Quality policy on beaches
El Ejido Town Council has implemented a quality management system on the Levante, Poniente, San Miguel and Balerma beaches in accordance with the “UNE-ISO 13009. Tourism and related services” in order to achieve the satisfaction of all those who visit these beaches, providing them with all kinds of services and facilities.
El Ejido Town Council undertakes, within its possibilities, to establish the technical and economic means necessary to curb pollution and prevent it at source, as well as to prevent and eliminate as far as possible any impact that may be caused on the environment as a result of its activities. It also guarantees the monitoring of all activities carried out on the coast, establishing mechanisms for continuous improvement, in collaboration with all sectors of the municipality, ensuring the evolution of both the environmental quality of the environment and the services provided.
In the development of all activities carried out on the aforementioned beaches, the Town Council undertakes to establish initiatives to ensure compliance with the laws and regulations, as well as the demands of users and other requirements applicable to the activities carried out on the beaches, and to promote the participation of all staff and users in the protection and improvement of the coastline, through training and awareness programmes, with an emphasis on communication at all levels.
The Town Council periodically defines and evaluates quality objectives in order to promote continuous improvement.
The beaches are a common good, therefore, from the Town Council we want to involve all users in this project, promoting their collaboration, and seeking the satisfaction of all those who in one way or another enjoy the beaches.
June, 2023
Useful information on beaches
Quality certificates in El Ejido beaches
The beach quality labels are nationally and internationally recognised systems whose purpose is to check and manage the quality and good condition of the beaches.
By means of standardised parameters and the flags and badges awarded, users can check which beaches comply with quality, environmental and accessibility requirements, and they are also useful tools for promoting tourism for the municipalities themselves.
The distinctive signs awarded to the beaches of El Ejido are the Blue Flag, Q for Tourist Quality, SICTED Destination and Ecoplayas.
Blue Flag
The Blue Flag is an annual award and certification system for environmental quality developed by the FEE (Foundation for Environmental Education) since 1987. It promotes and rewards participation in voluntary environmental initiatives by municipal authorities, local and visiting populations and tourism stakeholders. The criteria for obtaining the Blue Flag are grouped into four areas: bathing water quality, environmental information and education, environmental management and safety, services and facilities.
The Blue Flag is already a symbol, recognised and valued by tens of millions of beach and port users, and a world standard for tourism eco-quality, promoted by the UNWTO (World Tourism Organisation) and the UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme). Its global success is due to the fact that it responds to a universal social “need”, felt and attended to by the FEE, for more than 25 years with common obligatory criteria agreed and periodically renewed. Blue Flag is the voluntary initiative in favour of sustainability, stimulation and certification of quality in the tourism sector with the:
- longest-standing and continuous, since 1984;
- largest cooperation and institutional support from UNEP-UNEP, UNWTO, IUCN, governments, foundations, etc..;
- largest geographical extension and implantation in 46 states on five continents;
- largest rapid extension and current potential for growth.
The beaches of El Ejido awarded with the Blue Flag are Poniente, Levante, San Miguel and Balerma.
Q for Tourism Quality
The “Q” for Tourism Quality is the mark that represents quality in the Spanish tourism sector. The “Q” provides the tourist establishments that hold it with: prestige, differentiation, reliability, rigorousness and promotion by the Secretary of State for Tourism and the Autonomous Communities.
The establishments endorsed by the “Q for Quality” have passed strict audits that ensure that their service is a guarantee of quality, safety and professionalism. All of this to ensure the best possible tourist experience for customers.
The Institute for Spanish Tourism Quality (ICTE in Spanish) is responsible for awarding the Q Mark for “Tourist Quality”. The ICTE is a Certification Entity of Quality Systems specially created for tourism companies, formed by the most important national tourism associations of this country, the SET, the CCAA and the FEMP.
The beaches of El Ejido awarded with the Q for tourism quality are Poniente, Levante, San Miguel and Balerma.
Ecoplayas
The Ecoplayas Flag is awarded, through a strict system of information and evaluation, to those municipalities and supra-municipal entities that stand out for the quality of their beaches from an environmental, tourism and sustainability point of view, with the aim of disseminating their efforts, innovations and achievements. In this way, the aim is to promote excellence in the design, equipment and maintenance of the great asset that is Spain’s beaches, as well as their tourism development.
The factors to be assessed are concrete criteria that are easy to document, demonstrate and evaluate, always from the point of view of beach engineering and sustainability, as well as tourism aspects.
The beaches of El Ejido awarded with the Ecoplayas flag are Poniente, Levante, San Miguel and Balerma.
