Tourist dies trying to climb Spain's highest bridge for social media content

A 26-year-old British man has died after falling from Spain’s tallest bridge during an attempt to climb one of its pylons.

The man fell from the Castilla-La Mancha bridge, which crosses the River Tagus outside the town of Talavera de la Reina in central Spain, according to a statement from the town council, published this week.

Local councillor Macarena Muñoz said he was accompanied by another British man, aged 24.

“According to what we have been able to find out they had come to Talavera to climb the bridge and create content for social media,” Muñoz said in the statement.

She noted that climbing the bridge is “completely forbidden and we have reiterated multiple times that it is not allowed under any circumstances,” adding that she was saddened by the incident.

The body of the man, who has not been named by local authorities, has been taken to a funeral home, according to the statement.

The cable-structured bridge, which was completed in 2010, is 180 metres tall and its main span measures 318 metres.

The British man is far from the first person to die in the pursuit of social media content in recent years.

And in November 2019 a French tourist died after falling from a waterfall in Thailand while attempting to take a selfie.

The 33-year-old man died when he slipped and fell from the Na Mueang 2 waterfall on the Thai island of Koh Samui – the same spot where a Spanish tourist died in a fall in July the same year, the AFP news agency reported.