A UK holidaymaker has died after plunging from a seventh-floor hotel terrace in Magaluf. The tragedy occurred just days after the authorities in Majorca and UK Foreign Office officials unveiled the annual campaign to remind holidaymakers about balcony safety.
It has been reported the 34-year-old tourist fell from the balcony of the South Beach Hotel at around 8am yesterday, Local Guardia Civil sources told Ultima Hora the holidaymaker was suspected of being under the influence of some kind of substance, because of his behaviour before the incident.
Guardia Civil, police officers and medics from a nearby health centre raced to the scene at the beachfront hotel, but they were not able to save the man's life. Witnesses described how the victim was messing around on the balcony but lost his balance and plummeted around 50ft to the ground.
A post-mortem investigation is taking place to check if the tourist was under the influence of alcohol or drugs. It was the first fatal incident of 'balconing 'in the Majorca party resort this summer.
Balconing is the Spanish description given to the act of jumping into a swimming pool from a balcony or falling from height while climbing from one balcony to another. In 2018, the UK Foreign Office teamed up with Spanish authorities to run a campaign of video messages to British tourists heading to the Balearic Islands during the summer.
Despite these campaigns, balconing is still a problem and various hotels in the Balearic Islands have been forced to implement preventative measures, such as closing terraces or raising the height of walls. Magaluf has been forced to regulate drinking in an attempt to control reckless behaviour.
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