British man drowns in front of family in Lanzarote The 44-year-old, who has not been named, was pulled unconscious from the water on the Playa Blanca beach at the popular resort of Puerto del Carmen at around 4pm on Saturday afternoon. Lifeguards attempted to revive him as emergency services were called to the scene but he was pronounced dead on the beach. A spokesman for Emerlan, the island's volunteer emergency service, said all had been done to save the man, who was believed to be on holiday over the New Year. "It's a terrible tragedy," said the spokesman. Our volunteers did their best to revive him while waiting for the ambulance to arrive but sadly they were unable to save his life. Our understanding is that he was on holiday and the tragedy happened in front of his wife and children. One eyewitness described the seas as "very rough" and red flags, which warn swimmers of dangerous bathing conditions, had been raised on the beach. The island's emergency services confirmed that they had received a call at 4pm on Saturday afternoon. We were told a man had been pulled unconscious from the sea. The team from Emerlan found him in cardiac arrest and tried to reanimate him," a spokesman from COCOES said. Our paramedics took over when they arrived at the scene in two ambulances but they had no success. The victim is a 44-year old British man. Lanzarote is the fourth largest of Spain's Canary Islands and is popular with British holidaymakers seeking winter sun.