covid surfer arrest
© SolarpixPolice arrested the woman on La Zurriola beach, city of San Sebastian, Spain.
A woman was arrested on a Spanish beach after going surfing despite testing positive for Covid-19. The woman - who has not been named - worked as a lifeguard at La Concha beach in the northern city of San Sebastian.

Her colleagues were the ones to call police after she was spotted at nearby La Zurriola beach, according to local reports. Pictures show police handcuffing the woman on the sand after pulling her from the water as she surfed.

She was arrested on suspicion of disobedience, after she reportedly ignored officers for several minutes before getting out of the sea. Photos published by a local paper showed two people in hazmat suits escorting the woman across the sand after asking her to put a face mask on.

She is expected to face a heavy fine for breaching strict quarantine rules, which could be up to ยฃ5,500. If it is discovered she has passed coronavirus on to another person through her actions, the fine would be more than ยฃ100,000.


Spain has now officially become the first country in western Europe to hit 500,000 cases of coronavirus. The country is currently ninth in the world for case numbers, with the USA, India, Brazil, Russia, Peru, Colombia, South Africa and Mexico all recording more cases, according to the worldometers website.