The man in charge of Europe's biggest and most debauched Champagne spray party has decided to shut them down after the cost of living and coronavirus crises crashed the party.
At its peak deep pocketed party people from across the world would jet to the Ocean Club in Marbella for the chance to be doused in the specially warmed, sticky spray of a Veuve Clicquot.
On the sunniest, most hedonistic summer days 7,000 bottles of sparkling wine imported en-masse from the French region would soak the club's deck chairs and revellers willing to pay the hefty price tag to be there.
Hosts dressed as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles would cover revellers in the famed sparkling beverage before up to 2,000 bottles would be dramatically corked in tandem as the music dropped.
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"In the early years, at the beginning, people were flying in from all over the world and booking a year in advance," Gary Sewell, owner of nightlife company Sintillate, told The Mirror.
"Companies would use it as a top reward for their staff. We had bankers. We had recruitment companies send their top performers. It was a once in a life time experience.
"There were a lot of footballers, Olympic gymnasts, Chris Tucker, David Schwimmer, Alisha Dixon, Niall from One Direction, Little Mix, loads of soap stars. Katie Price and all the Towie lot."
The idea to start wantonly spraying a drink more generally known for its delicious taste and the exceptional skill of its makers came back in 2005, when friends of Sintillate were celebrating a fortieth birthday.
"They wanted to do what they do in the Grand Prix, and so we said 'yeah of course'," Gary continued. "There was a big group of people watching who said that looks fun. That's how it started. The following year we started with a Champagne spray party, each bed sold with boxes of Champagne to spray."
The top package sold by the firm would go for £4,500, which included a lounger on the poolside that fits 14 people, 30 bottles of Veuve Clique to spray and six bottles of Dom Perignon to drink.
For some this wasn't enough. At its peak, one flush punter forked out £90,000 on bottles in a single day. Many would post pictures of their receipts online, boasting about how they'd spent the value of a small flat draining Champagne into the gutters of a swimming pool.
As clips of bottle blasting and super soakers filled with bubbles began to become a bigger and bigger fixture on Instagram, resentment grew for those with so much money they had an apparent need to literally pour it away.
When a receipt showing a purchase of £14,000 of spray champagne from a different club began circulating, many reacted with disgust.
"It’s about wasting money more than it’s about wasting champagne," one person wrote underneath, while another called the practice "depraved".
"17k would change my life. F*** these people," another wrote.
Gary agrees that spray parties are "quite hedonistic" and recognised that "some people might consider it a waste", but argued "it's about escapism and collective euphoria."
While the punters kept flocking throughout the financial crisis of 2008 and the following recession years, a party based on getting up close, personal and doused in fine sticky mist "didn't feel appropriate" during the early coronavirus pandemic.
"The whole world was depressed and it lost its momentum," Gary said. "Now there's the cost of living thing. There has been a tightening of belts, financially."
After trying to revive the parties post-lockdown last year, Gary and his Sintillate colleagues decided to call it a day on the spray parties.
This year Marbella will be without this particular kind of debauchery for the first time - lockdowns aside - since 2005.
"People would think nothing of spending a couple of thousand in a day before," Gary said. "Now there is a constant narrative with bills going up, flights have gone up, people have less money to spend."
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