The international organisation, Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE), has awarded 96 Italian beach communities with the prestigious “blue flag” award, six more than last year. Blue flags are given on the basis of a rigid set of standards including water quality, waste management and recycling, and facilities for bathers.

 

However it gave the thumbs down to large areas of Lazio’s coasts. Four beaches in Lazio – Gaeta, Sperlonga, Sabaudia and Anzio – were awarded with a Bandiera Blu for 2007, the same number as last year. But the long stretch of beaches known as “Mare di Roma”, which includes the Ostia seafront, once more revealed unsafe levels of pollution, peaking at Fiumicino and the mouth of the Tiber. The five-km area between Capocotta and Castelporziano was also blackballed.

Lazio’s regional government has allocated €400 million over the next seven years for cleaner seas and the improvement of sewage systems.

This year Tuscany boasts the greatest number of blue flags in Italy with 15 beaches awarded. Liguria was awarded 13, Abruzzo and Marche 12, Emilia Romagna and Campania nine. Sardinia received just one blue flag, a fact criticised by the local tourist board which questioned the judging criteria.