Young people on Canary Islands summer campuses train to prevent drownings
1. Key points
Around 2,700 people from all eight islands have already attended the sessions since summer 2025.
Presented at the Real Club Victoria boatyard in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, with Ángel Sabroso (vice-minister), Juan Ortega (club president) and Sebastián Quintana.
The talks are given by Quintana, using the audiovisual campaign «Canarias, 1.500 Km de Costa».
In 2025, 69 people died by drowning in the Canary Islands and 40 suffered critical or very serious injuries; four of the deaths were minors, among 20 children who were drowning victims.
2. The news in detail
The Vice-Ministry for Physical Activity and Sport of the Canary Islands Government is launching this summer, for the second year running, a cycle of training, information and awareness talks on safety in the water, aimed at federations and sports organisations as well as summer campuses across the islands.
That was set out at the presentation of the initiative at the Real Club Victoria boatyard in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria by Ángel Sabroso, vice-minister for Physical Activity and Sport; Juan Ortega, president of Real Club Victoria; and Sebastián Quintana, a communicator on water-safety prevention.
The talks are given by Quintana, using the audiovisual campaign «Canarias, 1.500 Km de Costa», described as a public-service measure that makes the Canary Islands the first autonomous community in Spain to put an action of this kind into practice. In this cycle, first launched in summer 2025, around 2,700 people from all eight islands have already learned basic safety notions for beaches and swimming pools. The association that works to prevent drownings has been giving these talks for more than a decade and has reached around 28,000 people.
The Canary Islands are described as the Spanish region with the highest number of people drowned on beaches and in swimming pools. In 2025, 69 people died by drowning and 40 suffered critical or very serious injuries. Four of the deaths were minors, among a total of 20 children who were drowning victims in regional water spaces. There were 72 deaths in aquatic settings in 2024 and 71 in 2023.
3. Voices and statements
2,700 people across the Canary Islands have received this training since summer 2025.
4. Context and background
Presentation: Real Club Victoria boatyard, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.
Audience: federations, sports bodies and summer campuses in the Canary Islands.
Contact: Sebastián Quintana, tel. 655 026 332, Asociación Canarias, 1500 Km de Costa.
5. What it means for Fuerteventura
The note stresses the need to build a culture of prevention and water safety, with priority on the youngest ages — an issue that also matters for Fuerteventura in the summer season.
