Shark attack fears off Majorca holiday beach as tourist limps from water with bloody leg wound sparking red flag warning

BATHERS have been ordered out of the sea at a Majorcan beach after a tourist suffered a leg wound at the hands of a mystery creature.

Lifeguards raised a red flag and warned over a loudspeaker in in English: “Swimming is forbidden in the area for a shark attack, shark attack."

However, it is not clear whether a shark, identified as a possible blue shark or tintorera, had been to blame.

The 85-year-old victim, an Italian woman, emerged from the sea at the beach in Playa de Palma around 11.30am this morning.

She had blood dripping from a wound to her left calf.

Part of her skin around the wound had been ripped off but it didn’t affect muscle tissue, according to cops.

She was treated at the scene before being taken to a private clinic in Palma.

Lifeguards on jet skis patrolled the sea in search of what could have caused her injury.

The part of the beach where the drama occurred is known as Balneario 6.

Sunbathers were allowed back into the water around an hour after the incident.

Lifeguards found no sign of a shark, stingray or anything else that has been suggested as the cause of the woman’s wounds.

Marine biodiversity expert Aniol Esteban told local press based on photos of the injury: "Our hypothesis is that the attack may have been caused by a bluefish."

Blue sharks, which rarely bite humans but have been implicated in several biting incidents, have forced the temporary closure of beaches on the Costa del Sol and Costa Blanca in recent years.

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 2023, a fully grown blue shark measuring seven feet caused panic off the Costa Blanca beach 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 people to get out of the sea as quickly as possible.

It comes after a surfer was bitten in a horror shark attack just off the second largest Canary island.

It is not known if he fought off the shark, but he was able to scramble back to shore.

He was mauled on Sunday around two miles off Fuerteventura near the Los Molinos area - a popular spot on the western side of the island.