Brit dies after coming off motorbike at a mountain pass in Spain

A British man has died after coming off his motorbike at a mountain pass in Spain.

The 57-year-old suffered his fatal accident near the village of San Pedro del Romeral in the northern Spanish region of Cantabria. He was crossing a mountain pass called El Puerto de la Matalena on the CA-633 road.

The alarm was raised around midday yesterday. Emergency responders took him to the Marques de Valdecilla University Hospital in the city of Santander but he was pronounced dead shortly after arrival. Local reports said he had come off the road on his bike for reasons which are still under investigation.

It was not immediately clear this morning if he was travelling alone or was with other people. He has not been named by police. Yesterday’s tragedy occurred less than a fortnight after a British couple died in a motorcycle accident near Llanes around 70 miles north-west of the mountain pass.

Kieron Haines, 68, and his wife Sharron, who celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary earlier this year, died after coming off their bike on a motorway during heavy rain. Both were hit by following vehicles which were unable to brake in time after they were flung onto the tarmac.

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Tragic Sharron, 65, had to be cut from the underneath of a car by firefighters before being pronounced dead at the scene. As well as a shared passion for motorbikes which had seen them do several European tours, the couple from Norwich in Norfolk also kept an allotment and Kieron was a keen amateur beekeeper. The fatal accident happened around 5.30pm on September 11 on the A-8 motorway near to the resort town of Llanes an hour’s drive east of the northern Spanish city of Oviedo.

Shelagh Gurney, Norfolk County Councillor for Hellesdon near Norwich where dad-of-two Kieron and his wife lived, said in a message to her local allotment holders' association after learning of their deaths: “It is with great sadness and upset that I have to advise you that my dear friend and bee colleague Kieron Haines and his dearest wife and old school friend of mine Sharron have both lost their lives in a freak motorcycle accident whilst touring in northern Spain.”