Brit tourists issued grim warning as six Spanish beaches handed 'black flags'

Six Spanish beaches have been slapped with "black flags" due to their concerning levels of pollution in a fresh blow to British tourists looking to holiday there this summer.

The NGO Ecologists in Action handed them out to beaches polluted with wastewater discharges and environmental mismanagement. 

The Valencian Community region of Spain was given a shocking six black flags - two for each of its three provinces - and exposed for its use of "wrong coastal solutions" in the Albufera Natural Park.

Ecologists in Action said: "The policy of managing the setbacks of the beaches on the coast Valencia province is totally ineffective and unsustainable.

"It devours the natural resources of other coastal and marine spaces, wastes public money that comes out of the pockets of citizens and is carried out with a short-term vision that will never solve the problem, but it will perpetuate it over time, since it does not act on the main causes that originate it."

In Alicante, an incredibly popular destination for British tourists, Barranco beach and Amerador beach were found to be polluted.

They're both situated in areas that have twice been affected by human waste - in March and April this year - which came from a pumping station in the bed of the ravine that leads to the beach.

The Bay of Alicante was also given a black flag for "poor management". This area includes four beaches at Cap l’horta, Albufera, Postiguet and Saint Gabriel.

The Castellon province next to Valencia in the east of the country also saw flags for pollution handed to the coastal area of Grao-Camino Serratella in Borriana

Ecologists in action were disgusted with the state of the coast due to "recurrent sewage leaks due to the collapse of the evacuation network when it rains".

This is the latest blow to Brits hoping to flock to mainland Spain and its island after protests in the Balearic and Canary Islands earlier this month and in May. 

Last week, thousands marched in Majorca and Menorca to protest against overtourism and overcrowing. Tourism makes up nearly half of the Balearic Islands' GDP, but this has caused an increase in holiday rentals pricing locals out.

Carme Reines, a protestor in Palma de Majorca, said: "We want the authorities to stop people who have not lived here more than five years from buying properties and to put more controls on holiday accommodation."

Javier Carbonell, a real estate agent on the island added: "We want less mass tourism and more sustainable tourism."