Help on Mallorca

Drones to save swimmers from drowning

A rescue drone from the manufacturer General Drones

(Bild: General Drones)

According to the Spanish lifeguard association Aetsas, 24 people have drowned on the Balearic Islands this year alone up to the end of August, the majority of which (18) were on Mallorca. In order to reduce the number of accidents and relieve the pressure on lifeguards, drones are to be used in future.

Lifeguard Marcos Ruiz once again had to intervene several times this summer on Mallorca to rescue holidaymakers who often didn't even know how much danger they were in. In most cases, the current drove the swimmers into the open sea. Some of them took a carefree nap on air mattresses. These careless and sometimes drunk people are lucky that Ruiz and Co. usually recognize the danger in time and react.

But despite all the experience and efforts of the beach "guardian angels", tourists and locals continue to drown off the coast of the Spanish Mediterranean island every year. The lifeguards have therefore been protesting for a long time to achieve improvements.

Among other things, they are demanding that the hours of beach surveillance be extended into the evening and also to the months of March and November. More staff are needed for this, they say. Initially, however, support is to come from technology in the form of drones.

Such a device is being tested in the municipality of Santanyí in the east of Mallorca: the tests have been carried out by the Valencia-based company General Drones since the end of August and will continue until September 26. The flying object can not only help swimmers in distress. "We can also film boats that don't follow the rules. This allows the police to issue tickets later," says company boss Adrián Plazas.

Ruiz welcomes the project: "If it's of any use, we'll gratefully accept it," he tells the German Press Agency. But he also expresses skepticism. "On the one hand, you have to weigh up the costs that could be used to pay for other things. And on the other hand, the technology could fail. I wouldn't want to rely on it 100 percent."

Drone speaks Spanish and English
Plazas emphasizes the advantages of his drones. "We can fly them up to six kilometers. In consultation with the police, we are always on different parts of the beach," he says. The drone has a loudspeaker. "Our pilot speaks Spanish and English. This allows him to make announcements. Theoretically, we could also play recordings in other languages."

Life jackets in the luggage
Two life jackets are also attached to the aircraft, which can be dropped in an emergency. So far, this has not been necessary during the tests on the coast of Santanyí. "We have been offering our service in Valencia since 2017. Last year, the life jackets were dropped 16 times in extreme situations," says Plazas.

The most dangerous scene during the tests on the island involved a family who had ventured too close to a rocky section of the coast in high waves. "A high wave could have washed them into the sea. We told them over the loudspeaker to keep their distance." In general, the drone is ideal for areas that are difficult for the police to access.

Palma wants to make the beach "intelligent"
Santanyí is investing 15,000 euros in the pilot project. Other municipalities in Mallorca have expressed their interest. Among them is the city of Palma, which is responsible for the Ballermann and has announced that it wants to make the beach "intelligent". In addition to a new app for renting parasols and sun loungers, video surveillance and drones are to be introduced.

The fatal accident at Cala Bona - like Santanyí on the east coast of the island - showed just how important better monitoring of shipping on Mallorca is. According to the authorities, a yacht driven by Germans was traveling far too fast and ran over a small fishing boat. A 20-year-old Mallorcan fisherman died as a result. The investigation is ongoing.

Small boats, which can be rented and driven without a license, and jet skis also cause a lot of trouble on Mallorca, as the rules are often disregarded. Many drive too fast and through bathing areas marked with buoys, where they are not allowed.