Space-time evolution of the Blue Flag beaches in the Balearic Islands (1987-2018), consequences of improving themand their morphological recovery

Abstract

Since the end of the 20th century, urban or semi-urban beaches have been awarded the Blue Flag status to commend environmental quality standards in systems where the environment had been reduced due to the application of planning and/or management measures that did not include, in many cases, geomorphological criteria. The study analyses, the space-time evolution of 20 beaches of the Balearic Islands distinguished with the Blue Flag between 1987 and 2018 using geo-environmental variables, which proved that the award, by itself, has not contributed to the geomorphological improvement of these beach/dune systems. The use of the variables means that the trends of each beach can be analysed to determine management measures aimed at the recovery of the exploited system.