This is the surreal moment a wild boar emerges from the Med and runs up a Costa beach in front of astonished tourists.
The powerful animal, thought to be around three years old, made its dash along the sand late this morning at family-friendly Benajarafe Beach on the eastern end of the Costa del Sol a half-hour drive from Malaga.
Terrified tourists and locals could be heard screaming as the 10-stone beast swam towards the shoreline, with one overheard yelling in Spanish: ‘Watch out, it’s coming out of the water.’
This is the moment an angry wild boar emerged from the sea and ran up a Costa del Sol beach having been forced down from the mountains because of drought
The animal was filmed at Benajarafe Beach on the eastern end of the Costa del Sol a half-hour drive from Malaga
Beachgoers have been warned against approaching the boar which could cause serious injuries
It narrowly missed an elderly couple in their swimwear and a topless younger woman in a bikini bottom behind them as it charged up the beach before disappearing into reeds behind the sand.
Animal experts and police hunting for the runaway wild boar are now warning people who encounter it to ‘stay still and not harass it’ for their own safety, as locals affectionately start to christen it ‘The wild boar shark’.
One witness joked this afternoon alongside footage of the dramatic moment: ‘A wild boar in Benajarafe appearing like a mermaid from the seabed.’
Jose Antonio Villodres, who runs a company which is leading the search for the animal, told a local paper: ‘We haven’t tracked it down yet but we’ve identified the path it’s taking.’
Warning sunbathers not to approach it if it returned to the beach, he added: ‘It has very sharp fangs and although it doesn’t attack it could do you a lot of damage just by grazing you.
‘People who encounter it should stay still and not worry it.’ He also said it was likely it could return to the beach after being spotted in the area over the past 48 hours, blaming the drought currently affecting southern Spain for its decision to leave its natural habitat further inland and try to cool off in the proximity of the sea.
Tranquilizer darts will be used to put the animal to sleep if it is spotted again so it can be safely taken inland to the mountains and away from the hordes of holidaymakers along the coastline.
Fortunately no-one was injured in the latest drama, which occurred just over two months after a 67-year-old woman sunbather was bitten by a wild boar on a beach on the Costa Blanca.
That incident happened at El Albir beach just north of Benidorm on June 2 after the disorientated animal rushed out of the sea as lifeguards sounded the alarm and attacked the elderly woman.
A team of wildlife experts are looking for the boar to move it back to its natural habitat and away from populated areas
Jose Antonio Villodres, who runs a company which is leading the search for the animal, told a local paper: ‘We haven’t tracked it down yet but we’ve identified the path it’s taking’
Medics who treated her at a local health centre said at the time they believed the victim’s bite injury may have been caused when the wild boar charged her and collided with her around where its teeth are.
Her ‘minor’ leg injury was cleansed as a precaution and she is believed to have been told to take antibiotics to prevent infection.
That animal had been spotted in the water by boat crews who alerted lifeguards on the beach as it began to head for dry land after they made an unsuccessful attempt to catch it.
It is believed to have come from the nearby Serra Gelada Natural Park which consists of over 5,000 acres of protected coastline in the municipalities of Benidorm, Alfaz del Pi and Altea.
It is not known how it ended up in the sea.
On August 1, a wild boar bit a 10-year-old girl while she played on the beach with friends on Playa Grande, the most centrally-situated beach in Cadaques in the Catalan province of Girona.
It sank one of its fangs into the youngster’s leg, causing an injury which ended up with her being taken to hospital and having stitches.
Colombian pop star Shakira revealed in September last year she was ‘attacked’ by two wild boars who tried to ‘rob’ her while she was in a park in Barcelona with her son Milan, now nine.
The singer showed off a bag she claimed was destroyed by the animals in a home-made video she posted on Instagram.
The 45-year-old mum-of-two, who split earlier this year from her footballer partner Gerard Pique, showed off her handbag as she said of the bizarre incident in an Instagram story: ‘Look at how two wild boar which attacked me in the park have left my bag.
‘They were taking my bag to the woods with my mobile phone in it. They’ve destroyed everything.’ She then added as her son walked off in the background: ‘Milan tell the truth. Say how your mummy stood up to the wild boar.’ The singer did not detail when the incident took place or which park it occurred in.
Neither Shakira, full name Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll, or her son appeared to have been injured.
Wild boars have increasingly come into towns and cities to forage for food, with the numbers growing during the coronavirus pandemic.
Barcelona resident Xavier Bosch told just before the incident Shakira was caught up in how he was bitten by a wild boar near the city’s Tibidabo Amusement Park after going with his family to watch meteor showers and shooting stars.
He ended up reporting the attack to Barcelona City Hall.