British climber, 28, dies after 60-metre fall near summit of Spain’s highest Picos de Europa peak

The accident happened on Thursday afternoon in the municipality of Cabrales (Asturias), when the climber was approximately 20 metres below the mountain’s summit.

Torrecerredo, which rises to 2,648 metres, is the highest point in both the Picos de Europa and the wider Cantabrian Mountains of northern Spain.

According to information released by the Guardia Civil, the climber fell between 40 and 60 metres while making his descent. The precise circumstances that caused him to fall have not been disclosed.

Asturias’ 112 emergency coordination centre received the first alert at 1.27pm, reporting that a person had fallen in the Torrecerredo area and was possibly dead.

A doctor from the mountain rescue team was dispatched to the scene and confirmed the climber’s death at 2.18pm.

Firefighters from the Asturias Emergency Service (SEPA) then remained with the body until a Guardia Civil helicopter carrying specialist mountain rescue officers from the GREIM unit arrived at 3.28pm.

After locating the victim from the air, two GREIM specialists were lowered by winch into the mountainous terrain.

The officers carried out an inspection of the scene and recovered the climber’s personal possessions, which had been scattered during the fall, before his body was winched aboard the helicopter along with the two rescuers.

The victim was flown to the La Morgal emergency services complex in Llanera, Asturias, where funeral services took charge of his remains for their subsequent transfer to the Institute of Legal Medicine of Asturias.

The British man has not been publicly identified. Authorities have also not said whether he had been climbing alone or as part of a group.

Second mountain rescue on same afternoon

The fatal accident came during a particularly busy afternoon for mountain rescue teams in the Cabrales area.

Just 18 minutes after the initial Torrecerredo alert, at 1.45pm, emergency services were informed of a second incident involving a 54-year-old French woman in the nearby Jou Sin Tierre area.

The hiker had injured her leg and was unable to continue walking. Her emergency call was subsequently cut off, initially leaving rescuers with little further information about her condition.

Once the operation at Torrecerredo allowed rescuers to redeploy, a SEPA medical helicopter travelled to Jou Sin Tierre.

The French woman, who was accompanied by another person, was treated at the scene for a suspected fracture of the tibia and fibula before being airlifted to the Hospital del Oriente in Arriondas.

Second foreign visitor to die in Picos de Europa in less than a week

Thursday’s accident was the second fatal fall involving a foreign visitor in the Picos de Europa in less than a week.

On 19 September, a 71-year-old Norwegian hiker died following a fall on the Ruta del Cares, or Cares Trail, one of the national park’s best-known hiking routes. The woman reportedly lost her balance while attempting to put on a heavy rucksack and fell down a steep slope.

Another fatal accident involving a British mountaineer occurred elsewhere in northern Spain earlier this year. On 30 May, a British woman who lived in Finland died after falling around 500 metres while climbing the Gran Diagonal route on the Balaitús massif in the Pyrenees, in the Huesca province.

Torrecerredo stands in the central massif of the Picos de Europa National Park, an area renowned for its dramatic limestone peaks and steep, technically demanding mountain terrain.

Main image: Guadia Civil file image.