It’s difficult to quite understand why Orihuela’s politicians were so surprised on Tuesday when they learned that the Playa Flamenca Beach at Cala Estaca had failed in its bid for a blue flag in the 2024 round of awards.
ADEAC, the body responsible for granting these tourist quality badges, has ordered the removal of the banner that hung from the flagpole above Cala Estaca, in Playa Flamenca. This sandy beach, next to Cala Mosca, has been suffering from constant problems with spills of an unknown origin since last summer. However, the council is claiming that it still doesn’t know the reasons for this loss of the blue flag, stating that they are waiting for Adeac to tell them what they should do to put things right.
Regular users know that beach has a history of such spills with the neighbourhood association, AVCRL, regularly denouncing the situation of the discharge. However, even they are surprised by the loss suffered by Cala Estaca, particularly as the neighbouring Cala Mosca beach, which in recent times has had a much greater problem with uncontrolled spillages, has still received the blue flag award.
Just a few weeks ago, AVCRL denounced the enormous puddle that had appeared in Cala Mosca, with greenish waters and a proliferation of plants, algae and mosquitoes. They even expressed their doubts that the presence of this spill could hinder the start-up of facilities such as walkways, footbaths, and also the siting of the beach bar that has just been awarded after a year-long absence just prior to the start of the summer season.
The Department of the Coast has always denied that these liquids are fecal, although they recognize that successive analyzes have not been conclusive when determining their likely origin, although they did respond by opening a ditch to the shore to facilitate the evacuation of these waters.
Until now, the municipal ‘modus operandi’ in the face of the appearance of these spillages has been to tape off the area and then to remove them using mechanical means, covering them with fresh sand to erase any trace of the incident.
Orihuela has always boasted of being one of the municipalities with the most blue flags in the whole of Spain. Until now it had 11, but with the loss of Cala Estaca that number is reduced to 10.
At the national level, the municipalities that have overtaken Orihuela in recent years are Vigo (12 blue flags) and Sanxenxo (18), which leaves the capital of Vega Baja in third place in the national ranking.
Immediate neighbours with which it shares the coast (Torrevieja, Pilar de la Horadada and Guardamar) have preserved all of their distinctive features. Thus, this summer in the salt city they will have blue flags again in Cabo Cervera, Cala Piteras, El Cura, Los Locos, Los Náufragos and Torrelamata-Sur. Pilar de la Horadada to the south will have the samenumber of flags in Playa Conde, Higuericas, Jesuitas, Mil Palmeras, Puerto and Rocamar, while in Guardamar there will be flags flying over Centro, Moncayo, La Roqueta and Vivers.
