Since 1 May, when the bathing season began on the islands, the Balearic Islands’ lifeguard, rescue and rescue services have carried out a total of 17,468 assistances. Of these, 17,248 were resolved without the need for evacuation to a hospital and the remaining 219 cases were serious incidents. In these cases, organisations external to the municipal rescue service were involved.

Up to 14 August 2023, a total of 385 aquatic interventions have been carried out: 114 due to rip currents, 72 due to waves, 64 due to moving too far away from the beach and 52 due to other circumstances. It should be noted that, of these interventions, 148 were carried out with a yellow flag and 11 with a red flag. Thanks to the rapid intervention of the lifeguards, on 366 occasions they ended up without being taken to a medical centre and the user was able to continue enjoying their day at the beach.

6.010 actions by motor boats in bathing areas

With regard to the prevention actions of the services that monitor the beaches of the islands, a total of 106,242 actions have been carried out, of which the most recurrent are related to imprudent behaviour by users:

  • 13,237 by non-motorised craft in bathing areas.
  • 12,138 by bathers in boat channels.
  • 13,205 by users in dangerous areas.
  • 6,010 for motor boats in bathing areas.
  • 5,654 for glass and rubbish collection.
  • 5,431 for bathers outside the bathing area.
  • 2,706 for bathers in marked areas of currents.
  • 1,382 for not respecting the rules.
  • 1,298 for bathers in red flag zones.

24 deaths in 2023

As for drownings on beaches and in swimming pools this season, so far there have been a total of 24 deaths: 18 on beaches (7 in Mallorca, 4 in Menorca, 6 in Ibiza and 1 in Formentera), 7 of which have been on supervised beaches with lifeguard, rescue and lifeguard services; 3 out of hours and 8 on unguarded beaches. As for swimming pools, 6 people drowned, 5 in Mallorca and 1 in Menorca. During the last bathing season there were a total of 55 deaths in the aquatic environment, 46 on beaches and 9 in swimming pools, and during 2021 47 people lost their lives, 35 on beaches and 3 in swimming pools.