Just what is happening in Magalluf?

By Frank Leavers
Palma.—The shock amongst British expatriate community at the death of yet another young tourist in the popular resort town of Magalluf has been palpable. As reported in Thursday’s Bulletin a 22 year old British tourist fell to his death early on Wednesday morning and became the fourth victim in as many weeks to be killed in such a way and alarmed residents are asking “what is happening in Magalluf.”
It appears that not only have four people died, but at least six more young tourists have been seriously injured in balcony falls in the last month.
The debate has already started on the social media as to what the authorities, local businesses, and the young tourists themselves can do to remedy this appalling situation.
Within hours of the Majorca Daily Bulletin posting the outline details of this tragic incident on its Facebook page it received almost one hundred comments from concerned residents and others, as to how the current unacceptable situation should be tackled.
In tracking the “postings” it is clear that many correspondents believe that it is an outrageous state of affairs and something needs to be done.
Others point out that the “drinking and drugs culture” that is generally perceived to behind the deaths is not unique to Magalluf but is reminiscent of “many UK city centres at weekends.”
A number of postings remarked upon the fact that there were other similar tragedies “in Ibiza and Benidorm, but no publicity……Magalluf is not alone”
One posting maintained that it needed a complete redesign of tourist hotels but doubted if the hotel industry would ever agree to that proposal.
It was also mentioned on a number of occasions that “In America it is illegal to serve someone who is already drunk,” and a number of accusations that young people are being “goaded” into drinking “way too much.”
Perhaps one of the most measured observations was this one posted by a British resident of Magalluf.
“It will take a variety of measures to change things; there isn’t a “silver bullet.” Young people must be educated into drinking less and patrols stepped up to stop people selling drugs. Bars should not be allowed to sell fishbowls full of booze for a tenner and drinking tours should be banned.” Nevertheless, if the posting on the Bulletin Facebook are anything to go by, there is still a strong bias towards the view that tourists have to take more responsibility for their own actions……with some observers pointing out the fact that many young tourists are drunk even before they arrive at their hotels. To try and put these recent deaths into some sort of context I checked-out the MoD website regarding British military deaths and injuries in Helmand Province Afghanistan so far this year. The results were quite startling.
So far this year five British soldiers have been killed on “active duty” in that dangerous war torn country; meanwhile in Magalluf alone, and in little over a month there have been four “balcony” deaths and at least six other serious injuries.
Sobering statistics indeed!