Buġibba's perched sandy beach yesterday became Malta's second Blue Flag bathing area after St George's Bay was given the international quality stamp last year.

The Blue Flag, that was raised above the beach in the morning, reflects standards in management, supervision, water quality and facilities, that include wheelchair access.

"We need to get over the misconception that Blue Flags are limited to sandy beaches. They can also apply to rocky beaches. Let's keep in mind that only some three per cent of Malta's coastline is sandy," Tourism Parliamentary Secretary Mario de Marco said.

He said Malta had to strive to give a quality product to tourists and locals. This year, the Malta Tourism Authority would be increasing the presence of lifeguards that would also be stationed, for the first time, in Comino.

This summer, Dr de Marco added, there would be 37 swimming zones where boats would not be allowed to ensure bathers' peace of mind.

But Dr de Marco also pointed out that apart from the two Blue Flag beaches, Malta also had three beaches with quality certificates - Għadira and Golden Bay in Malta and Gozo's Ramla l-Ħamra - which were a notch below Blue Flag beaches.

A by-law introduced last year by the Mellieħa local council banned barbecues from Għadira as part of the locality's efforts to attain Blue Flag status for the beach. Barbecues are, however, still allowed on 11 other beaches in the area.

Although the Blue Flag label does not automatically ban barbecues from being held on beaches, these are not allowed on the two Blue Flag beaches according to a code of conduct established by the MTA. Kevin Fsadni, from the MTA, explained that the code could be applied to the two beaches because they were new, which meant there was no tradition of barbecues.

The problem with barbecues, he said, was mainly the litter left behind, which impacted the hygiene and standards of the beach.