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The Region of Murcia has picked up two dreaded Black Flags in this year's annual awards from environmental group Ecologistas en Acción, with Portmán Bay singled out for pollution and the Mar Menor lagoon flagged for poor management.

 

It's a bittersweet picture for the Region, coming in the same year that Murcia has had its best ever haul of Blue Flags, with 41 heading to the Region for 2026, five more than last year, covering 33 beaches and eight marinas across six municipalities.

 

The Black Flags, which the organisation has handed out to the same two sites as last year, paint a less rosy picture of the Murcian coastline, which Ecologistas en Acción says continues to suffer from the combined impact of urbanisation, tourism, agriculture, desalination plants, fishing and aquaculture.

 

Portmán Bay, next to the Sierra Minera in the municipality of La Unión, earns its flag in the pollution category, with the group pointing to the lasting legacy of heavy metal contamination left behind by mining activity in the second half of the 20th century. Ecologistas en Acción criticised the central government for choosing to completely seal off the bay rather than pursue a partial regeneration project that local residents would prefer, and took aim at the regional government for failing to apply the Environmental Recovery Plan for Soils Affected by Mining, known as PRASAM.

 

The Mar Menor's Black Flag comes in the mismanagement category, with the organisation warning that the lagoon is going through a eutrophic crisis driven by poor land management and inadequate oversight of its watershed. Nutrients from agricultural and livestock sources are identified as the main trigger, with urban development, tourist pressure and boat traffic all adding to the damage.

 

According to Ecologistas en Acción, fundamental issues around sediment reduction have gone unresolved since the notorious "green soup" episode of 2016, and the group accused the agribusiness sector of leaning on the Regional Assembly to water down environmental protections.

 

The organisation's recommended fix for both sites is the same: nature-based solutions and the restoration of degraded environments.

 

Image: Ecologistas en Acción