Redeem now - Spanish influencer Marina Rivera Saldaña was criticized for swimming in the cave of El Tancón.
- The cave has been the site of several deaths over the years due to temperamental currents.
- The area, in Santiago del Teide, is listed as "permanently closed" on TripAdvisor.
An influencer has received backlash for posting photos of her posing in a dangerous cave in Tenerife.
This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now. Have an account? Log in.Spanish influencer Marina Rivera Saldaña, who has 1.9 million followers on her Instagram page @_riverss_, was criticized for swimming in the cave of El Tancón at Santiago del Teide.
"Soy una sirenita de makoo," Saldaña wrote in the caption, which translates as "I'm a little mermaid from Makoo."
View this post on InstagramThe cave has been the site of several deaths over the years due to temperamental currents. It is listed as "permanently closed" on TripAdvisor, where locals warn people not to visit.
"DO NOT GET IN," one user warned. "People die here every year."
The cave "fills up with waves" quickly when the tide changes, they explained, and people may hit their heads on the ceiling, and get knocked out.
"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," they said. "Your only way out would be to dive as deep as possible and wait there for a couple minutes. This is impossible for most of us. Please do not attempt to swim here. THERE IS NO WAY OUT."
The cave is known as a "bufadero," Tenerife Weekly reported, which is "a natural formation in which the currents are unpredictable and it is difficult for rescue teams to intervene." Several tourists have died there due to these dangerous conditions, according to the outlet.
Among the six people reported to have died there were a 33-year-old Swiss woman named Jasmine Ben Ali, and a 27-year-old Italian man named Giovanni Rodríguez, according to Tenerife Weekly.
A 30-year-old British tourist also died in hospital after he was pulled out of the water in 2017. A spokesperson for local emergency services told The Mirror at the time that he was swept into the ocean while taking a walk along the rocks.
"Once they had reached dry land, a doctor and a nurse from a local surgery together with the rescue team continued with their work trying to revive him but were unable to do so," they said. "He was confirmed dead at the scene."
Locals made their disparagement of Saldaña clear in the comments on her photos.
"Bathing is forbidden there," one person wrote. "We are sick of tourists that don't respect our land."
Others said Saldaña should be "thankful" she survived.
"You could have cracked your skull like so many other people who have dies on that site," another said. "Stop inciting people to go to a place that is not only prohibited, but VERY dangerous."
Influencers have long ignored safety precautions and warning signs to get their photos. In 2019, they flocked to a vibrant blue Siberian lake, despite warnings to not swim in it because it was a chemical dump for a coal plant. In 2021, a Hawaiian TikToker shared a viral video of tourists appearing to climb the Haiku Stairs in Oahu, also known as the "Stairway to Heaven," which has been closed to the public since 1987, because of how unsafe it is.
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