The death of a 73-year-old man at the municipal pool in Jorba (Barcelona) on Sunday brought the number of pool drownings in Catalonia this summer to ten. Emergency services received a call at 18:16 late in the afternoon reporting that a swimmer had been pulled from the water with clear signs of drowning. Medical teams from the Sistema de Emergencias Médicas (SEM) arrived quickly, but resuscitation attempts were unsuccessful. El Caso also reported the incident in a story by journalist Orsolya Gazdagi.
The latest fatality adds to a concerning trend in Catalonia since the swimming season officially began on June 15. Civil Protection reports that around thirty more people, most of them minors, have suffered injuries linked to drowning. Authorities continue to urge vigilance and adherence to safety rules at public and private pools, especially as summer heat draws more residents and visitors to swimming facilities across the region.
Water-related accidents have also claimed lives along the Catalan coast in recent weeks. For example, a 74-year-old woman drowned at Sant Pol beach in Sant Feliu de Guíxols, underscoring the risks swimmers face in both controlled and open-water environments. The beach death is separate from the pool incidents counted in the Jorba tally. Emergency services have responded to a surge in calls, but lifeguards and medical teams have often been unable to prevent fatalities despite swift intervention.
Data from previous years suggest that older people and children are particularly vulnerable to drowning, prompting renewed calls for supervision and preventive action. Civil Protection continues to monitor the situation and urges pool operators and families to reinforce safety protocols. In a separate discussion of water-related risks, Protecció Civil representative Sergio Delgado told RTVE that “part of society is not aware of the risks posed by water.” The remark addressed broader water safety, not the circumstances of the Jorba incident. The series of accidents has also put pressure on local authorities to review current regulations and consider further measures to reduce risks during the peak summer months.
In Spain, drowning remains one of the leading causes of accidental death during the summer, especially in regions with many public pools and coastal resorts. When high temperatures bring larger crowds to pools with limited supervision, a routine swim can quickly become a life-threatening emergency. As the season progresses, officials are expected to intensify awareness campaigns and inspections to help prevent further tragedies.
