Many Mallorca beaches were "at capacity" during the summer

At the annual conference on beach safety, which was held in Andratx on Monday, the director-general for emergencies, Sebastià Sureda, said that up to 550,000 people were on beaches at given times. The human pressure was particularly high because there were more tourists and was five per cent greater than in 2022.

The numbers of people have implications for rescue services. But with 270 lifeguards having been operational (in Mallorca), there was a decrease in the number of drownings - 24 in the Balearics as a whole compared with 34 in 2022 - as well as in the number of serious incidents.

The head of the 112 emergencies service, Joan Pol, said that more serious incidents might have been expected because of the numbers of people on the beaches. There was an increased risk, but the figures show the opposite.

"We are proud but not satisfied. We want to make more progress. Despite the positive figures, there have also been fatal outcomes, but with the human pressure, the dispersal of people swimming and the number of recreational boats, the balance of the data is good."