Swimmers have been warned to avoid much of the Cadiz coastline due to rough seas brought on by the effects of Hurricane Erin.
Red flags were raised on Tuesday after powerful waves and dangerous rip currents forced authorities to shut beaches from El Puerto de Santa Maria to Tarifa.
The alert remains in place through Wednesday and Thursday this week.
The Spanish weather agency Aemet issued a special warning for heavy swell and rough seas along much of the Costa de la Luz, including Cadiz city, San Fernando, Chiclana, Conil, El Palmar, Barbate, Los Caños de Meca, Tarifa and the Strait of Gibraltar.
Multiple rescues and red flags
By mid-morning Tuesday, lifeguards were already stretched. In El Puerto de Santa María, six rescues were carried out before Protection Civil raised the red flag across all municipal beaches.
Similar measures were taken in Chiclana’s La Barrosa and San Fernando’s Camposoto, where bathing was prohibited.
In Rota, red flags flew across almost all beaches except Chorrillo and Galeones, while in Sanlucar de Barrameda yellow flags were maintained.
Cadiz city saw an ‘intense’ day for its rescue services, which intervened at least 15 times: seven rescues in the Delfines area, five at Santa Maria del Mar and three at Chato.
By afternoon, red flags had been raised across the capital’s beaches. The city council said that 39 lifeguards, six boats, eight watchtowers and three ambulances had been deployed, with loudspeaker warnings issued since the morning.
Shortly after 7.30pm, Local Police and lifeguards ordered swimmers out of the sea altogether as currents worsened.
Further south, Barbate’s beaches also ended the day under red flags. In Los Caños de Meca, the swell caused saw wooden walkways completely washed away, while one chiringuito was all but destroyed.
In El Palmar, swimming was likewise prohibited.
Fatality in Conil
Elsewhere, tragedy struck in Conil de la Frontera, where a man drowned on La Fontanilla beach just after 1pm.
He was found face down in the water and, despite CPR efforts, emergency crews confirmed his death at the scene.
Beaches in Conil had been under yellow flags at the time, but the incident prompted the Civil Protection force to impose red flags across all beaches from 2.30pm.
Erin behind the swell
The rough seas have been linked to Post-Tropical Cyclone Erin, currently west of the Azores.
Portugal’s weather agency (IPMA) had already warned of waves reaching 4 metres, with peaks of up to 7 metres along the Atlantic coast.
In Spain, Aemet said Erin’s arrival is also expected to trigger a DANA (isolated high-altitude depression), which could bring further instability to the Gulf of Cadiz and more widely to the northeast of the peninsula and the Balearic Islands in the coming days.
Read more Andalucia news at the Spanish Eye.
