The family of an elderly man who drowned at a Nerja beach this week has sought to clarify ‘what really happened’ in the moments before and after the tragedy.

The update was made by the victim’s granddaughter in a lengthy social media post published after the incident at Playa La Torrecilla on Wednesday afternoon.

It comes after several British tourists messaged the young woman to inform of her of the moments leading up to her grandfather’s death.

The man, believed to have been around 90 years old, died despite resuscitation efforts after being found floating close to the shoreline.

According to his granddaughter, he had gone to the beach alone at around 5pm when he fell from rocks and got into difficulty in the water.

She alleges that it was members of the public who entered the water, brought the man ashore and began CPR – before two lifeguards eventually joined them.

‘Several of the people helping were nurses, and they were the ones who mainly carried out the resuscitation,’ she wrote.

The family also claims the ambulance took around 30 minutes to arrive and initially struggled to find the location, while police arrived later and the man’s body remained on the beach for more than four hours before it was removed.

In the emotional post, the granddaughter questioned whether faster intervention could have saved his life.

‘If both the lifeguards and healthcare staff had done their job and arrived on time, my grandfather might still be alive,’ she wrote.

She also criticised a local newspaper for publishing what she described as an insensitive photograph showing her grandfather after his death, adding that the family had repeatedly asked for the image to be removed.

The Guardia Civil is investigating the circumstances surrounding the drowning.

Read more Andalucia news at the Spanish Eye.