For generations youngsters have leapt from El Peñon in Salobreña, so much so that it's almost become of a Rite of Passage between boyhood and manhood for Salobreñero lads.

However, several years ago it was banned completely because there have been so many accidents – and it is a fair old drop to the sea.

Yet bucking the rules has always been high up on the ‘things to do’ for adolescents all over the world, so you occasionally witness somebody sneak up to the top, accompanied by admiring friends, and launch themselves off, oblivious to invisible, submerged rocks and the possibility of an awkward impact upon hitting the water.

The odd jumper is liable to get away with it, but when a whole bunch of youths gather at the top, taking turns, then they are likely to get nabbed and fined. It’s quite a fine, too, as the noticeboard on the beach clearly states that you could be fined up to 3,000 euros for momentarily losing contact with the Planet Earth pending a splendid splashdown.

The Mayor of Salobreña, María Eugenia Rufino, says that the area is patrolled in order to discourage this form of vertical entertainment. She admits, however, that it is nigh impossible to catch somebody because between a beach user alerting the police and their arrival, the culprit has probably dried off and gone home.

(News: Salobreña, Costa Tropical, Granada, Andalucia)