MADRID, Jan. 3 (Xinhua) -- Data published by the Spanish Lifeguard Federation on Wednesday show that 481 people lost their lives through drowning in Spain during 2017.
The number takes into account people who lost their lives at swimming pools, in lakes or rivers and off Spanish beaches, but does not include migrants who died in the Mediterranean while attempting to make the dangerous sea crossing between North Africa and Spain.
The majority of deaths happened during the hot summer months, with 95 people losing their lives in July, 71 in August and 70 in June.
The majority of fatalities also happened in popular tourist regions, such as the Canary Islands (93 deaths), Andalusia (74 deaths), Valencia (67 deaths), Galicia (58 deaths) and Catalonia (44 deaths).
However, while the timing and location of the majority of drownings may not be a surprise, the profile of the average drowning victim is not as many would expect.
The data showed that rather than the majority of victims being tourists or children, by far the biggest number of deaths came among Spanish men, in fact 80 percent of victims were male, 73 percent were Spanish and 71.9 percent were aged over 35.
52 percent of deaths took place at a beach, but there is one common factor in nearly all of the fatalities in that 90 percent of drownings took place where there was no lifeguard.
The Federation reports that lifeguards and swimming pools and beaches intervened to save 2,487 people.
