"Oh my gosh! Someone has gone off."
It’s been fifteen years and a bit since I last strolled through the rancid boulevards of Tenerife, home to the worst of British tourism and the slime of the Spanish imperial diaspora, there to surf a wave pool in a theme park that looks like the picturesque ruins of some ancient Asian empire, the footage appear in the Kai Neville film Lost Atlas.
Tenerife is the sorta joint where you get invited to a party and the hosts rip off your photographer’s gear.
Cunt of a joint, if you’ll excuse the bourgeois use of French.
That aside, and unrelated to my poor feelings towards the Canary Islands, on Sunday, four tourists were killed after tooling around in an ocean pool at the Charco de Isla Cangrejo, a seawater pool bordered by volcanic rock and a cement wall, and which you’ll find on the rugged western coastline in the area known as Los Gigantes.
The pool, real popular among foreign tourists, very Instagrammable etc sits nearly at sea level and becomes perilous during rough conditions, when waves surge over the barrier.
Tenerife authorities reported that the wave swept a group of swimmers out to sea, prompting an extensive rescue operation involving jet skis and helicopters.
The recovered bodies included a 35-year-old man, a 55-year-old woman, and another man whose details were not disclosed. The fourth victim, a woman who was initially revived at the scene, died on Monday. Two of the deceased were Romanian citizens, and two were Slovak, according to statements from their governments.
Local media indicated that a weather advisory for rough seas had been in effect at the time, and the pool had been closed to swimmers since Dec. 3. Residents told reporters that the swimmers appeared to have ignored warning signs and fencing erected to prevent access due to hazardous conditions.
The slippery rocks beneath the pool make it extremely difficult for anyone pulled into the ocean to regain footing and return to safety.
“People … don’t know how the sea is here, and the danger of the pool, because there are rocks below on which people fall and can’t get back up. It’s very dangerous,” one unnamed resident said.
Emilio Navarro, the mayor of Santiago del Teide, the municipality encompassing the area, extended condolences to the victims’ families and confirmed that search efforts continued on Monday for the missing swimmer.
He emphasised the need to obey signage, which ain’t there for the gov’s health.
“We … ask people to pay attention to the signage put up by the authorities,” Mr. Navarro said. “It’s to take care of and protect everyone.”