Spain: Swimmers banned at beaches after shark sighting at Playa del Portet in Teulada
Swimming is banned on beaches in the municipality between Valencia and Alicante after a shark is seen close to the shore of a beach, with the prohibition having come into place on Saturday.
Monday 4 October 2021 14:24, UK
Swimmers have been banned from entering the water at a Spanish beach following the sighting of a shark.
A police diver spotted the animal close to the shore off the Playa del Portet beach in Teulada, on the Costa Blanca, the Daily Mirror reported.
The area is popular with British tourists.
Swimming has been banned on beaches in the municipality between Valencia and Alicante, after the prohibition came into place on Saturday.
The warning will remain until further notice.
"The Civil Guard and National Police are investigating to see what type of shark it is and the level of danger it poses," a spokesperson for the local authority told the paper.
"For the moment bathing is banned for anyone on the coast of Teulada Moraira until the authorities inform about safety."
The sighting came days after a 5m-long (16.4ft) great white shark was sighted in La Coruna in the region of Galicia.
The sighting of such a shark is not common in Spanish waters.
Earlier this year, a baby blue shark was seen in La Coruna.
The sightings came after a shark washed up on a beach in Benidorm with wounds that appeared to have been caused by a swordfish.
The blue shark caused the evacuation of a beach in August when it became disoriented and entered an area where people were swimming.
A rescue team managed to capture the animal, which was around 2m (6.6ft) long and weighed 60kg, and return it to the sea.
But a week later its lifeless body washed up with a small wound under its eyelid, which scientists said was compatible with swordfish attack.
Scientists are investigating other cases and are working to publish a study on the phenomenon.