/ Town Hall
Tuesday 12th June 2018
CALVIÀ, THE SPANISH MUNICIPALITY WITH THE MOST Q QUALITY FLAGS THIS SUMMER ON ITS BEACHES
With 13 certified beaches, it leads the beaches rank certified by the Spanish Tourist Quality Institute
A total of 22 beaches and 4 marinas will enjoy the distinctive this year in the Balearic Islands
(Press release from the Spanish Tourist Quality Institute)
MADRID 12-06-2018. Calvià has become the Spanish municipality with the most Q flags this summer on its beaches, ahead of Cartagena and Sanxenxo. Meanwhile, the number of Q flags continues to grow in the Balearic Islands. This year 2018, there are already 22 beaches and 4 marinas that will wave this distinctive awarded by the Spanish Tourist Quality Institute and that certifies that they meet stringent quality, safety, rigour and professionalism criteria in management and in the services they offer.
This year, a total of 248 Spanish beaches and 21 marinas have achieved the certification. The Q flag is the only Spanish quality distinctive for beaches of our country and is achieved after carrying out an exhaustive audit that certifies compliance with the international quality standard UNE-ISO 13009, which is a standard agreed at international level in more than 90 countries. The audits are carried out by auditors independent from the ICTE and qualified in the management of public use of beaches and marinas.
Practically, in all the Autonomous Communities with coast, there has been a growth in the number of Q Flags. Also this year, Basque Country and Ceuta have been incorporated, whose beaches will enjoy this flag for the first time. As in 2017, Andalusia leads the ranking with 92 certified beaches, followed by the Valencian Community with 47, the Murcia Region with 37, the Balearic Islands with 22 and Galicia with 19. Catalonia has achieved 12, Cantabria 11, Asturias 6. Basque Country and Ceuta close the list with one each. As for the Marinas, 13 have achieved the distintictive in Galicia and four in the Balearic Islands and Cantabria.
For a beach or a marina to display the Q Flag, it must perform an audit that guarantees the quality, safety, rigour and professionalism of the services it offers. Amongst other aspects, equipment for public use, cleaning services and selective collection of waste, safety devices, rescue and first aid, information services, access to the bathing area, toilet services and other services of leisure establishments are analysed. The ICTE is audited by the National Accreditation Entity (ENAC).
This accreditation verifies the technical solvency, transparency and objectivity at the time of granting the Q seal of guarantee for Tourist Quality.
The president of the ICTE, Miguel Mirones has highlighted that in these 11 years of accreditation, it has gone from 70 to 248 certified beaches, which indicates the great growth that this quality distinction has had which is granted by the Spanish Tourist Quality Institute and which certifies that they comply with demanding criteria ranging from the environmental aspect to the needs that customers have of these natural areas. "This success is due to the effort made by the town halls that have opted for quality. The Q Flag guarantees a proper environmental respect on a beach as well as the rigour of an efficient tourist service adapted to the demands of customers", he said. The president of ICTE has stated that quality should be the axis on which tourism policies are based, since it guarantees sustainability, accessibility and respect for the natural and cultural heritage of our tourism.
The Spanish Tourist Quality Institute is a certification body for quality management systems specifically aimed at tourism organisations (public and private). It is the only manager of the Q Quality Tourism guarantee brand and the main employers of the Spanish tourism sector are part of it with the support of the State Secretariat for Tourism and the rest of the public sector. In total, it certifies 23 tourist sub-sectors: hotels, restaurants, beaches, convention centres, tourist assistance offices, rural homes, marinas, etc.
Andreu Serra, deputy mayor responsible for the area of Coastline, and the general director of Tourism, Joan Mesquida, attended the flag-delivery event that has been held in Madrid.
CALVIÀ Q FLAGS:
Cala Contesa
Cala de Ses Penyes Roges
Cala Vinyes
Illetas beach summer resort
La Romana beach
Palmanova beach
S'Oratori beach
Torà beach
Des Carregador beach
Magaluf beach
Palmira beach
Santa Ponça beach
Son Maties beach
