Watch: Bizarre moment man is found floating on a mattress 40km off Spain’s Costa del Sol

This is the bizarre moment a man was rescued while floating on an inflatable mattress some 40km off the Costa del Sol.

The alert was received at 12.43pm on Monday, when the ‘Epic Shikoku’ ship sighted the person in the water and notified the Maritime Rescue Coordination Center in Tarifa (Cadiz).

The ‘Salvamar Gadir’ rescue boat was immediately dispatched to the area, rescued the man in good health and took him to the port of Estepona.

The public agency clarified that it was not a migrant or a makeshift raft, but a domestic inflatable mattress, the kind used at home for guests.

The man had apparently used an oar or a similar object to propel himself through the water, although his intentions for doing so remain unknown.

Maritime Rescue (@salvamentogob) wrote on X: ‘It was a toy, an inflatable float, a kind of mattress like those used at home for guests…

‘The vessel Epic Shikoku sights a person in the water on a float 20 miles southeast of Estepona.

‘Our Tarifa Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre mobilises the crew of the Salvamar Gadir, who pick him up in good condition and take him to Estepona.

‘The sea is not a swimming pool. Respect, caution, attention, and a lot of #NauticalSafety.’