Ten beaches on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast have been awarded the Blue Flag label this year.

Oasis beach, located between Primorsko and Tsarevo some 60 km from the city of Burgas, has been put for the first time on the list of beaches around the world carrying the Blue Flag label, according to the Bulgarian national office of the initiative.

The other Bulgarian Blue Flag beaches in 2016 are located mostly around Burgas: Duni, Sozopol-Harmanite, Pomorie East, Sunny Beach - South, Sunny Beach - North, Sveti Vlas – Central, Sveti Vlas - New Beach, Sveti Vlas – East.

Sunny Day beach near the city of Varna is the only Blue Flag beach on Bulgaria's northeastern Black coast.

Bulgaria also has one marina on the list, Marina Dinevi.

Nine Bulgarian beaches were awarded the Blue Flag label last year, putting the country on par with Malta and Puerto Rico, according to the gloabl list of Blue flag sites.

The Blue Flag movement now covers 50 countries in Europe, the Americas, Asia, Africa and Oceania.

The Blue Flag programme is a world-renowned eco-label trusted by millions of people around the globe. It is operated under the auspices of the Foundation for Environmental Education and has its headquarters in Copenhagen, Denmark. In order to qualify for this prestigious award, a series of stringent environmental, educational, safety-related and access-related criteria must be met and maintained.