Articles

In the summer of 2015, Tortolì received the Blue Flag for the beaches of Cea and Orrì.

Blue Flags 2015 in Sardinia: Tortolì, with its beaches of cea and Orrì, is this year’s new entry among the Sardinian localities (seven in total)  will be the proud holder of this prestigious award. The other Sardinian localities awarded are Quartu Sant’ Elena - Poetto; Palau - Palau Vecchio and Sciumara; La Maddalena - Punta Tegge and Spalmatore; Santa Teresa Gallura - La Rena Bianca; Oristano - Torre Grande; Castelsardo - Ampurias.
Despite this good trend (in 2010, the Sardinian Blue Flags were only two), Sardinia is still behind the other Italian regions. Among the 135 awarded Italian localities (and 248 beaches in total since in some localities more than one beach may be awarded), Lazio is the lion’s share with 20 (+2) localities, followed by Marche with 18 (+2), Tuscany with 17 (+1), Abruzzo with 14 and Campania with 13. Also Apulia (with 10) and Emilia-Romagna (8) come before Sardinia. In other words, there is still much to do.

The Blue Flag is a certification voluntarily requested to the FEE and requirements mainly include bathing waters quality (values are stricter than national regulations and regular samples are requested during the summer), offered services (for example beaches equipped with all the needed services and lifeguard staff, accessibility for everybody, but also hotels, hospitals, tourist information, updated road signs) and environment respect (for example wastewater and sewage system purification in at least 80% of the municipal territory, separation in garbage collection, correct management of dangerous wastes, but also large pedestrian areas, cycle lanes, well-finished town/city street fittings, green areas).
Of course, we hope that always more Sardinian localities will request, deserve and therefore obtain their own Blue Flag in the following years: let’s continue to grow!