YACHTSMEN in Spain could face breath tests under an initiative to clamp down on partygoers who are sailing home to avoid being caught drink-driving.

A rise in the number of accidents in the Mar Menor (Little Sea) off the coast of Murcia in southeast Spain this year has driven the region’s civil protection body to propose breathalysing checks at the harbours where “drunken sailors” board their boats.

The measures would also target jet-skiers and people trying to drive home after disembarking from a boat. The Mar Menor is a 45-mile long lagoon along the Spanish coast. Cutting across it by boat can often be a quicker way to reach beach bars and nightclubs than driving along curving coastal roads.

However, in waters just 30ft deep, rocky islets can make nighttime crossings perilous. This summer there have already been 10 serious incidents involving crossings in the dark, most of which are believed to have involved people who had been drinking.

In the worst accident two weeks ago, a night out for six friends ended in tragedy when Jose Cobacho Ingles, 49, died after the boat he was navigating overturned.

Spanish traffic police have reinforced a nationwide crackdown on drink-driving during the summer months by breathalysing up to 15,000 road users a day. Nicola Coleman, a 25-year-old British consultant and regular holidaymaker in the resort of La Manga del Mar Menor, said the increased police presence had encouraged people to take to the water. “The entrance to La Manga is blocked by police at weekends to try to crack down on the drink-driving,” she said. “The trouble is that means more people are taking the boats out.”

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