BBC doc slams rise of deaths in Magaluf

PUBLISHED: January 8, 2013 at 7:08 pm  •  LAST EDITED: January 9, 2013 at 10:13 am
Lead, National News  •  3 Comments

• Man "balconing" from hotel room

By Jon Clarke

A BBC documentary has slammed the Spanish authorities after alcohol-fuelled tourism has led to a shocking rise of deaths from the ‘balconing’ craze in Mallorca.

The programme revealed how the number of incidents – which sees youngsters jump from hotel balconies – rose by over a third to around 40 in Magaluf last year alone.

“This has gone up from 25 to 30 in previous years and I personally know of 12 people who died in the incidents” a paramedic told makers of ‘The Truth about Magaluf.’

The shocking documentary heard how alcohol-fuelled tourism appears to be the cause of a sharp rise in crime, injuries and deaths in Spain’s most infamous resort.

The show, made by presenter Stacey Dooley, claimed that there were an alarming 200 ‘unnatural’ deaths of tourists last year.

A coroner revealed that of the 60 deaths he had dealt with around 80 to 90 % of the victims were found to have an extreme amount of alcohol in their system.

“It is tragic to see so many young people dying out here on holiday,” he said.

“We have to work on people’s drinking habits and explain the consequences.”

A receptionist at a hotel – where two guests died from balcony falls last year – revealed that one of the victims – a British teenager – died within two hours of arriving at the hotel.

He blamed the problems on ‘excessive drinking’ and insisted many of the tourists were far too young to be drinking so much.

A local policeman added that things are ‘getting worse and there is an increase of alcohol-related incidents this year’.

The problem appears to stem from a system that allows youngsters to drink unlimited amounts of alcohol in clubs and bars from as little as 20 euros a head.

Some were drinking up to ten times the drink drive limit.

The mayor of the resort however, shrugged it off insisting with as many as 20,000 tourists out in the town each night in summer such problems were inevitable.

He said: “Things are out of my hands. I am not a magician. I’m just the mayor.”

 

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