A blue shark bit a Spanish pensioner, leaving a two inch gash
© National Geographic MagazinesA blue shark bit a Spanish pensioner, leaving a two inch gash
A shark has attacked a swimmer off the coast of one of the most popular beaches in Ibiza.

The victim was treated for a two-inch gash to his hand after being bitten at Playa d'en Bossa - home to famous clubs like Ushaia and a Brit tourist favourite - yesterday afternoon.

Other swimmers fled the water following the attack, although the beach was not closed to swimmers.

First aiders spent about an hour searching the waters while the local authorities confirmed that a blue shark or a large fish was behind the attack.

The 82-year-old Spanish victim was discharged from Can Misses Hospital near Ibiza town around 7.30pm yesterday, about four hours after he had been admitted.

Blue sharks are one of the most common species of sharks in the Med, with the same type believed to have attacked a tourist near Alicante last July. The 40-year-old was rushed to hospital after also being bitten on the hand at Elche's Arenales del Sol beach.

The red flag was kept in place for around two hours before bathers were allowed back in the water.

Tourists in the Costa del Sol resort of Fuengirola were ordered out of the water last August after bathers said they had spotted a shark near an inflatable water park.

Lifeguards on jet skis rushed kids on dinghies to safety as colleagues ran along the shoreline blowing whistles and ordering swimmers out of the water.

Fuengirola beach, one of the most popular of the Costa del Sol with British and Irish tourists, was closed for five hours while patrol boats searched.

The red flag was hoisted along nearly two miles of coastline but it was eventually reopened after no signs of a shark were found.