Almost a quarter fewer deaths by drowning in 2018 in Spain

SPANISH waters claimed the lives of 372 people last year, 109 less than in 2017.

The National Drowning Report (INA) prepared by the Royal Spanish Salvage and Lifeguard Federati attributes the 22 per cent reduction ‘to the delay in the use of Spanish beaches as a result of the bad weather that lasted during the first months of the year, including the Easter holidays’.

Last year’s death rate by drowning is the lowest since the Spanish Royal Salvage and Lifeguard Federation began performing the INA in 2015.

The most deaths occurred in 2017 with 481, followed by 2016 with 437 and 2015 when there were 415 fatal incidents.

When broken down, the figures show that last year there 55 people drowned in the Canary Islands, which represents 14.8 per cent of the total.

In Andalusia, 52 people lost their lives in Spanish waters followed by Galicia where there were 49 deaths, the Balearic Islands 42, Catalonia 41, Valencia community 37, Castilla y Leon and Pais Vasco 14 in both, the Region of Murcia 12 and Asturias 11.

Nine people drowned in Cantabria and Aragon, eight in Castilla-La Mancha and Community of Madrid, four in Navarra, two in Ceuta, Extremadura and La Rioja and one person lost their life in waters in Melilla.

According to the report, the most deaths occurred in August, with 65 registered. Together with the 60 fatalities in July and 52 in September, the summer months saw 47.6 of the total number of drownings.

The fewest tragedies were recorded in February, with seven.

The Spanish Royal Salvage and Lifeguard Federation released a profile of those who lost their lives in aquatic spaces.  It shows that 77 per cent were male, 75 per cent of Spanish nationality, 65.9 per cent were over the age of 45 and 44 per cent died on Spanish beaches.

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