He arrived on vacation in Lanzarote to visit his girlfriend who lived on the island and to enjoy his greatest passion, the waves. He had planned a trip to a distant destination in the coming dates, where he was going to surf. But, unfortunately, he met his death on the island. Julián Yáñez Silveira, a well-known Galician surfer, lost his life this past Saturday in the waters of La Santa while practicing spearfishing.
This 40-year-old man, a native of Vigo and better known by his nickname, "Queima", was a true expert of the sea. He had traveled the entire world with his surfboard and was specialized in big waves. However, last Saturday afternoon, for reasons that are still unknown although it seems that he may have suffered a fainting spell, he disappeared in the water while spearfishing alone.
The tragedy befell Julián Yáñez in Lanzarote, but on several occasions in his life he had witnessed terrible natural catastrophes and had escaped devastating earthquakes or tsunamis. Julián had a good Galician friend, who set up a business in Indonesia a few years ago, called "King Millenium". He used to cross half the planet to help him with this company, which offers boat routes to surfers in search of the best waves. "As he had the title of boat skipper, he used to go for seasons to help his friend and spent months there with the boat and surfing," says a friend of the victim.
Precisely when he was enjoying the waves with his "partner" in 2008, an earthquake and a subsequent tsunami struck several islands in the west of Indonesia. Julián managed to survive. And it was not the only time he escaped death.
Survivor of the Indonesian tsunami
Thus, in 2010 the surfer also survived a huge tsunami caused by an earthquake of 7.5 degrees on the Richter scale that hit the Mentawai Islands, off the coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra. At least one hundred people died and half a thousand were reported missing.
Julián Yáñez survived this tragedy and for several days he was collaborating with the rescue teams to try to find survivors. Together with his partner and friend, also from Vigo, he was trying to help the victims of this natural disaster. Even, on that occasion, Yáñez declared to the portal "Laopinióncoruña.es", that he had managed to rescue seven men who had clung to several palm trees when the great wave swept away a large part of Indonesia. "We help in what we can, there are no means but we have our hands," he told this website in October 2010.
For all this, an acquaintance of his on the island of Lanzarote points out that it is "incredible that Julián died fishing in La Santa after all the tragedies he has suffered". Moreover, that he got into the water that day was a coincidence. And it is that last Saturday there were not too many waves in La Santa and as Yáñez was "very active", according to this friend to La Voz, he decided to get into the water to fish with a lung. "The sea was calm, and he could not surf, so he decided to go fishing for something," he says.
He said goodbye to his girlfriend and went into the sea. Seeing that it took too long to get out of the water, his partner began to worry and, after trying to locate him, decided to raise the alarm to some friends who were in the area. They asked for help from a fishing boat in La Santa and alerted the emergency teams. A helicopter from the Emergency and Security Group (GES) of the Canary Islands Government, as well as members of the Lanzarote Emergency Consortium, Tinajo Local Police, Civil Guard and Civil Protection, went to the scene.
However, it was a friend of the victim, Maxi, who was traveling aboard the fishing boat, who after combing the area and after getting into the water located Julián Yáñez four meters deep. Subsequently, he transferred him to land, where only his death could be confirmed and the paramedics could not do anything to save the life of this Galician.
Commotion in La Santa
The death of Julián Yáñez shocked the town of La Santa and, in particular, the surfers who knew him. And it is that it was not the first time that this athlete traveled to Lanzarote to surf and visit his girlfriend, who although she is Galician works on the island. "He was a very popular, very nice and very friendly guy. Everyone knew him," says a relative, who assures that Julián was "a pioneer of surfing" in Galicia.
Precisely in the north of Spain this news also shocked the surfing community, especially those who went almost daily to the beach of Patos where Julián used to demonstrate his art on the waves. On a Galician website specializing in surfing, at www.surfgz.com, there have been many colleagues who have said goodbye with different comments to their friend. Moreover, practically the entire website is dedicated at this time to the athlete and in it you can see the skill that this man demonstrated on his surfboard, in a video entitled "In memory of our great friend and colleague Julián "Queima" Yáñez (1971-2011)".
Not only this website picked up the news, but many national media also echoed this tragedy, as in October 2010 when [Bosco José Fernández Tapias, son of businessman Fernando Fernández Tapias, disappeared in the waters of Puerto del Carmen.->44837]
Surfer farewell
The lifeless body of the surfer arrived in his homeland, Vigo, this past Monday. It was in Galicia where he was buried, and where dozens of family and friends gave him their last farewell in an emotional farewell.
However, in Lanzarote they also wanted to pay tribute to this king of the waves. Thus, this same Saturday at 11.00 hours a surfer farewell will be held in La Santa in tribute to "Queima". Friends and relatives will launch offerings to the sea, as well as flowers to say goodbye to Julián Yáñez.
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