British tourist suffers ‘traumatic head injury’ after falling 32ft from cliff at popular beach in Portugal

A British tourist has been seriously injured after falling 10 metres down a cliff while climbing in Portugal.The victim, 34, was airlifted to hospital on Tuesday after suffering a traumatic brain injury when old cables attached to rocks near the Amado Beach in Aljezur, Algarve snapped, according to local media.“The victim fell from a height of about ten meters and suffered a traumatic brain injury. They are conscious, but their speech is incoherent,” said António Ângelo, chief of the Aljezur volunteer firefighters.Ângelo said the victim was travelling with a friend at the time of the incident, scaling the cliff with guide cables used by fishermen to access an area called Monte do Engenheiro.The unnamed friend raised the alarm around 3.30pm, prompting a rapid response from 20 firefighters, five vehicles and an air ambulance, the National Civil Protection Authority said.The popular sandy beach sits at the base of winding palisade of grassy cliffs with few wooden bollards to mark out a dirt path. It is regularly voted one of Portugal’s top beaches, popular with surfers due to the strong prevailing winds and waves.British surfer Arran Strong, 28, disappeared while stand-up paddleboarding in the region in July. The Spanish-born British athlete vanished about a mile off Arrifana beach, in Aljezur, while travelling the Portuguese coastline with surfer and coach José Maria Pyrrait.Strong, who lived in Portugal, represented Great Britain at each of the last two World Surfing Games, finishing as the highest ranked British competitor both times.“Beyond his performances in the water, Arran was a fantastic team-mate, respected competitor and a kind, generous presence whose passion for surfing left a lasting impression on everyone who had the privilege of knowing him,” GB Surfing said in a statement.“His passing is a devastating loss to our sport and the wider surfing community, and he will be greatly missed.”