L’Emilia Romagna sees nine locations awarded and as many Flags for the Veneto. There Basilicata confirms its five locations and there are always five municipalities in Piedmont who get the Flags. There Lombardy confirms three locations, the Friuli Venezia Giulia maintains the two Flags of the previous year, like the Molise.
The work on inclusion with Dynamo Camp
The parameter linked to social commitment and inclusion was also confirmed for 2024, in line with the UN 2030 Agenda for sustainable development. To stimulate local administrations in this process, the Fe Italia Foundation has maintained its collaboration with the Dynamo Camp Foundation, one of the most important Italian companies that since 2006 has been offering free specific recreational therapy programs aimed at children and adolescents suffering from chronic diseases, in therapy or in the post-hospitalization period and their families. Furthermore, changing front, the project Blue Flag-Fishing and Environment developed in recent years with the general directorate of fisheries of the ministry of agriculture, it works to raise awareness in the fishing world of environmental issues and the valorization of local traditions.
