Platja de Palma, in Mallorca, had an unfortunate visitor that caused moments of tension among bathers this past Friday. It was a horseshoe snake, an specimen with a great capacity for swimming in the sea and that caused several people to move away from its path.
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The snake in question is not just any species, as it is an invasive species that is causing headaches in the Balearic Islands due to its proliferation and the threat it poses to the survival of the Pitiusan wall lizard, a cultural emblem for the archipelago and an endemic species of the region whose population has been suffering a drastic reduction in the last 20 years. So much so that the voracity of this type of snake could make the lizard disappear from the island of Eivissa.
With this, there are three recorded encounters with this type of snake so far this year
In the images, you can see how bathers react cautiously and make way for the snake, which even passes over some towels and near the feet of some people. Despite this, according to the Diario de Mallorca, no one was injured in the incident.
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According to the Mallorcan newspaper, this is the third documented encounter in 2026 with these reptiles, whose presence is increasingly frequent both in the sea and on the island’s beaches. Due to its impact on native fauna, the Government of the Balearic Islands is carrying out a process to save the Pitiusan wall lizard, transporting some specimens to the Barcelona Zoo to ensure their conservation.
