The sun-soaked skies of southern Spain have turned into a graveyard for thrill-seeking Britons. Another body. Another British tourist. Another paragliding accident in a country where the industry is flying blind on regulation.
Sources confirm the victim, a 42-year-old from Manchester, died on Tuesday after his paraglider collapsed mid-flight over the Sierra Nevada mountains. He is the third British national killed in a paragliding accident in Spain since 2023. The first died near Alicante when his chute failed to open. The second crashed into a ravine in Granada. Now this.
The numbers are stark. Spain’s paragliding industry has grown by 40% since 2020, driven by cheap flights and Instagram-ready landscapes. But the regulatory framework is a skeleton. A patchwork of regional laws means safety checks vary wildly. In Andalusia, where the latest death occurred, there is no mandatory certification for paragliding schools. No central register of instructors. No national database of accidents.
Documents obtained by this newsroom reveal that Spanish aviation authorities logged only 12 paragliding incidents in 2023. But that number is a lie. A source inside the Civil Aviation Accident and Incident Investigation Commission (CIAIAC) told us the true figure is at least 50 unreported accidents, many involving tourists. They just don’t make the official tally unless someone dies.
“The industry is a cowboy operation,” said a former instructor who asked not to be named. “You have guys with a van, a second-hand wing and a GoPro. They take tourists up for 100 euros. No insurance. No backup parachute. If something goes wrong, they disappear.”
The British embassy in Madrid has declined to comment on the latest death, but sources say consular staff are increasingly alarmed. They have been tracking a rise in hospitalisations and near-misses involving British nationals. One official described the situation as a “silent crisis”.
Money is at the heart of this. Paragliding tourism generates over 50 million euros annually for the Spanish economy. Local governments are reluctant to clamp down. They fear the loss of revenue. But the cost is human life.
I spoke to the brother of the first victim, who died in 2023. He said his family has been fighting for answers. “The school told us it was a tragic accident. But we found out the instructor had no license. He was operating illegally. Nothing happened to him. He’s still flying.”
The pattern is clear. Weak enforcement. Deceptive official data. A revolving door of tourists who take risks without knowing the dangers. And a system that is failing to protect them.
Tonight, a family in Manchester is grieving. Tomorrow, another tourist will book a flight. The question is not if another Briton will die. It’s when.
