Today, for the first time since 2016, the Blue Flag flies in the ever-present wind on the beach of IJmuiden aan Zee and on the Noordpier. The flag can only be seen in ports and on beaches that have the EU ‘excellent’ seal of approval. Admittedly, kite surfers are not yet looking for their beach, but “I see the flag more and more and I also think it’s a good thing that attention is paid to water quality”, says kiter Michiel.
The water in the two places in IJmuiden was no longer clean enough for the quality mark after 2016, but it has been fine for three years now. And for so many years it has to be almost spotless again before the Stichting Keurmerk Milieu, Safety and Quality (KMVK) issues its certification.
Today there are dozens of men and women on the beach of IJmuiden aan Zee in a wetsuit and a kite that has just been unfolded or folded. Not that they ran out especially for the festive flag hoisting, there is just a lot of wind.
“Is that like blue ports?”
“Blue flag? What is that?”, the kite friends Miguel and Gijs laugh, their hair still wet from their surf session. But afterwards it turns out that they have heard the bell tolling, but do not know where the clapper is: “Is that something like the blue harbours, you have those too? It is clean water, by the way, you notice that, especially compared to inland waterways.”
And that of the Blue Flag ports is like that. As mentioned: in addition to clean beaches, the waving quality mark is also for clean marinas. Seaport Marina, further away in IJmuiden, has been hoisting the Blue Flag continuously since 1999.
All those blue flags for clean waters had already been noticed by Michiel, who is pumping his kite a few meters away. “You see them more and more, that’s true. I’m not looking for my beach and sea, it’s not that far yet. I live nearby. I come here at Westenwind, at Oostenwind I go to the IJsselmeer. But you see that flag more and more and that seems good to me.”
“Unlucky that we no longer had it from 2016”
The outgoing alderman for beach affairs Bram Diepstraten was honored to raise the quality mark along the flagpole today. A question to him was: is someone responsible for the cleaner sea for IJmuiden, or was it perhaps just a bit of bad luck that slightly more intestinal bacteria and other less fresh excretions were measured in 2016?
Diepstraten: “Yes, it was also a bit unlucky in 2016, I think.” But he likes to give the beach owners and the municipality a little honour: “The award is not only about the water, which is now clean enough for three years in a row, it is also about the clean beach.”
It is true that both are important for the flag, says Erik van Dijk of the KMVK foundation. “In addition to good water quality, it also concerns agreements to keep the beach clean and good sanitary facilities.” But those were never the problem in IJmuiden. It was really the deficient water quality that ensured that the Blue Flag of IJmuiden aan Zee did not flutter in the wind.
Van Dijk: “We take a sample six times a year, and you can’t choose those moments. It may happen that a seagull has just farted where we measure, but that will not be the case six times.”
Lucky or good policy
Whether it’s luck that the water is in good condition, or good policy that the beach looks immaculate, for those who keep their eyes open long enough to defy the stinging grains of sand: City marketer Friso Huizinga is happy with the Blue Flag. One of his goals is that IJmuiden is popular with tourists. “And certainly German beachgoers know how to find their way to certified sea beaches”, he states with certainty.
The summer will show whether the beach of IJmuiden, which is becoming wider every year, can welcome extra (foreign) visitors: neighboring beaches of Bloemendaal, Castricum, Heemskerk, Wijk aan Zee and Zandvoort have also been certified with the flag in the color of a clean sea.
The regular kite guests will now certainly stay. Michiel, now finished pumping: “I’m about to go into the water, huh, what did you say about those intestinal bacteria? Oh there have been fewer of those for a few years now, great, then I’ll come back here.”