Tourists Ignore Warnings with Fatal Consequences
This Sunday, several large waves swept through the Isla Cangrejo natural pool on Tenerife’s west coast, carrying a number of people out to sea and onto the rocks. Four of them died—three at sea and the fourth later in hospital—and a fifth person remains missing. All the victims were tourists who, to access the area, had breached a cordon erected by the Local Police and ignored multilingual signs warning of the danger of that stretch of coastline, especially during high surf, as was the case.
Furthermore, a pre-alert for coastal phenomena had been active since Friday from the Canary Islands Government’s General Directorate of Security, as waves of at least four metres were expected.
Mayor Explains Removal of Safety Gates
This Tuesday, as an official period of mourning began for the incident, the mayor of Santiago del Teide explained in an interview on Radio Marca Tenerife why there was only a temporary fence at the main access point to the area, rather than a gate that would prevent bathers from entering the natural pool.
According to Emilio Navarro, gates were in place in the past, but they had to be removed following a complaint by a third party to the Coastal Authority. “Previously, we had gates. We closed them when adverse coastal conditions arose, like this weekend. Through a complaint from a third party, which reached the Coastal Authority department, we were told we could not close off access to the sea. We had to remove the gates and now we use a fencing system,” he stated.
“A Disregard for Safety Barriers”
The mayor also criticised the attitude of those who do not respect barriers or heed warnings. “It would not occur to anyone anywhere in the world to breach a cordon. The problem we are finding is more with tourists than with residents. People pay no heed. Unfortunately, we have not been able to save these people’s lives,” he explained.
He also recounted that while they were still carrying one victim away on a stretcher, other people were already asking when they could go back into the pool. Navarro added that although fines are issued, the objective is to save lives. “The fine is not the ultimate solution. We issue them and file the reports, but the issue is saving lives. The cordon should be enough to stop anyone accessing these spaces,” he concluded.
Search Continues Amid Further Tragedy
The search for the fifth person swept away by the waves at the pool continued on Tuesday. The powerful surf has also claimed another life in recent hours, that of a fisherman in Lanzarote who was also carried out to sea.
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