{"id":156070,"date":"2026-06-14T09:02:35","date_gmt":"2026-06-14T07:02:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mallorcaglobalmag.es\/?p=156070"},"modified":"2026-06-08T17:14:15","modified_gmt":"2026-06-08T15:14:15","slug":"malen-sart-entrevista","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mallorcaglobalmag.es\/en\/malen-sart-entrevista\/","title":{"rendered":"Mal\u00e9n Sart: \u201cSocial media does not show the reality of spearfishing, and that is dangerous\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

Two-time world champion Mal\u00e9n Sart champions the sustainable nature of a demanding sport and challenges the misconceptions that surround it<\/h3>\n

A flash of light cuts through the water and glints off a fish\u2019s scales. Everything is silent. Only the muffled heartbeat of the person holding their breath underwater and patiently watching their prey. Suddenly, a 300-kilo tuna passes just a few metres away. \u201cThe most fascinating thing is that, when you dive in, you never know what you will find, and that surprise turns into happiness,\u201d says Mal\u00e9n Sart. For this 57-year-old woman from Binissalem, spearfishing is \u201ca way of life. I feel more at ease in the water than on land.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Mal\u00e9n

Mal\u00e9n Sart displays a 4.95-kilogram dentex, one of the catches she values most because of the skill required to catch it. Photo: M. S.<\/p><\/div>\n

Sart did not take up the sport until she was nearly 40. \u201cI tried to start at 25, but there were no suits in my size. The gear was more geared towards men,\u201d she recalls. In her thirties, she found a suit that fitted and headed into the water, speargun in hand. \u201cI realised I was good at it and fell in love at once.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2013, encouraged by her husband, Sebasti\u00e0 Torre, and Tomeu Salas, a key figure in the sport in Spain, she began competing\u2026 against men, as there was no women\u2019s category. \u201cI told them they must have gone mad, but it was the right move.\u201d Rather than an obstacle, it became a motivation.<\/p>\n

The turning point came in 2016 with the first women\u2019s nationals in Porto Cristo, and in 2019 with the first international event, the European Championship in Denmark. The rest is history: two world titles \u2014 in Sardinia (2021) and Cantabria (2023) \u2014 and three Spanish titles that have made her one of the sport\u2019s leading figures.<\/p>\n

Of all her wins, Sart singles out a competition in Mallorca after the pandemic, where she beat every participant, men included. \u201cThey had to tell me three times \u2014 I couldn\u2019t believe it. That win stayed with me forever,\u201d she says. It was not just that she was good at it: she was competing at a high level.<\/p>\n

\"Mal\u00e9n

Sart (centre) on the podium after winning gold at Laredo 2023. Photo: M. S.<\/p><\/div>\n

From her first world title, Sart recalls an honour few athletes ever receive: Club Perlas Manacor, her home club, renamed its event on the Mallorca circuit the Mal\u00e9n Sart Trophy<\/em>. \u201cI was thrilled, it was a real honour.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her second title, in Laredo, holds a unique place in her memory. \u201cWinning in Spain, surrounded by your own people\u2026 I don\u2019t think I could ever feel that happy again. It was the best.\u201d And winning a world title in Mallorca? \u201cI\u2019d be far too stressed and wouldn\u2019t enjoy it as much,\u201d she admits with a laugh.<\/p>\n

A little-known sport<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone knows Cristiano or Messi \u2014 even who they date \u2014 but few on the island know Pep Amengual or Pedro Carbonell, or what spearfishing is,\u201d says Sart. Though those two Mallorcans \u2014 along with Joan Gomis, Alberto March and Sart \u2014 have won ten world titles between them, the sport is still little known.<\/p>\n

\u201cI always have to explain that it is a breath-hold sport, because most people still think it is done with tanks. You dive, watch and decide whether to catch the fish. It\u2019s as simple as that.\u201d<\/p>\n

That freedom to choose is one of its defining features. \u201cIt is highly selective and fully sustainable, and our rules make that clear,\u201d she says. She also points to a basic idea of responsible consumption: \u201cI eat all the fish I catch and, in fact, my mother is delighted. We make a great bullit de peix<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Every time she goes out to sea, she also picks up rubbish. \u201cMainly plastic, but not just what floats. I also collect it from the seabed. There are parts of the Mediterranean that look like waste dumps,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\"Mal\u00e9n

The two-time world champion poses for Mallorca Global Mag in Palma Bay. Photo: J. S.<\/p><\/div>\n

However, spearfishing is often blamed for the decline of the sea, and Sart pushes back: \u201cWe are guests in a wonderful natural world and the first to want to protect and respect it. The real ecological disaster is caused by industrial fishing methods such as trawling or purse seining. One recent example was the catch of 23,000 kilos of spawning meagre off the coast of Huelva in a single day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Social media boost<\/strong><\/p>\n

In recent years, social media has helped raise the sport\u2019s profile, but it has also created a distorted image: dives of more than 50 metres or extreme fishing in rough seas. \u201cThese are things only top specialists can do and, even then, they may need several trips to make a single video. You see that, you\u2019re 20, you try it yourself and you could have a serious or even fatal accident \u2014 a blackout, decompression sickness\u2026 That is the real danger. For all the striking images and catches, social media does not show the reality of spearfishing,\u201d she explains.<\/p>\n

\"Mal\u00e9n

Mal\u00e9n Sart, her husband Sebasti\u00e0 Torre and Tomeu Salas, a key figure in the development of the sport in Spain. Photo: M. S.<\/p><\/div>\n

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That is why Sart stresses the importance of proper training and a great deal of caution: \u201cLearning breath-hold diving and its safety rules, knowing your own limits, using a buoy and, above all at the start, never going out alone are the basic keys,\u201d she points out. Words from a world champion.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
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\"Mallorca<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Two-time world champion Mal\u00e9n Sart champions the sustainable nature of […]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":156067,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1520,1511],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-156070","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-environment","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"\nMal\u00e9n Sart: "Social media distorts the reality of spearfishing" - Mallorca Global Mag<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Two-time world champion Mal\u00e9n Sart champions sustainable spearfishing and warns about the risks of the image projected by social media.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/mallorcaglobalmag.es\/?p=156015\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Mal\u00e9n Sart: "Social media distorts the reality of spearfishing" - 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