A young woman, believing that two beach bathers were in difficulty, raised the alarm, resulting in a helicopter-&-lifeboat intervention… but it was a false alarm and she was fined.

The incident occurred back in August on a beach in Fuengirola when 22-year-old Nuria saw two people quite some way out on what appeared to be an airbed. She was having a stroll with her mother along the paseo and didn’t think too much about it but when they came back the same way and it was getting dark, there they were, apparently even further out. It was almost ten and she could see them “signaling” with torches.

Her conscience wouldn’t allow her to ignored it, so she alerted the local police. They turned up and flashed their own torches in the direction of the two people and lights could be seen in that direction (there was also a buoy in the proximity), but even so the police said that it was probably nothing of importance.

She pointed out that they had been out there for three or four hours and that she didn’t want to go home worrying that two people were out there in distress. They asked her if she was sure that she had seen two people as it was by then very dark.

Finally, the police said that if they were two people out there, they would be crying for help and splashing around – they certainly weren’t convinced.

The police went and feeling upset by the attitude of the policemen, she approached a group of young people but they thought that she was trying to fool them for a laugh.

Finally she phoned Salvamiento Marítimo (sea-rescue service) who activated the full protocol, launching a lifeboat and a helicopter to reach the scene. She was astonished, she said, that they had decided to use such means, seeing as the “victims” were not that far out.

The lifeboat had been sent from Algerciras and the helicopter from Almería.

However, it turned out to be two anglers fishing from a canoe with their torches and she ended up being fined 300 euros.

(News: Fuengirola, Costa del Sol, Malaga, Andalucia)