Too many fatal swimming accidents Now drones are to save bathers on Mallorca
Lifeguards on Mallorca are complaining about staff shortages and overwork.
Image: dpa (Foto Produktion)
The tests on the east coast of Mallorca will run until the end of September.
Image: dpa (Foto Produktion)
These drones have been used successfully in Valencia for years.
Image: dpa (Foto Produktion)
The rescue drones can also drop life jackets.
Image: dpa (Foto Produktion)
Lifeguards on Mallorca are complaining about staff shortages and overwork.
Image: dpa (Foto Produktion)
The tests on the east coast of Mallorca will run until the end of September.
Image: dpa (Foto Produktion)
These drones have been used successfully in Valencia for years.
Image: dpa (Foto Produktion)
The rescue drones can also drop life jackets.
Image: dpa (Foto Produktion)
Every year, bathers drown on Mallorca. The lifeguards have a lot to do and protest about being overworked and understaffed. Now they could get technical help.
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- 18 people have already died in swimming accidents off the coast of Mallorca this year.
- The lifeguards are alarmed and are calling for better monitoring of the beaches.
- As staff are scarce, drones are now being deployed to help: They can even talk and drop life jackets.
Lifeguard Marcos Ruiz had to intervene several times this summer on Mallorca to rescue holidaymakers who often didn't even know how much danger they were in. In most cases, the current drove the swimmers into the open sea. Some of them took a carefree nap on air mattresses.
These careless and sometimes drunk people are lucky that Ruiz and Co. usually recognize the danger in time and react. But despite all the experience and efforts of the beach "guardian angels", tourists and locals continue to drown off the coast of the Spanish Mediterranean island every year.
According to a recent report by the Spanish Association of Lifeguards Aetsas, there were 24 fatal drowning accidents in the Balearic Islands this year up to the end of August, the majority of which - 18 - occurred in Mallorca. The lifeguards have a lot to do and have been protesting for a long time to achieve improvements.
Fewer accidents, better monitoring
Among other things, they are calling for the hours of beach surveillance to be extended into the evening and also to the months of March and November. More staff are needed for this, they say. Support should initially come from the technical side. Drones are to be used in future to reduce the number of accidents.
Such a device is being tested in the municipality of Santanyí in the east of Mallorca: the tests have been carried out by the Valencia-based company General Drones since the end of August and will continue until September 26. The flying object can not only help swimmers in distress. "We can also film boats that don't follow the rules. This allows the police to issue tickets later," says company boss Adrián Plazas.
Ruiz welcomes the project: "If it's of any use, we'll gladly accept it," he tells the news agency dpa. But he also expresses skepticism. "On the one hand, you have to weigh up the costs that could be used to pay for other things. And on the other hand, the technology could fail. I wouldn't want to rely on it 100 percent."
Drones have loudspeakers and life jackets
Plazas emphasizes the advantages of his drones. "We can fly them up to six kilometers. In consultation with the police, we are always at different parts of the beach," he says. The drone has a loudspeaker. "Our pilot speaks Spanish and English. This allows him to make announcements. Theoretically, we could also play recordings in other languages."
Two life jackets are also attached to the aircraft, which can be dropped in an emergency. So far, this has not been necessary during the tests on the coast of Santanyí. "We have been offering our service in Valencia since 2017. Last year, the life jackets were dropped 16 times in extreme situations," says Plazas.
Rescue in high waves
The most dangerous scene during the tests on the island involved a family who had ventured too close to a rocky section of the coast in high waves. "A high wave could have washed them into the sea. We told them over the loudspeaker to keep their distance." In general, the drone is ideal for areas that are difficult for the police to access.
Other municipalities in Mallorca have expressed their interest. These include the city of Palma, which is responsible for the Ballermann and has announced that it wants to make the beach "intelligent". In addition to a new app for renting parasols and sun loungers, video surveillance and drones are to be introduced.
The fatal accident at Cala Bona - like Santanyí on the east coast of the island - showed just how important better monitoring of shipping on Mallorca is. According to the authorities, a yacht driven by Germans was traveling far too fast and ran over a small fishing boat. A 20-year-old Mallorcan fisherman died as a result. The investigation is ongoing.
Small boats, which can be rented and driven without a license, and jet skis also cause a lot of trouble on Mallorca, as the rules are often disregarded. Many drive too fast and through the bathing zones marked with buoys, where they are not allowed at all.
dpa
