A daredevil British influencer has died after falling from Spain’s highest bridge.
The 26-year-old digital creator is said to have jumped over the Tagus from the 200-metre high Castilla-La Mancha Bridge in Talavera de la Reina, a 90-minute drive south-west of Madrid, early this morning as he climbed it to shoot a video film social media. stunt.
City councilor Macarena Munoz confirmed the tragedy today when she said access to the bridge was “totally prohibited.”
She added: ‘We have made it clear on several occasions that this cannot be done under any circumstances.’
The unnamed British man is said to have been with a fellow countryman aged 24 when he plunged to his death.
A British influencer has fallen to his death from one of Spain’s highest bridges
Police on the scene at the Castilla La Mancha bridge in Talavera de la Reina
Footage from the scene of the tragedy showed police cordoning off the area near where he fell.
The Talavera de la Reina Municipal Council confirmed in a statement: ‘The Councilor for Citizen Security, Macarena Munoz, has confirmed the death of a young man after falling from the Castilla-La Mancha Bridge.
“He was a 26-year-old Englishman who fell while climbing the above-mentioned bridge, something which the councilor has made clear is totally prohibited and which we have repeatedly reiterated and which cannot be done under any circumstances.”
‘The young man was accompanied by another 24-year-old Englishman.
“According to what we have been able to determine, they came to Talavera to climb the bridge and create content for social media, which led to this unfortunate and sad outcome.”
“The judge and the forensic doctor have already authorized the removal of the body, which has been transferred to the funeral home.”
An autopsy has yet to take place.
Today’s tragedy happened around 7:15 am.
Firefighters from both the National Police and the local town hall arrived on the scene with paramedics, but they were unable to save the Briton.
The bridge where the incident took place is the second highest in Europe and also the highest in Spain.
A spokesperson for a regional government-run emergency coordination center confirmed: ‘We received the first call at 7.14am today reporting that a young man had fallen while climbing the Castilla-La Mancha Bridge.
“The victim, aged 26, was pronounced dead at the scene.”
The national police, local police, firefighters from Talavera de la Reina and an ambulance were sent to the scene, but emergency responders could do nothing to save him.
Officers cordoned off the area where the social media influencer fell
Police said last night they would not name the dead Briton.
A spokesman for the National Police in Toledo, the province of which Talavera de la Reina is part, said: ‘It was about 40 to 50 meters high, about a quarter of the total height of the bridge, when it fell.
“The reason he fell is not clear and will be investigated by a local court.”
A source close to the investigation said: ‘Both the dead man and the companion who survived were climbing without a harness or other protection.
‘A passing motorist raised the alarm.
‘The other boy was initially in shock and couldn’t even talk. He is clearly still quite traumatized, but is no longer at the police station.
“He is not accused of any crime. Whether the local town hall decides to penalize him for doing something illegal is up to them.”
Investigators are expected to investigate whether bad weather played a role in what happened. It is believed that it rained heavily in Talavera de la Reina before the tragedy, making everything slipperier than it normally would have been.
It was not immediately clear last night whether the two Britons had traveled to Spain solely to climb the bridge they wanted to film.
They had used a rental car to get around.
The 200-meter-long bridge over the Tagus River was built in October 2011 for 74 million euros
The bridge is a cable-stayed bridge with 152 steel cables that opened on October 17, 2011 and cost almost 74 million euros to build.
When it was built it was widely regarded by local and national media as a waste of money and because it carried little traffic it was often referred to as the ‘bridge to nowhere’.
A year ago, local police reported two young bloggers who climbed it without any protection and then posted videos on their social media.
In 2016, two youths were reported for the same stunt. It is not known how far away the Briton was when he fell.