"We are facing an exceptionally bad year," admit sources from Catalan Civil Protection regarding mortality on Catalan beaches. This beginning of 2025 has seen the highest number of drownings in the last decade, with 25 fatalities on the Catalan coast as of Thursday, four more than last year and almost double the number recorded ten years ago in the same period. The latest victims are two children, aged 11 and 13, who drowned Tuesday night while swimming at Larga beach in Salou, Tarragonès. The children were British brothers, and their father, who also entered the water to rescue them, was rescued by the Emergency Services.