Simon Hunter
EIGHT people drowned in Spain this week in the space of just 24 hours, raising alarms that this year could be a particularly black one in terms of these accidental deaths.
According to Spanish daily El Pais, three people died out at sea off the Mernys beach in Valencia on Tuesday afternoon, in an area with no lifeguard.
On the same day, a three-year-old child fell into a swimming pool, and his mother jumped in after him. Neither of the two knew how to swim and both died.
Then, also on Tuesday, a two-year-old died in a private pool in Catalonia, and the next day, an eight-year-old died in a municipal pool in the same region.
Finally, a 30-year-old drowned on the Miracle beach in Tarragona after the lifeguard service had ended.
Last year a total of 394 people across Spain died in such drowning incidents. In the first six months of this year, there were 169 deaths, which was up on the same period for 2022 by a total of 22.
The worst year since records began in 2015 was 2017, when a total of 481 lives were lost in drownings.
Read more:
- 30-year-old man drowns at popular beach in Spain’s Malaga
- Three drown in same day in waters off Spain’s Catalan coast
- Double tragedy as two men found dead in coastal waters off Spain’s Cadiz
