Briton, 59, dies while diving off beach on Spanish holiday island

A British diver has died off the coast of Lanzarote.

The 59-year-old man was treated by emergency services after getting into difficulty in a small sandy cove called Playa Chica in the tourist resort of Puerto del Carmen.

After pulling him out of the water, they tried to revive him and discovered that he had gone into cardiac arrest.

However, they were unable to save him and he was pronounced dead on the spot.

The alarm was raised just after 12.30pm yesterday at Playa Chica, Puerto del Carmen’s southernmost beach, which is known for its fantastic snorkelling.

A spokesman for a regional government emergency coordination center reported last night: “A 59-year-old diver has died following an incident at Playa Chica in the municipality of Tias.

‘Yesterday we received the first calls just after 12:30.

‘The callers reported that a diver who was unconscious and in urgent need of medical attention had been pulled from the water.

‘When the emergency services arrived at the scene, they saw that he was in cardiac arrest and they performed CPR on him, but that had no positive result.

He was pronounced dead at the scene.

The Guardia Civil is preparing a report on the incident.

‘The local police and fire brigade were also mobilized.’

In February last year, a 63-year-old British diver died off the coast of Tenerife.

The tragedy occurred near a beach in the municipality of Fasnia in eastern Tenerife.

Tourists sunbathe, swim and relax on Playa Grande beach in Puerto del Carmen, located in the southeast of the volcanic island of Lanzarote

In November 2022, a British diver died in Lanzarote.

The 60-year-old is said to have suffered a cardiac arrest at Playa Flamingo, in the south of the island.

A lifeguard reportedly tried to help the unnamed Briton when he saw he was in trouble, but could do nothing to save his life.

Enrique Espinosa, manager of the Lanzarote Safety and Emergency Response Consortium, said at the time: ‘He had all the correct permits to dive, but diving is a risky sport and anything that goes wrong could be fatal.

‘He went into cardiac arrest when he arrived at the scene and attempts to resuscitate him were unsuccessful.’

According to police sources, the British man had ‘health problems’.

In February 2019, a British man died while diving off the coast of Tenerife, where he was celebrating his 32nd wedding anniversary with his wife Lesley.

Andrew Littler, from Coalville, Leicester, was pronounced dead after alarms were raised when he went into cardiac arrest following unsuccessful attempts to resuscitate him on a pier in the quiet holiday resort of Abades in the south-east of the sunny island.

News of the tragedy came to light when friends set up a GoFundMe campaign to help repatriate the driver’s body.