HE became famous around Spain when he flouted a police evacuation order by swimming across a raging torrent to rescue his dogs.
A video of him fighting his way through terrifying flood waters went viral globally after first making it onto national television.
It didn’t help that the Swedish expat’s local mayor labelled him ‘irresponsible’, while police warned he could be arrested and fined €20,000.
But Lars Walker is made of sterner stuff: this brave expat of many decades in Spain decided to strike out on a brave mission to save his rescue dogs and his ‘livelihood’.
And the 63-year-old viking told the Olive Press this week, he would do it again in a ‘blink of an eye’.
Talking 72 hours after he crossed the River Guadalete after it burst its banks during Storm Leonardo last week, he said he was ‘saddened’ by the criticism and threats.
He insisted that had he not taken the mission, it would have meant ‘almost certain death’ for his two dogs, Sito and Chavito, stuck at his home in La Corte, near Jerez de la Frontera in southern Spain.
In an exclusive interview, the Swede recalled the harrowing ordeal – and hit back at Jerez mayor Maria Jose Garcia-Pelayo who accused him of ‘endangering the lives of his rescuers’.
“I am so saddened by all the backlash,” he told the Olive Press from his girlfriend’s home in Cadiz. “People are saying I was reckless, but I did what I had to do.
“My dogs were there, my entire livelihood was in that home,” he added. “What was I supposed to do?”
Walker’s ordeal began on Friday as Storm Leonardo, which killed at least two people in Andalucia, lashed the region with torrential rain and gale-force winds.
The professional kayaker and entrepreneur had decided to ride out the deluge with his two dogs in an upper-floor apartment above the headquarters of his watersports business, an adventure outfit offering kayaking trips along the Guadalete.
As the river surged to near-unprecedented levels, floodwaters tore into Walker’s property and swallowed the surrounding fields, threatening to destroy everything in their path.
“I saw water bursting into my basement,” Walker recalled. “By the time I went down to look, it was already waist-deep.”
Watching the river rip through the area, Walker realised his two cars – parked nearby on the A-2002 – were at risk of being swept away.
A former competitive kayaker and Scandinavian champion in 1989, Walker was confident he could paddle across the floodwaters to hand his car keys to friends waiting on the other side.
He jumped into one of his kayaks and braved the torrent, allowing his friends to drive the vehicles to safety.
But the return journey took a dramatic turn for the worse. As he paddled back toward his property, Walker’s kayak smashed violently into a submerged wooden structure. “I made a bad mistake there,” he admitted.
The collision had destroyed the kayak beyond repair, Walker realised – so he made the split-second decision to abandon it and swim back through the churning water. “I needed to get home to my dogs,” he continued.
It was this footage of him wading through the raging floodwaters, clinging to branches as he fought his way upstream toward his home, that later went viral.
But the Swede insisted to the Olive Press that every move he made was deliberate, drawing on years of experience in wild rivers.
“People say I was lucky to grab the branches – but I went to them on purpose,” he said. “I know my way around rivers.”
After a harrowing struggle, Walker eventually made it back to his property. Once inside, he rushed upstairs to reach Sito and Chavito – and shortly afterwards, a Guardia Civil boat arrived and ferried the trio to safety.
While many hailed him as a hero, others were quick to condemn him – accusing him of recklessness and of ‘endangering the lives’ of his rescuers.
“But I never asked to be rescued,” Walker said. “I did what I had to do and never meant to put anyone else in danger.”
He added that, as a seasoned kayaker, he has faced far fiercer conditions.
“This was terrifying, but I knew what I was doing,” he said. “I could have made it on my own. Anything for my dogs.”
Now, as floodwaters slowly recede, Walker is desperate to return to his property.
“Sito and Chavito are safe – we’re staying with my girlfriend in Cadiz,” he said. “But my entire livelihood is still there.
“My kayaks, canoes, all my equipment – it’s half-submerged in water,” he added. “I wish they’d let me go back to secure it, or at least send someone to do it if I’m not allowed.”
“If I lose what’s there,” he said, “I am ruined.”
Born in Stockholm, Walker has run his kayaking business, Puerto de Jerez, since 2021.
He previously operated a team-building business in Marbella before moving to Gothenburg in 2012 and eventually returning to Spain during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I am part of this community. People know me,” he said. “I only wish I’d been given the chance to explain myself sooner. I did what I had to do – and now I fear being punished for it.”
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