Off-duty firefighters rescue man trapped on a zip wire in Granada province

The father and son happened to be in the Güéjar Sierra area doing sport together when they saw that a person was stranded on the 'via ferrata' and were able to lead him to safety

Sandra Palacios

Granada

07/05/2026 a las 11:34h.

Two off-duty firefighters rescued a young man who was trapped on a zip wire in Güéjar Sierra in Granada province on Tuesday 6 May. ... The incident took place at around 6pm when the firefighters, father and son, happened to be doing sport in the area and came across the man who was in the middle of the zip wire and needed help.

"From the car park we saw a man hanging in a delicate position," Juanma, one of the firefighters, told IDEAL. The young man was with a friend who had called 112. The GREIM (mountain rescue and intervention groups) of the Guardia Civil were going to mobilise a helicopter. However, it was not necessary, as the firefighters were able to rescue him with the small amount of rescue equipment they were carrying.

"My father secured me and I went to the victim, who was about 25 metres away. I then moved along the cable towards him and managed to hook him. We accompanied him to the end of the zip wire," Junama explained.

It took just 18 minutes from the time they parked the car to the time they managed to lead the young man to safety. Juanma says that when a person is hanging for more than half an hour they can suffer from harness syndrome: "It cuts off the circulation to the lower limbs and can cause shock. That's why we told him to move his legs as if he were pedalling.

Juanma and Alejandro belong to a rescue group of the Granada city council fire department (GREPS) and have participated in numerous rescues.