Galicia Beach Initiates ‘Colour Blind’ Flags

Authorities at a beach in Galicia have gone one step further in Inclusivity by adopting flags for people suffering from colour blindness.

It was announced that as of Wednesday, July 5, the municipality of Sanxenxo, near Pontevedra in Galicia, has introduced lifeguard flags adapted for people with colour blindness onto its beaches, writes Nuis Diario.

The flags are a well-known sight on Spanish beaches which combine colours and symbols that inform bathers about the condition of the sea.

The flags use the award-winning ‘ColorADD‘, a system which was developed by a Portuguese graphic designer and a university professor. It remains the only language in the world adapted to people with colour blindness.

According to statistics from ColorADD, there are 350 million colour-blind people worldwide, with 1 in 12 males and 1 in 200 females.

The Sanxenxo Council issued a statement: ‘This makes the beaches more inclusive, as people with colour blindness will be able to access the information on the flags independently.’

It is worth remembering that the most frequent variant of colour blindness makes it difficult to distinguish between the colours red and green, which are two of the main colours used in any code related to risk and safety.

Therefore, the red, yellow and green flags are accompanied by a new symbolism. Specifically, the red flag has a triangle, the yellow flag has a diagonal stripe and the green flag has a diagonal line and a triangle.

It was also announced recently that the authorities at Sanxenxo have decided, once again not to place showers on its beaches. It is a measure that they put in place in 2019 to save water due to drought.

Juan Deza, councillor for Tourism at Sanxenxo Town Hall, said: ‘The showers were being misused. Consumption has dropped by around 70 per cent.’

They also took the decision not to place litter bins on the beaches. Bathers will have to keep their rubbish and throw it in a container when they leave the beach.

This is to avoid bathers having to lie next to smelly litter bins and also to avoid seagulls picking up waste from these bins and then scattering it on the beach. So far, the councillor reveals that the measure is proving effective and the beaches are cleaner.