Malaga's beaches and swimming pools see drownings double since 2023

112 Malaga

Last year, the province recorded 22 drownings, the highest number in Andalucía

Encarni Hinojosa

Last Friday, a German couple living in Nerja drowned at Las Lindes beach in Torrox-Costa. The tragedy has once again highlighted the dangers Malaga province's beaches, swimming pools and other bodies of water pose and the number of lives they claim.

The risk is not confined to the summer months. Drowning deaths occur throughout the year. Between January and December 2025, 22 people lost their lives at beaches, in pools, rivers and other bodies of water across Malaga province. The figure stands out when compared with road fatalities in the province, which totalled 35 deaths in 2025, according to Spain's directorate-general for traffic (DGT).

Although it is impossible to compare the total number of bathers with the number of road users, far more people travel by vehicle than enter the water, making the comparison significant.

"Around 1,000 people die on the roads and around 400 at sea. We need to ask ourselves how many hours we spend in the car and how many in the water. There's a much greater risk of drowning than of dying on the road," spokesperson for the royal Spanish lifesaving and rescue federation (RFESS) Jessica Pino says.

For the first time, Malaga ranks as the Andalusian province with the highest number of drowning deaths and accounts for 27.2 per cent of all fatal aquatic incidents recorded in Andalucía (81). It overtook Cadiz, which recorded 17 deaths and had topped the regional rankings in both 2023 and 2024.

In 2023, Malaga recorded ten drowning deaths, meaning fatalities have more than doubled, rising by 120 per cent, to reach 22 in 2025.

These statistics come from the RFESS national drowning report (INA). The organisation compiles the data by region, although it supplied provincial breakdowns for Andalucía at SUR's request. As a result, it is not possible to determine whether Malaga records the highest number of drownings of any province in Spain.

What can be confirmed is that Andalucía remains the Spanish region with the highest number of drowning deaths, recording 81 fatalities and topping the national ranking for the third consecutive year.

The Canary Islands came second with 75 deaths, followed by Valencia with 65. Pino attributes Andalucía's position to a combination of factors. "It's one of Spain's largest regions, it has an extensive coastline and its warm climate extends the summer season. Add the huge volume of tourism it attracts and the risk inevitably increases," she says.

Across Andalucía, drowning deaths have risen by 19.1 per cent since 2023, increasing from 68 to 81. Nationwide, fatalities have climbed by 11.8 per cent, from 422 deaths in 2023 to 472 in 2025. Malaga's increase of 120 per cent therefore stands out sharply against both the regional and national trends.

The profile of a drowning victim

According to the latest INA report, covering 2025, the vast majority of drowning victims in Spain are men (83.3 per cent) and Spanish nationals (83.3 per cent).

The age group most affected is people aged between 65 and 74, with 89 fatalities. Children account for ten per cent of all cases, representing 47 deaths.

More than half of all fatal incidents occur on beaches, while the deadliest time of day is between midday and 2pm. "Before we started collecting the data, many people assumed foreign tourists would make up the largest group of victims. The statistics show exactly the opposite," Pino says.

The danger of assumptions by season

The belief that drownings only happen in summer remains one of the biggest risks. In Malaga, for example, 17 people drowned between January and August 2025, meaning five more lost their lives during the final four months of the year. In other words, almost one in four drowning deaths in the province occurred between September and December.

Pino says the federation has warned about this pattern for years. "We've been collecting drowning data for eleven years and we've found that the risk does not fall during the winter months. Yet most local authorities concentrate their resources during the summer season."

No unified national statistics

Despite the scale of the problem, drowning remains the only major cause of death in Spain without a unified official statistical system. The national drowning report is currently the only comprehensive database. It relies on information gathered municipality by municipality because no common reporting framework exists between regional governments.

"If Spain had a dedicated national authority for water rescue and lifesaving, the figures would be more consistent and better collected," Pino states. "The only official data comes from the national institute of statistics, but it is published two years after the events. We need real-time information if we want to understand the problem and find solutions."

'Don't wait to see it on the news'

As it has done every year since 2019, the Andalusian regional government recently launched its annual drowning prevention campaign. Regional minister of health and emergencies Antonio Sanz unveiled the initiative in Cadiz on 12 June.

Under the slogan 'Don't wait to see it on the news: in the water, carelessness becomes an emergency', the campaign focuses on prevention and personal responsibility. "No public body can replace individual responsibility," Sanz said during the presentation.

The Andalusian emergency agency will promote the campaign through social media and television. Authorities will also support the initiative with practical tools including a drowning prevention guide, which offers safety advice for bathers; the Plataforma de Emergencias para la Ciudadanía, which provides prevention and self-protection information; and the Andalucía beaches catalogue, where users can access detailed information about the region's coastline.

In recent years, the regional government has also introduced grants and funding programmes aimed at improving beach surveillance and lifeguard services, which local councils manage through their own coastal safety plans.

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