Spanish mountain rescue police launch hunt for lacking British man, 48
- Officials say they have ‘maximum’ concern for the missing British man, 48
- He was last spotted in Las Salas, a mountain village in Cremenes, in Leon, Spain
- It is believed he rowed with his wife before dumping personal items and his car
Mountain rescuers are desperate to find a British man in Spain, who has not been seen since a row with his wife on Thursday.
Officials say they have ‘maximum’ concern for the 48-year-old man’s welfare after he reportedly left his wife in a garage after arguing with her and dumped several personal belongings, before abandoning his car.
A keen mountaineer himself, the missing man is said to have been spotted throwing away climbing equipment and documentation in Las Salas, a mountain village in Cremenes in the northern Spanish province of Leon.
Mountain experts from the Civil Guard’s Greim unit have been mobilised, alongside drones and a helicopter.
The specialist rescuers are the same type of team that searched for missing British teenager Jay Slater for nearly two weeks near the Tenerife village of Masca after he disappeared on June 17.
Mountain experts from the Civil Guard’s Greim unit have been mobilised, alongside drones and a helicopter to find a British man, 48, who has not been seen since Thursday
The man, said to be a keen mountaineer, was last seen in Las Salas, a mountain village in Cremenes in the northern Spanish province of Leon
Drones, a helicopter and a specialist sniffer dog are also being used in the hunt for the British man.
It is believed he and his wife, who also enjoys mountaineering, were practicing the sport during the couple’s stay in Acebedo, in the north-east of the province of Leon.
The banks of the Esla River, a tributary of the Duero River, along with mountain areas near it are the focus of the search.
A police command post has been set up in Las Salas, where the man was spotted throwing away his belongings.
It is unclear if the missing man’s wife is also British, and whether they live in Spain or flew to the country from abroad.
Sources close to the ongoing search said they are seriously concerned given his behaviour before he disappeared.
A spokesman for a regional emergency coordination centre said earlier today: ‘The Civil Protection and Emergencies Agency of the Junta de Castilla y Leon is continuing with the search operation for the 48-year-old British man who has been missing since Thursday in the area of Cremenes in Leon.
‘The search today is focusing on the banks of the Esla River and the area around the village of Las Salas, where the missing man’s vehicle was found parked on Thursday.
‘In the village of Las Salas, the advanced command post of the Civil Protection and Emergencies Agency remains deployed, with technical staff from the emergency coordination centre, as well as the ‘Fenix’ drone unit and the Logistical Support and Emergencies Unit.
‘Environmental agents from the Castilla y Leon Regional Government have also joined the operation.
The banks of the Esla River, a tributary of the Duero River, along with mountain areas near it are the focus of the search for the missing British man
‘The work is being carried out in coordination with the resources that the Guardia Civil is employing in the search, which include specialist mountain agents, drones and a helicopter.
‘Emergency responders received a call on the morning of Thursday 11 July in which a family member reported the disappearance of this 48-year-old British man, after which the search was initiated.’
The incident comes just weeks after a missing British hiker was found dead in the Spanish Pyrenees.
Police and other emergency services had been searching for the 70-year-old Londoner after he disappeared on June 24.
On June 27 it emerged he had been found dead close to the Aspe Peak, a mountain in the western Pyrenees of Huesca on the western side of the Aragon Valley.
The 8,678ft peak towers over the Spanish ski resort of Candanchu and the Somport pass on the border with France.
The three Greim officers who found the unnamed hiker’s body informed a police helicopter which was in the area so he could be transferred to a nearby mountain refuge and handed over to funeral parlour workers.
The dead man is understood to have been walking between the Lizara and Candanchu mountain refuges.
The Civil Guard in Huesca had received a message from the UK’s Interpol office in Manchester giving them the co-ordinates of an SOS wristband the hiker was wearing.
Footage released by the Civil Guard at the time showed the operation to rescue the tragic Brit’s body.
Police in Tenerife say their investigation into the disappearance of apprentice bricklayer Jay Slater, who vanished near the village of Masca, is continuing.
The mountain search for him has already been called off.
