A 14-year-old British holidaymaker was in Son Espases in a critical condition yesterday after falling from a second floor balcony at the Eix Lagotel by the Las Gaviotas lake in Playa de Muro.
The incident happened at 00.30 and the teenager suffered multiple injuries. A team of paramedics were on the scene rapidly. After stabilising the teenager, he was rushed to hospital. The exact cause of the incident has yet to be confirmed, and the Guardia Civil are carrying out an investigation.
According to investigators, the teenager apparently wandered out on to the balcony while his mother was asleep. She was suddenly woken by her son calling for help as he hung from the balcony railings. His mother did everything she could to try and save him but was unable to hold on.
In Ibiza, a 43-year-old British holidaymaker is in a critical condition in the Clinica Vilas after falling some four metres from a balcony at a hotel in Sant Antoni. The incident happened at 05.40 for reasons which the Guardia Civil are investigating.
A spokesperson at Son Espases Hospital said yesterday that over the past five years, medics have treated a total of 478 victims of balcony falls. According to leading surgeon at Son Espases, Juan Jose Segura, the typical "stereotype" of the victims is male (95 per cent) and that in 95 per cent of the cases, they have consumed an excessive amount of alcohol, while in 30 per cent of the cases they have consumed a mixture of alcohol and drugs.
As the Bulletin reported yesterday, both the British and Balearic governments along with town halls, in particular Calvia, are taking this year’s incidents extremely seriously because they appear to have broken the pattern of previous years when people used to leap from balconies into swimming pools as part of craze which swept across Mediterranean resorts popular with young people.
This year, the authorities say that they are having to handle and respond to a different phenomenon and are restructuring their approach accordingly in trying to tackle the problem. This includes root sources such as bars, clubs and hotels where excess consumption of alcohol may be being encouraged.
