Majorca's idyllic beaches are hiding a dangerous secret this summer.

15:55, Mon, Jun 30, 2025 | UPDATED: 15:55, Mon, Jun 30, 2025

Formentor Beach, Palma Mallorca

Fish are biting tourists in Palma (Image: Getty)

A surprising threat has reappeared on the beaches of Majorca, frightening tourists and driving some people away from the sea this summer.

Last week, Mallorca Magazine published a letter from German tourist Axel O., who claimed to have been bitten by several fish on two separate occasions in the same week.

“Today, however, the bite was rather serious and I got out of the water straight away, as it was even bleeding,” he added.

Now, the biting fish are back to nibbling at swimmers in Playa de Palma - but their appearance is not news to locals and frequent visitors. Every year during the summer, reports of fish bites spike in the region, despite there being no scientific studies to confirm the phenomenon.

“There are no studies into this, but the reason behind what’s happening could be that the temperature of the water is higher,” Ron Farage, Assistant Curator at Palma Aquarium, told the island paper Ultima Hora in 2023.

School of Salema fishes (Sarpa salpa)

Ultima Hora reported the bites most likely come from individuals of the Sparidae family (Image: Getty)

“And these fish are less scared, in this case of human beings, when they are more hungry, which is a consequence in summer of this increase in the temperature of their natural habitat.”

Bites have been recorded in and around the archipelago, in areas such as Palma, Sa Ràpita, S’Estanyol, Cala Pi, and Cala d’Or.

Speaking to Mallorca Magazine in 2023, marine biologist Silvia García from the international environmental protection organisation Oceana explained that the culprits were likely young fish: “They are usually juvenile fish, only a few days or weeks old, so small and transparent that they are barely visible in the water.”

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Experts also added that the fish aim for marks or existing wounds on swimmers’ skin, which they mistake for food.

“If someone has an injury or a mark, they approach out of curiosity to bite. It’s something that grabs their attention, like dry skin,” added Ron.

“But people shouldn’t be scared of them, because they’re not poisonous and they don’t do any real damage. They’re not a danger to anyone."