Irishman, 40, drowns while swimming off coast of Spain

AN IRISHMAN has drowned while swimming in Spain.

The 40-year-old is said to have got into difficulties after going swimming in Alicante following a row with his partner. Unconfirmed local reports stated that he had been drinking before going into the sea. Fishermen spotted the man floating in the water and got him to the shoreline.

Police and paramedics were mobilised and performed CPR on him, but their efforts proved unsuccessful and he was pronounced dead at the scene.

The tragedy happened on Thursday off Albufereta beach, which is a short drive north-west of the city centre and is a popular spot for Alicante residents. The alarm was raised around 5.30pm.

A local court has opened a routine investigation and is awaiting a police report and the results of a post-mortem, which will be sent directly to the investigating magistrate rather than being made public.

It was not immediately clear yesterday if the dead man – initially described as British in a Spanish local newspaper report, although a well-placed local source subsequently said he was Irish – was an expat or a holidaymaker.

He has not been named and the nationality of his partner has not been revealed. No one at Spain’s National Police HQ in Alicante was available for comment early yesterday morning.

A spokesman for a regional government-run emergency coordination centre confirmed: ‘A 40-year-old man has died from drowning on Albufereta beach. We received a call at 5.30pm [on Thursday] saying a man had been pulled unconscious from the sea.

‘The caller said witnesses were practising basic CPR on the man and police continued to try to revive him when they arrived.

‘Paramedics were mobilised and continued to try to save him but there was nothing they could do and the man was pronounced dead at the scene. An autopsy will now take place.’

The Department of Foreign Affairs said in a statement: ‘The department... is aware of the case and providing consular assistance. The department does not comment on the details of consular cases.’