Spanish lifeguards have been banned from doing mouth-to-mouth this summer and told they must assume everyone they have to save could be infected with Covid-19.
The resuscitation order is part of the new Royal Spanish Lifesaving Federation protocol.
The written protocol states: “Every victim is infectious and contagious until proven otherwise.”
And it adds: “Under no circumstances should mouth-to-mouth be performed.”
The Spanish life-savers hired to keep foreign tourists and other beachgoers safe this summer will instead be told to stick to chest compressions and a cardiac balloon pump where they are trained to use one.
And they have also been advised to make sure other beachgoers leave them a gap of at least 13 feet to help those in need.
British holidaymakers able to make it to the Costas this summer can forget about the idea of seeing Baywatch-style hunks or goddesses of the type popularised by Pamela Anderson and David Hasselhoff.
This year’s Spanish crop of life-savers will have to wear disposable gloves as well as eye protectors and FFP2 masks.
Francisco Cano, Royal Spanish Lifesaving Federation security director, told Spanish press today they would also be trained to position themselves “sideways” to the wind direction to minimise the risk of Covid-19 infection if they can communicate with someone they have had to save.
An average of three people a day died last July in open water drownings in Spain.
Between June 1 and August 15 180 people lost their lives, an increase of 13 per cent on the previous year.
Andalucia and the Valencian Community, covering the Brit-popular areas of the Costa del Sol and Costa Blanca, were among the regions where most drownings occurred.
Spain has said foreign holidaymakers can return from July 1 after a 14-day quarantine on people entering the country is lifted.
