Fresh shark sightings spark MORE Spanish seaside closures

New shark sightings have forced two more Spanish holiday beaches to close as a number of the predators have been spotted off the Gran Canaria coast – including a beast as big as 10ft.

Lifeguards ordered bathers out of the water at Melenara Beach on the island’s east coast for a second day running when a police drone spotted a hammerhead shark off the beach shortly after it was reopened yesterday morning.

The bathing ban yesterday afternoon was extended to neighbouring Salinetas beach.

And around two hours later lifeguards hoisted the red flag at a third spot – San Augustin beach in the south of the island – after a tourist photographed the tell-tale fin of a shark sticking out of the water.

It was not immediately clear if the big fish was the same one that terrorised bathers at Melenara beach around 5pm on Saturday and led to the first of the beach closures.

It was briefly reopened to bathing yesterday morning before the second closure around 1pm after local police drones spotted a shark close to Taliarte Port next to Melenara Beach.

The red flag was also hoisted at Salinetas beach just south.

Local police confirmed after a second much clearer drone sighting in the same area around 5pm yesterday it was a hammerhead shark, the same species that sparked panic on Saturday as it appeared near the shoreline.

Its size was initially calculated at just under seven feet, although the second drone sighting pointed to it being up to 10ft-long.

In between the beach at San Augustin 20 miles south was also closed after a new shark sighting.

It was reportedly spotted by a tourist near a restaurant overlooking the sea called Balcon de San Augustin. Red Cross officials later confirmed they had also seen it.

It was not picked up again despite efforts by local police and other officials to locate and track it, and the beach is expected to reopen again today unless council chiefs make a last-minute U-turn.

It is not clear whether the shark seen further south is a hammerhead, which can grow up to 20 feet in length and weigh up to 1,000 pounds, or another species.

Most hammerhead species are considered harmless to humans and few attacks have been recorded, but they are aggressive hunters and their size and fierceness make them potentially harmless.

Young girls could be heard screaming as the shark that caused panic at Melenara Beach on Saturday afternoon approached the shoreline at speed with its telltale fin sticking out of the water.

Footage from the scene showed youngsters running for safety as the shark swam towards the shoreline before turning back at the last minute after thrashing around in the water.

Another man was pictured with a child in his arms from the safety of the sand as he watched it come towards them.

A council spokesman for Telde Council, the municipality Melenara beach comes under, said as the drama unfolded: ‘It’s important people stay calm and follow the instructions of the lifeguards and the authorities.’

A young girl who was in the water when the shark appeared told a local TV station: ‘The lifeguard started blowing his whistle and indicating everyone should get out of the water and I looked round and saw its fin.’

A friend added: ‘We saw the fin which was about seven inches out of the water and we began to move as fast as we could back towards the beach.’

Last month tourists and locals were banned from going into the sea following a shark sighting off a Menorcan beach.

Coastguards hoisted the red flag and called the Spanish equivalent of 999 after the tell-tale fin of a seven foot blue shark or tinterora was seen above the water line.

The alarm was raised around 3.30pm on May 6 at the popular beach of Arenal d’en Castell, the same place another shark was spotted in June 2018 when swimmers were also banned from entering the water for the entire afternoon.

The shark sighting was described at the time as the first so far this year near a Costa beach.

Blue sharks rarely bite humans but have been implicated in several biting incidents, four of which are said to have ended fatally.

A blue shark was blamed for an attack on a holidaymaker in Elche near Alicante in July 2016.

The 40-year-old victim was rushed to hospital and given stitches to a wound in his hand.

First aiders described the bite as ‘large’ and said he had come out of the sea with blood streaming from the injury.

In June last year a fully grown blue shark measuring some seven feet caused panic off the Costa Blanca beach of Aguamarina in Orihuela Costa south of Alicante.

Bathers were filmed trying to run to safety through waist-high water as it neared the shoreline.

Lifeguards blew on their whistles to warn locals and holidaymakers about the big fish and urge them to get out of the sea as quickly as possible.

One woman, thought to have been an elderly person seen being helped out of the water by Good Samaritans, is said to have suffered a panic attack after realising the shark was beside her.

It washed up dead the following day by rocks at La Caleta Beach in Cabo Roig a couple of miles away.

The same day it emerged the same species of shark had been spotted inside Ciutadella Port in Menorca.

Biologist Asier Furundarena insisted after the weekend sightings in Gran Canaria there was no cause for alarm.

He said: ‘People should respect the instructions they receive from lifeguards and the local police or other authorities present and stay calm because absolutely nothing is going to happen to them.

‘They should also enjoy the moment they’re witnessing because it’s a privilege to see species like these that are endangered in other parts of the world and here can seek refuge.’