On the 21st of September, summer drew to a close and the Guardia Civil could tot up just how many times it had gone out to rescue people: 40 times.

Between them the Servicio de Montaña and the Unidad Aérea de la Guardia Civil in Granada had rescued 58 excursionists, sometimes carrying out four rescue missions on a single weekend, as was the case of the 18th/19th of September.

The province of Granada has spectacular landscape, having the highest peaks in mainland Spain within the Sierra de Nevada.

This rugged topography lends itself to not only peaks to ascend but also gorges to descend, such as the Junta de Los Ríos in Otivar, so it is no surprise that Granada attracts walkers and people who practice adventure sports, like canyonreeing and paragliding.

Fortunately, for these people, the province enjoys two, highly specialised, Guardia Civil rescue units; the mountain-rescue foot soldiers (Sereim), so to speak, and the Guardia Civil helicopter unit based in Alhendín Air Base on the outskirts of the city.

These rescue units also cover the province of Jaén, where this summer there were five call outs to rescue a single victim each time. These comparative figures for the two provinces indicate just how popular the province of Granada is for excursionists.

(News: Granada, Andalucia)