Lost at sea
Two German sailors missing after Mallorca storm – there is no trace of father, son and boat
With this sailing boat, the two sailors from Germany left Cala Galdana on Menorca on Sunday
© Salvamento Maritimo / DPA
Two Germans want to cross the Menorca Channel with their sailing boat when a storm breaks over them. The contact breaks off. So far there is no trace of father, son and boat.
A severe storm has thrown Mallorca and some of the other Balearic Islands into chaos. Because of the storm-related cancellation of dozens of flights, hundreds of tourists had to spend Monday night at Palma airport. According to reports from regional media, the situation there in the late afternoon was still anything but relaxed.
There are still long queues of stranded travelers and annoyed and scolding passengers, reported “Mallorca Diario”. The “Mallorca Zeitung”, citing passengers, wrote of a “fight” between vacationers and ground staff. Airlines employees even cried in desperation. Among those affected were also many German vacationing families with very small children who, among other things, ran out of diapers.
A total of 29 departures were canceled at Son Sant Joan Airport on Sunday, according to the Spanish airport administration authority Aena. In addition, 27 incoming flights were canceled and 18 were diverted. According to the media, there were still many delays on Monday. The situation will have normalized by the evening, an Aena spokesman said on request. In summer, Mallorca often handles more than 1000 flights a day.
Concern for missing German sailors
Two German sailors, who were on their way from Menorca to Mallorca in their nine-meter-long boat on Sunday and who were reported missing, caused concern on Monday. The Spanish sea rescue service said it was a 50-year-old and his 19-year-old son. According to official information, two rescue ships and a helicopter took part in the search on the so-called Menorca Channel between the two Balearic Islands.
Whether the disappearance of the boat “Makan Angin”, which had set sail in Cala Galdana on Menorca, had something to do with the storm was not clear for the time being. Contact with the Germans had already broken off around 10 a.m. on Sunday, it said. Close people only notified the authorities from Germany on Sunday evening around 6.30 p.m. It was not initially known whether the two missing persons were tourists or Germans living in the Balearic Islands.
Regarding media reports that the cruise ship Britannia collided with a tanker in the storm, a spokesman for P&O Cruises told Sky News on Monday that the ship was involved in a “weather-related incident” at the port of Palma on Sunday. A “small number of people” suffered minor injuries and were treated on board.
Severe weather in Mallorca causes more than 450 incidents
The sometimes violent storms with hurricane gusts and heavy rain led to more than 450 incidents on Mallorca alone, according to a recent report by the Balearic emergency service on Monday. Accordingly, it was mainly fallen trees that damaged cars or obstructed traffic. Destroyed roofs could also be seen on television pictures. According to official information, no people were seriously injured. The media reported, among other things, about a pregnant woman who was hit by a flying billboard and injured her knee. The Majorcan fire brigade reported 179 missions, mostly in the municipality of Calviá west of Palma.
The storm not only caused chaos and property damage in Mallorca, Ibiza and Menorca, but also moments of horror. The “Mallorca Zeitung” and the “Mallorca Magazin” highlighted a case: Two children were blown away on an air mattress by the strong wind on the sea in front of the beach of Illetes in Calviá. It was said that they were able to salvage them unharmed.
Towards Sunday evening the weather on the Balearic Islands had calmed down again. The weather service Aemet lowered the warning level from orange to yellow. There is also a warning about high waves on the coast.