British man, 55, plucked from the sea while fully dressed on surfboard near Marbella tells rescuers he had been adrift for three days after falling off cruise ship
- The 55-year-old was picked up by the coastguard off Marbella on Monday
- Crew members on a yacht called Estelar spotted the man and alerted rescuers
- They said he was fully dressed and claimed to have spent several days at sea
- Local reports described the man as British and the vessel as a cruise ship
A British man who was found floating fully-dressed on a surfboard in the middle of the ocean has told Spanish officials he spent three days adrift after falling off a cruise ship.
The 55-year-old was picked up by the coastguard near Marbella on Monday afternoon.
Crew members on a yacht called Estelar spotted the man and alerted rescuers.
They said he was fully dressed and claimed to have spent several days at sea after falling off a boat. It is not clear how he obtained the surfboard.
Local reports late on Monday night described the man as British and the vessel he fell from as a cruise ship – which has yet to be identified.
A British man who was found floating fully-dressed on a surfboard in the middle of the ocean has told Spanish officials he spent three days adrift after falling off a cruise ship
The man is said to have told the coastguard that the accident had happened three days earlier.
Coastguard vessel Salvamar Vega took him to Estepona Port before a waiting ambulance took him to a local health centre to be treated for hypothermia.
His exact whereabouts on Monday night were unknown.
Police – who could not be reached for comment – are expected to question him about his ordeal once he is well enough.
It is not known if the man was on holiday in Spain or is a resident there.
The rescue has fuelled a wave of speculation about how the mystery man ended up on a surfboard.
One social media user said: ‘I’m intrigued about this story, because finding a surfboard while you’re lost at sea would be even stranger than falling off a boat with the surfboard.’
Another added: ‘What’s the story, that they threw the surfboard to him when he fell instead of rescuing him?’
Coastguard vessel Salvamar Vega (file image of coastguard vessels pictured) took him to Estepona Port before a waiting ambulance took him to a local health centre to be treated for hypothermia
Spain was put on the UK Government’s mandatory quarantine list in July causing chaos as holidaymakers were given just five hours’ notice.
British holidaymakers looking for a summer break in the Costas now must isolate for 14 days on their return to Britain.
Last week, Spain recorded a new single-day record for Covid-19 cases since the country emerged from a three-month lockdown in mid-June.
Some 7,039 confirmed cases were reported on Thursday, prompting Spain’s chief epidemiologist to tell a press conference: ‘Don’t be confused, things are not going well.’