In 2023, the Canary Islands emerged as the third autonomous community in Spain with the highest incidence of fatalities due to unintentional drownings in aquatic environments, recording a total of 52 deaths, as per the data collated by the Royal Spanish Federation of Rescue and Lifesaving.
Nationally, the year concluded with 422 fatalities from unintentional drownings in aquatic spaces, marking an increase of almost 8% over the previous year, 2022, and representing the highest death toll since 2019.
Furthermore, the death toll for the past year ranks as the fourth highest in the history of the report, which has been compiled annually since 2015.
This increase comes despite a significant reduction in December, where 17 fatalities were reported, a decrease from the 29 recorded in the same month of the previous year.
Andalusia, for the second instance since 2015, topped the list of autonomous communities with the highest number of drownings, tallying up to 68 fatalities, equal to its past record.
Following Andalusia, Catalonia reported 66 drownings, then the Canary Islands with 52, Valencia and Galicia both with 46, the Balearic Islands with 32, Asturias with 17, Castile and Leon with 16, Murcia also with 16, the Basque Country with 15, Castile-La Mancha with 10, Aragon with 9, Madrid with 7, Extremadura with 5, and Navarre with 4, alongside Ceuta with 3, while Melilla reported no drownings.
In terms of location, beaches were the most common site for drowning fatalities, accounting for 231 of the total deaths (54.7%), followed by rivers with 63 (14.9%) and swimming pools with 47 (11.1%), with the remaining 81 occurring in various other aquatic settings.
Of the 422 reported deaths, 103 occurred at monitored sites, compared to 148 in areas without surveillance and 171 in locations not requiring such services.
The typical profile of a drowning victim in 2023 was predominantly male (80.3%), aged over 45 years (76.5%), of Spanish nationality (72.5%), with the incident occurring at a beach (54.7%) or in an area lacking supervision (75.6%), predominantly between 10:00 am and 2:00 pm (31%). Notably, 57% of the drownings took place during the summer months.
