A British tourist died and 27 more were injured, four seriously, after a tour bus fell down a hillside on the island of La Gomera yesterday afternoon.
The private bus, operated by Gomera Tours, was travelling from Playa de Santiago, a small resort near the island’s airport, to the capital of San Sebastián, where the tourists were due to catch a ferry to Tenerife. However, the vehicle appears to have left the road at a hairpin bend near the island’s waste recycling centre. Guardia Civíl officers are initially working on the theory that the bus’s brakes failed.
Canarian President Fernando Clavijo has offered “my support to the victims and their families”, while Victor Ángel Torres, Spain’s Territorial Minister, said “My heart is heavy. May there be no more victims. A speedy recovery to the survivors and condolences to the deceased.”
This is the second fatal bus accident on this stretch of road in less than a year. In May 2025, a bus left the road and fell to a lower stretch of the road, killing a 73-year-old Catalan woman and injuring ten other passengers.
La Gomera’s winding roads and deep ravines are one of the main factors that have prevented the island becoming a major tourist destination, but the beauty of its spectacular valleys and fairytale laurel forests are a strong attraction for hikers, and the island attracts around 700,000 tourists each year.
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