Body found in search for 23-year-old Briton who went missing while swimming in sea off Portugal

A body has been found after a British man went missing while swimming in the sea in Portugal last week.

The 23-year-old, who has not been named, disappeared at Peneco Beach in Albufeira, in Portugal's popular Algarve region.

Portuguese police said late on Tuesday that a body believed to be that of the missing man was recovered off the coast of Albufeira during the afternoon earlier that day.

A spokesperson said: "Following an alert at 6.37 pm from a fisherman in the vicinity, officers from the Portimao Local Maritime Police Command, the Albufeira Volunteer Firefighters' Humanitarian Association and the Albufeira Municipal Civil Protection Service were mobilised.

"On arrival at the scene, members of the Maritime Police, in collaboration with the Fire Brigade, transported the victim to Albufeira Marina."

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A local Maritime Police official said: "Death was confirmed at the scene and, following contact with the Public Prosecutor's Office, the body was transported by the Fire Brigade to the National Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences of the Western Algarve."

The local British Consulate has been informed, police added.

The search for the missing man began last Friday.

The National Maritime Authority previously said the 23-year-old had been accompanied by a 19-year-old British national "who apparently managed to get out of the water by his own means to seek help after which the other one disappeared".

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office has not yet commented.

(c) Sky News 2026: Body found in search for 23-year-old Briton who went missing while swimming in sea off Portuga