Drowning death toll in July reached 32

THIRTY TWO people drowned in Spanish beaches, rivers and swimming pools in July.

Most of the deceased were between 60 and 78 years of age, while four of them were minors.

Catalonia and Andalucia are the autonomous communities with the highest death toll (six drownings each) followed by Murcia (five), Valencia, Madrid, Cantabria and Castile and Leon (two) and Canary Islands, Basque Country, Navarra, Asturias, Aragon, Castilla La Mancha and Balearic Islands (one). Eight were between 18 and 59, 18 were older than 60, five were younger than 18 and only three were women.

To avoid drowning, the Spanish Red Cross advises against swimming right after a large meal and against diving into areas of unknown depth. Furthermore, they recommend swimmers to get out of the water if they get chilly, dizzy or fatigued or have a headache. The Red Cross also advises parents to never lose sight of their children even if they are swimming in shallow waters.

One of the most recent and saddest drownings in Spain involved a seven-year-old boy who accidentally fell into a private pool in Navarra and was underwater for 10 minutes before his family realised something was amiss. Paramedics performed CPR on the minor for 30 minutes but he later died.