A Madrid-based influencer is catching heat online after posting Instagram photos from one of the Canary Islands’ most dangerous caves, where people (especially tourists) are not permitted to enter.
Influencer Marina Rivera posted a series of photos inside and swimming through El Tancón cave, which is located in Santiago del Teide in Tenerife, Spain.
The post, which has garnered over 232,000 likes, has also garnered a slew of angry comments from locals who warned Rivera and followers of the danger of the cave, with many asking tourists to leave the land well enough alone.
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“Bathing is forbidden there,” one translated comment reads. “We are sick of tourists that don’t respect our land.”
“It seems disrespectful to me that you are bathing in a place that is PROHIBITED, which is FENCED and SIGNED for which bathing is prohibited and you enter because of the photo, and publish it on top of that,” another translated comment says. “People have died where you are, it is not a suitable swimming area.”
“Do you know how many people have died in that Tenerife blower?? No, you don’t have a F***ing idea,” another harsh comment read.
El Tancon was dubbed a “mortal paradise” by local outlet Tenerife Weekly, which noted that six people had died in the cave in 2021 alone as of August of that year.
“How many times have I come across people looking for the cave, mobile phone in hand, following a geolocation device … I always tell them the same thing: Don’t even think about it,” a local resident named Goyo Olivia told the outlet at the time. “But nothing. With some there is no way. It must be that a photo is more important than life itself.
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It is a volcanic sea cave that is described as a “blowhole where its strong currents push you to the bottom and leave you trapped,” according to a local Tenerife travel blog.
The attraction’s most popular TripAdvisor review also warns tourists of the dangers of the tide in the cave.
“Although it may seem that the sea is calm, in a matter of seconds a range of waves can come in, leading you to the grave,” the review grimly states. “Once you are in the water, the cave fills up with the waves, hitting your head to the ceiling of the cave and leaving you unconscious.”
Rivera has not yet responded to the backlash nor removed the photos.
