The Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE), through ADEAC in Spain, has published the official list of Blue Flags 2026

Spain revalidates its world leadership with a historical record of 794 distinctions (677 beaches and 111 marinas)

Andalusia adds 143 beaches and 22 ports , and the Costa Tropical of Granada signs one of its best campaigns: 14 beaches and 1 marina certified

Executive Summary: 15 distinctions for the Costa Tropical In 2026, the province of Granada consolidates a certified coastal network that combines tourist infrastructure, rigorous environmental management and, for the first time in almost four decades, the historic recovery of Poniente Beach in Motril

Below is the complete inventory: Municipality Coastal entity Type Notes 2026 Almuñécar San Cristóbal Urban beach Renewed Almuñécar Puerta del Mar Urban beach (1,140 m, sand/gravel) Renewed Almuñécar Velilla Urban beach (1,470 m) Renewed Almuñécar La Herradura Semi-urban Caretta caretta turtle release point Almuñécar Marina del Este (Los Berengueles) Semi-urban cove Renewed Almuñécar P.D

Marina del Este Marina (227 berths) 36th consecutive year Motril Playa de Poniente Urban Recovered after 38 years Motril Playa Granada Semi-urban Renewed Motril Carchuna Semi-urban (3,000 m, coarse sand) Renewed Motril Calahonda Semi-urban Renewed Gualchos-Castell de Ferro Sotillo-Castell Urban Renewed Gualchos-Castell de Ferro Cambriles Urban Renewed Torrenueva Costa Torrenueva Urban (1,700 m) Renewed Torrenueva Costa Del Cañón-La Pelá Semi-urban Renewed Salobreña La Guardia Semi-urban 6th consecutive year Motril: the rebirth of Poniente Beach The most relevant milestone of the campaign is the recovery of the Blue Flag at Poniente Beach after 38 years

It is not an administrative procedure: it is the culmination of a municipal investment of close to three million euros in two years, aimed at repairing breakwaters damaged by successive storms, mechanizing sand management (screening, turning, destoning, leveling) and reorganizing the coastal waste cycle

This restructuring has earned Motril the Golden Broom 2026 from ATEGRUS, which recognizes national excellence in urban cleaning

The municipality thus closes a constellation of four certified beaches: Carchuna, Calahonda, Playa Granada and Playa de Poniente itself

Carchuna: deep waters between Sacratif Lighthouse and El Farillo With a length of 3,000 meters , a substrate of coarse sand and gravel, and oceanographically deep and clean waters, Carchuna is visually delimited between the Sacratif Lighthouse and the old Arab tower of El Farillo, which separates it from Calahonda

Almuñécar: hegemony with five beaches and the only certified marina Almuñécar revalidates its five beaches (San Cristóbal, Puerta del Mar, Velilla, La Herradura and Marina del Este) and maintains the only port facility with a Blue Flag in the province : the Marina del Este Sports Port , which celebrates its 36th consecutive year with the distinction

Marina del Este: marine biomimicry laboratory The marina, with 227 berths, has deployed in collaboration with Ocean Ecostructures six biomimetic micro-reefs — Life Boosting Units (LBUs) — in April 2025

The first monitoring phase, consolidated for the 2026 campaign, yields conclusive data: +79% species richness within the port. 34 marine species in the LBUs compared to 19 in the concrete walls used as control

More than 14 kg of biomass generated by green algae of the genus Valonia (sea pearl), which act as a carbon fixer

Proliferation of the calcareous tube-forming polychaete Filograna sp. , an indicator of a mature benthic trophic network

La Herradura: sanctuary for the Caretta caretta La Herradura has recently been the point where the Ministry of Environment successfully released two loggerhead turtles — 'Iván' and 'Satélite 23' —, highlighting the role of the Granada coast in the conservation of threatened marine fauna

Salobreña, Gualchos and Torrenueva Costa: stability and maturity Salobreña consolidates its sustainable management with the sixth consecutive renewal of La Guardia, while simultaneously processing the Q for Quality tourism certification for La Charca and specific certifications for Punta del Río

Gualchos-Castell de Ferro maintains Sotillo-Castell and Cambriles, and Torrenueva Costa revalidates the extensive urban beach of Torrenueva (1,700 m) and the semi-urban Del Cañón-La Pelá

Safety and rescue: the backbone of ADEAC Lifesaving services in Spain carried out nationally more than 1.6 million interventions , directly saving 10,154 lives , transferring 26,350 people to health centers and resuscitating 674 using defibrillators and basic life support

These magnitudes reinforce that any serious tourist portal should place safety information —lifeguard posts, AED locations, universal accessibility— as first-level data

New for 2026: the "Soludable" mention ADEAC has introduced in 2026 the special mention "Soludable" , focused on the prevention of risks due to high temperatures and exposure to ultraviolet radiation

Although the mentions this year went to municipalities in Cadiz and Malaga (Chiclana, Fuengirola and Mijas), it marks a clear roadmap for the Costa Tropical: integrate real-time UV index and thermal risk warnings at coastal information points

Growth areas for Granada: Blue Trails, Blue Centers and Special Mentions The province has room to add recognitions in parallel FEE programs

In 2026, ADEAC has distinguished 104 Blue Centers nationwide (26 in the Valencian Community, 19 in the rest of Andalusia), and new Blue Trails in Galicia, Murcia and the Valencian Community

The Costa Tropical, with consolidated networks such as the Water Route or the Poqueira Ravine, has the natural asset; it remains to capitalize on it administratively for 2027

Implications for the local tourism sector Francisco Trujillo, president of the Association of Beach Bars and Beach Entrepreneurs of the Costa Tropical, stressed that the 14 flags come after months of storms that severely punished the coast

The certification functions as a macroeconomic stabilizer for hospitality, hotels and nautical services, and allows tourism managers to transmit confidence to national and international markets

Conclusion The 2026 Blue Flags in the Costa Tropical form an ecosystem of data where public administration, applied marine biology and resilience engineering converge

From the deep waters of Carchuna to the biomimetic reefs of Marina del Este, passing through the symbolic recovery of Poniente Beach, the province of Granada consolidates a coastal model that combines environmental excellence, safety and active sustainability

Sources: ADEAC-FEE, Municipalities of the Costa Tropical, ATEGRUS, Ocean Ecostructures.