Tourist attacked by shark in Gran Canaria

A woman has been bitten by a shark while enjoying a Christmas Day swim on holiday in Gran Canaria.

Cristina Ojeda-Thies, 38, was on holiday with her family when she was bitten at Arinaga Beach in Aguimes on Gran Canaria's east coast.

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According to the Daily Telegraph and the Independent, she told a local newspaper: "I noticed something pulling at my left arm but I didn't pay any attention because it felt like a dog biting you when it's playing.

"I returned to the shoreline swimming crawl and I felt another pull again, more intense this time.

"Half a second later I felt something grabbing hold of me, I turned round and I saw it pulling at me. It was a fish. I hit it with my right hand and I saw the shark's fins as it swam off."

Cristina tweeted a picture of the injuries, writing: "Today I had a face-to-face meeting with a shark. Things that happen when you swim in the Canary Islands in December."

Although she shared the images of the wound, The Local reports that Cristina played it down and said: "No alarmism please. I would go for another swim tomorrow if it wasn't for the bandage."

She added: "There are times when I've fallen off my bike or I've burnt myself cooking and it's hurt me more."

According to the Daily Mail, Fernando Frias, president of the Canary Islands Shark Alliance which promotes shark conservation, called it a "one-off", and said: "I doubt something like this will happen again in the next 50 years so people shouldn't be afraid."

It is thought the shark that attacked was probably a silky shark, which can grow to nearly 10ft and normally eats its prey whole.

Mr Frias, who visited Cristina after she received hospital treatment, said he thought the shark was about 6.5ft long.

He added: "It's bitten her two or three times trying to swallow her arm whole and has not been able to."