The body of a woman was found floating in La Herradura Bay yesterday morning in an advanced state of decomposition.

It was around 11.00h that a worker from Dani’s water sports contacted the First Councillor of La Herradura, Juan José Ruiz Joya, after sighting the body floating near a buoy. The said councillor then immediately alerted the municipal police and the Guardia Civil.

The Guardia Civil Maritime arm was called out to recover the body, as well as the Almuñécar Fire Service. In fact, according to Sr. Ruiz Joya, it was the fire service divers who actually retrieved it by submerging a stretcher beneath the body owing to the delicate state of the remains.

The deceased was then taken to the Marina del Este, where it was examined by the coroner before being sent to the Instituto Anatómico Forense de Granada.

The First Councillor expressed his thanks to Dani’s water sports for both reporting the incident and making their boats available for the recovery operations.

Editorial comment: Why on earth did the member of staff from Dani’s call the First Councillor after discovering the body? Surely the emergency services would have been a tad more appropriate… no? Just curious.

Update: A second body was found later yesterday afternoon, but this time of a man, some 50 nautical miles off Motril. The body, which was recovered by the Guardia Civil patrol boat, Río Aragón, was also in a bad state of decomposition as it had been in the sea several days. The second body, at least, is thought to have belonged to an immigrant attempting an open-boat crossing to Spain.

(News: Herradura, Costa Tropical, Granada, Andalucia – Photo: JM de H)