Up to the 1st of August a total of 264 people had drowned in Spain; that’s 20% up on 2015, according to the Federación Española de Salvamento y Socorrismo.

This organization published a report entitled, Informe Nacional de Ahogamientos, which empasized the fact that only 12% (31 cases) of the drownings had taken place where there were lifeguards on duty.

Of those 31 cases, 29 had been at the seaside and only two had been in swimming pools; a 77-year-old man in Toledo and a child of four in Alicante.

The remaining 233 cases; i.e. 88% of them, happened where there was no lifeguard service: 106 in the sea, 15 in swimming pools, 58 in rivers and 58 in “other places.”

These other places were: two in irrigation channels, one in stream, two in bathrooms, one in an irrigation reservoir, seven in canals and three in water storage tanks, six in reservoirs, 11 in ports and 11 in wells.

During July, on the other hand, there have been 150 successful rescues, thanks to lifeguards.

The report also listed drowning by regions: Galicia 46, The Canary Islands 43 and Andalucia 42, for example. Galica took the top slot owing to the lack of lifeguards hired.

Since the report was published on the 1st of August, several other people have drowned, some reported in the Seaside Gazette.

The report criticises public administration for failing to provide sufficient coverage, owing to reduced budgets.

One final statistic: of those drowned, 82% were males (217 cases) and only 18% were females (47 cases).

(News: Spain – Photo; Antonio Pastor)