Lifeguards raised a red flag at Bakio beach in Bizkaia, in Spain's Basque Country, after spotting a small shark near the shore. The flag went up at 3:30 p.m. on August 4, 2026, prompting lifeguards to warn beachgoers and take precautionary measures.
Despite warm weather and calm seas, the lifeguard service switched the flag from green to red as a preventive step. Lifeguards patrolled the beach and searched the water to track the shark during the closure.
Beach reopens after an hour
After confirming there was no further trace of the animal, whose presence at the shore remains unexplained, normal conditions returned to the beach. The green flag went back up around 4:30 p.m., about an hour after the initial warning.
