A number of young people put their lives at risk in order to place a video of themselves on Social Media and attract followers. They want to be "influencers."

This appears to be the case of a 26-year-old British man who fell to his death attempting to climb the Puente Atirantado in Talavera de la Reina (Toledo). This is the highest bridge in Spain and the second highest in Europe, towering 192 metres above the river below.

He had gone to the bridge in the company of a 24-year-old friend (also a Brit), who was filming him so it could be uploaded later.

However, he slipped and fell to his death, dying upon impact.

Police, fire personnel and an ambulance were despatched but there was nothing that could be done for him. The traffic on the bridge over the Río Tajo (Tagus) was held up several hours whilst the body was recovered.

The Puente Atirantado in Talavera de la Reina attracts social-media ‘influencers’ like flies so that they can be filmed climbing it. In fact, in November 2023 two girls became ‘famous’ on social media after uploading a video showing them at the top of the bridge structure.

“Climbing on the bridge is totally forbidden and on numerous occasions we have had to get people down from it,” said the Councillor for Citizen Safety for Talavera de la Reina, Macarena Muñoz.

The bridge was built between 2007 and 2011 as a bypass for Talavera de la Reina, costing 74-million euros to build. However, as the rest of the bypass has still not been finished, it hardly has any traffic, so young people use it for bottle parties and illegal car races.

Editorial comment: somewhere in the UK there is a greiving family, but that does not change the fact that at 26 years of age, you’re supposed to be an adult.

(News: Talavera de la Reina, Toledo, Castilla La Mancha)

Keywords: Highest Bridge in Spain, Puente Atirantado, British man, Falls to his death, Climbing Bridge, Upload Video, Social Media, Infuencer

Reader’s comment: “So sad, but not surprising given the vacuous nature of much social media content. I am constantly surprised by many 62+ year olds whose behaviour I would not consider to be adult.” – George

Reader’s Comment: “Some people may view that “the problem” is a fault in the original design which planners didnt give sufficient thought about the structure to make it impossible to access and climb to the high/er levels of the bridge. Compounded by federal or local authorities passing the design without a proper & thorough appraisal. Perhaps economic matters were a contributing factor… Finally I’m sure that in days gone by, before the age of social media , such dare devils antics were not uncommon…but merely described under a different name.” – Angus