A growing number of people are choosing to say their final goodbye at sea off the Costa del Sol, it has emerged.
Funeral company Pazy offers personalised ceremonies off Marbella and Fuengirola, where families can deposit a loved one’s ashes into the sea in a biodegradable urn.
The services cost between €350 and €650 and can include music, photographs and videos of the deceased, speeches from relatives and a final toast.
Maria Hermida, a spokeswoman for Pazy, said the practice has its origins in Anglo-Saxon countries but has become increasingly popular in Spain in recent years.
The Costa del Sol’s large foreign population, including many older residents, has also helped establish the practice locally, although Hermida said around 95% of the company’s customers are Spanish.
She said demand is particularly strong among the baby boomer generation, with attitudes towards traditional funerals changing.
How does it work?
On the Costa del Sol, groups of around 10 to 15 relatives and friends can depart from Puerto Banus or Fuengirola marina for ceremonies lasting between one and two hours.
Families can select music, show photographs or videos and say a few words about their loved one. A priest can also attend if requested.
The ashes are placed inside a biodegradable urn, typically made from salt, clay or similar materials, which sinks to the seabed and gradually breaks down.
Relatives can then scatter rose petals or other permitted flowers over the water and are given the coordinates of the location where the urn was deposited.
Most ceremonies take place between May and September, when sea conditions are generally more favourable and families are more likely to be together.
Hermida said the setting can also help people through the grieving process.
‘The atmosphere of the ceremony is totally different to that of a funeral home,’ she said, adding: ‘It’s a way of closing a cycle which, in many cases, helps honour the life of the deceased.’
However, families cannot simply scatter ashes anywhere they choose.
The ceremonies take place at authorised locations around three nautical miles offshore, and Hermida warned that depositing ashes in the sea without the necessary permission can result in fines of up to €60,000.
Read more Andalucia news at the Spanish Eye.
