Do you know the Playa de La Rijana, which is on the way to Castell de Ferro from Calahonda? Well it’s the first in the province to get a certain environmental award.

You will have heard of Banderas Azules? Plenty of places have them, but Rijana’s award is the much sought-after Bandera Verde, which was hoisted last Friday.

There were plenty of administrative bigwigs present at the ceremony, including representatives from the Junta, the Provincial Council and the Area Council (La Mancomunidad).

At present, there are only ten beaches in the whole of Andalucia that have a Green Flag, most of which are in Málaga and Cádiz. Playa Rijana is a natural, or non-urban beach, situated in an area of special protection.

Just a bit further along, in Castell, Playa El Sotillo now sports a Q de Calidad plaque, so the eastern end of the Costa Tropical is looking up in that respect.

The Green Flag category, as stipulated in the ISO 14001, not only requires a provention plan against pollution, but also requires constant improvement, so you can’t rest on your laurels. Such beaches also have to have separate rubbish containers for plastics, glass and other waste materials to ensure efficient recycling.

A last quick point: this beach was used as a location for the film South of Granada based on the Gerald Brenan novel of that name.

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(News: Castell de Ferro, Costa Tropical, Granada, Andalucia)