Man survives 20m fall after car breaks through guardrail near Aixovall

A 63-year-old local man who plunged about 20 metres down a mountainside after his car broke through a guardrail on the secondary road to Aixovall has been discharged from hospital but is not yet fully recovered, hospital sources said. He spent several days under observation for chest injuries sustained in the crash.

The incident occurred on Saturday night at a sharp bend a few metres from the driver’s home, a chalet in the immediate area. According to authorities, the Mercedes went straight on at the bend, tore through the protective barrier and fell roughly twenty metres. Firefighters deployed their mountain rescue team and a helicopter; helicopter-assisted operations were used to extract and transfer the injured man to hospital.

Despite the dramatic fall, personal injuries were relatively limited, officials said. Witnesses and emergency crews reported no obvious marks left on the asphalt at the scene. The causes of the accident have not been determined.

The same stretch of road saw another incident about a year earlier in which the driver later died; that case appears to have been of a different nature. The parish council of Sant Julià is awaiting the results of investigations to decide whether any changes are needed to the roadway or whether reinforcement of the barrier protecting the precipice behind the bend is warranted. The curve is pronounced but, authorities say, is properly signposted in principle, and the injured man was familiar with the terrain, having passed there frequently as a resident.