This is the harrowing moment a 7ft shark swims towards a Gran Canaria shore – with the beach now forced to closed to bathing amid terror for locals and tourists.
Youngsters could be heard screaming as the big fish approached the shoreline at speed with its telltale fin sticking out of the water.
Police raced to Melenara Beach on the island’s east coast after the alarm was sounded yesterday at about 5pm.
Lifeguards had previously helped clear the sea and the red flag was hoisted soon afterwards.
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.
Police raced to Melenara Beach on Gran Canaria’s east coast after the shark spotting alert
Footage from the scene showed the shark swimming towards the shore before turning back
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 covering Melenara beach, said: ‘It’s important people stay calm and follow the instructions of the lifeguards and the authorities.’
A young girl 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.’
A search for the shark in the area using jet skis failed to locate it.
It was unclear this morning whether the red flag would remain in place today.
The fish was identified locally as a hammerhead shark which can grow up to 20ft in length and weigh as much as 1,000lb, although smaller sizes are more common.
Most hammerhead species are considered harmless to humans and few attacks have been recorded, but they are aggressive hunters.
Last month tourists and locals were banned from going into the sea following a shark sighting off a Menorcan beach.
The fish was identified locally as a hammerhead shark which can grow up to 20ft in length and weigh as much as 1,000lb
Youngsters were seen running for safety as the shark approached at around 5pm yesterday
A search for the shark in the area using jet skis failed to locate it as a red flag was raised
Coastguards hoisted the red flag and called Spain’s equivalent of 999 after the fin of a 7ft blue shark – also known as a 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 tinterora last month sighting was described at the time as the first so far this year near a Costa beach.
Blue sharks rarely assault 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 the man had come out of the sea with blood streaming from the injury.
In June last year a fully grown blue shark measuring 7ft 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.
The spotting was the latest in a series of shark sightings on resort coastlines in Spain
The Arenal d’en Castell beach in Menorca, a popular destination also home to sharks
A British family was left ‘terrified’ after being circled by a shark just off a beach at a popular holiday resort on the Spanish island of Menorca last month
Passers-by began screaming and calling for the lifeguard – who dialled for backup and put the red flags out
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 witnesses, is said to have suffered a panic attack.
The shark washed up dead the following day by rocks at La Caleta Beach in Cabo Roig, several miles away.
The same day it emerged that the same species of shark had been spotted inside Ciutadella Port in Menorca.