tenerife black flags las teresitas cuna del alma

Tenerife takes the lead: Black Flags for Las Teresitas and Cuna del Alma

Tenerife tops the list in annual coastal ‘Black Flag’ report

The coast of Tenerife has become the clearest example of shoreline deterioration in the Canary Islands this year. The federation Ben Magec-Ecologistas en Acción has published its traditional ‘Black Flags’ list, a nationwide report identifying the most critical points along the Spanish coast due to pollution or poor management. Of the four distinctions awarded in the Canary Islands, two directly highlight the most severe environmental conflicts on Tenerife: the historic neglect of Las Teresitas beach and the reactivated construction work on the Cuna del Alma project in Adeje. The organisation insists these flags serve to draw attention to “the most urgent points requiring intervention” in the face of public administration inaction and pressure from tourism and urban development.

Las Teresitas: A black flag for pollution from chronic neglect

The environmental group has awarded a Black Flag for Pollution to Santa Cruz’s main beach due to what it describes as “severe, planned neglect spanning decades.” Ben Magec reports that residents of San Andrés and beach users in Santa Cruz suffer the daily consequences of uncontrolled urban waste dumping, privatisation and encroachment on public spaces, a lack of essential infrastructure, and serious problems with accessibility and safety, all compounded by the degradation of the area’s natural and ethnographic heritage.

Cuna del Alma: Third consecutive black flag for the Adeje mega-project

For the third year running, the controversial Cuna del Alma complex in Puertito de Adeje has been awarded a Black Flag, this time for Mismanagement. The organisation points out that this site is the last remaining coastal village in the south-west of the island free from large-scale construction, possessing enormous historical and environmental value. They denounce that work resumed in November 2024 despite the project lacking an environmental impact assessment and having already received five precautionary suspension orders. The ecologists trust that the numerous ongoing legal proceedings will ultimately result in convictions for what they term a genuine “ecocide.”

Two other critical points across the archipelago

The report from Ecologistas en Acción completes its map of the archipelago with two further serious black spots on the other islands. Gran Canaria receives a Black Flag for Pollution due to chronic discharges from industrial aquaculture cages off the coast of Telde. The report recalls the severe incident in 2025, when a mass die-off and subsequent putrefaction of sea bass forced the closure of emblematic beaches such as Melenara and Salinetas, spreading contamination across much of Gran Canaria’s coastline. Complaints about these facilities date back to 1999. Meanwhile, Arrecife on Lanzarote has been awarded a Black Flag for Mismanagement in response to the impact of tourist overcrowding from cruise ships. For 2026, the forecasted arrival of 700,000 cruise passengers is a figure the organisation describes as “unacceptable and exorbitant,” as it multiplies Arrecife’s population tenfold and overwhelms public services and protected spaces such as Timanfaya National Park.

A collective victory alongside the warnings

Despite these alarming reports, Ben Magec-Ecologistas en Acción has celebrated one collective victory: the definitive abandonment of the controversial ‘Underwater Gardens’ theme park project. They also noted that, although last year Playa Jardín in Puerto de la Cruz was successfully reopened for bathing following its pollution problems, groups such as the Plataforma Stop Vertidos insist that “there is still a very great deal to do” regarding wastewater treatment across the islands.

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