A French couple of 78 and 71 years of age were rescued after 14 hours in the mountains behind Albuñuelas – their car GPS had malfunctioned.

The couple had driven down from Paris and disaster struck on the A-44 south of Granada when the GPS sent them down the GR-4045 (better known as La Cabra) At one in the morning they found themselves following the GPS instruction which had led them down the Camino Forestal de Albuñuelas, which is an untarmacked forest track.

Their faith in the GPS navigation system lasted 35 kilometres of track and trees before the driver decided to backtrack. The car became stuck as he tried to turn the car around on the narrow track. It was pitch black so they decided to stay put and sleep in the car.

The next morning, friends of the couple, worried that they had heard no word from them, so they contacted 112, who in turn contacted the Guardia Civil.

Fortunately the Guardia Civil were able to contact the lost couple by phone and the couple managed to give their co-ordinates, but when a patrol was sent to that location (Las Cabezuelas), they still couldn’t find them. After a further phone conversation the couple mentioned that they could see two villages from the edge of the track.

With further help from the Albuñuelas Policia Local they finally found the elderly couple, safe and sound, after their unplanned camping trip in the Spanish wilds.

(News: Albuñuelas, Granada, Andalucia)