Another German holidaymaker drowns in sea off Mallorca

Another elderly German holidaymaker drowned off Peguera in the south-west of the Spanish Mediterranean island of Mallorca on Friday afternoon, the regional newspaper Diario de Mallorca and other media reported on Saturday.

The German citizenship of the man was confirmed by the Mallorcan police. The victim was born in 1940, they said.

According to media reports, the German was on holiday in Mallorca with his wife and daughter. The accident occurred around 4 pm (local time) on the beach of Palmira, about 25 kilometres west of Palma, which is very popular with German tourists.

Lifeguards suddenly saw the pensioner floating unconscious on the surface of the sea. They took him out of the water, but resuscitation attempts were unsuccessful.

This is already the second German bathing death on Mallorca within a week. On Monday, another elderly man in his mid-70s died off the coast of Santa Ponça in the south-west of the island.

Last Friday, a 71-year-old tourist from Germany drowned off the coast of Formentera, south of Mallorca. And already in the weeks before, there had been several deaths on the beaches of the Balearic Islands.

Lifeguards protest

The number of rescues of bathers had also increased significantly, the Mallorca Zeitung said.

Just on Friday, the lifeguards on Mallorca had demonstrated. With body bags and wooden crosses they wanted to draw attention to the seriousness of the situation.

"Extension of duty - too many deaths outside working hours" was written in German on a poster hanging on one of the lifeguards' watchtowers near the most popular area with German tourists.

The lifeguards are demanding more money, more colleagues and also longer beach supervision.