Barcelona beach closed over fears of unexploded shell

Barcelona's Somorrostro beach was cordoned off on Monday after on Sunday a diver reported seeing an object that was thought could possibly be a type of projectile, but Navy and Spanish Civil Guard police specialists concluded on Tuesday that it was, in fact, an old metal tube for mixing gases.

A navy vessel with demolition specialists on board set sail from southeastern Spain on Monday morning and is still working onsite to decide what should be done with the object.  

Local Barcelona police had previously stated that "the size and shape" of the object, which is underwater about five meters from land, made them suspect it could be a shell dating back to the Spanish Civil War.

Two recent similar incidents

Two similar incidents took place in the summer, one in Barcelona and one in Badalona, up the coast from the Catalan capital, although the latter also turned out to be a false alarm.

The object found in Barcelona turned out to be a bomb made in 1936 - at the start of the Spanish Civil War - which was exploded underwater by navy engineers. 

The device found near Badalona's Cristall beach was also reported by a diver, but when specialists examined the object, it turned out to be part of a cement pylon.