Mallorca doctor awarded the MBE for his work to reduce balcony deaths in Magalluf praises the Law of Excesses

Segura-Sampedro and his team at Son Espases Hospital in Palma have been carrying out extensive investigations over the past few years which have helped the British government plan and introduce campaigns warning British tourists of the risks of so-called balconing, which has claimed numerous lives in Magalluf and elsewhere. “The root cause, in most cases, of what is commonly known as balconing is excessive drinking of alcohol,” he said. They have shared all their research with the British Consulate in Palma and with the British Embassy.

“The pandemic obviously led to a marked reduction in incidents, so the investigations were put on hold, but once resorts and travel began opening up again last year, we relaunched our investigations and the project is still very much alive again this year.

“We continue to work very closely together with the local and British authorities on this matter and we will wait and see what happens this season,” he said.

Segura-Sampedro, who has been at Son Espases since 2015 and undertook part of his medical training in London, stressed that the root cause of the vast majority of balcony incidents and tragic deaths is alcohol abuse.

“61% of balcony incidents involving British and Irish tourists occur in the Balearics,” he said.

The cancer surgeon, who is a researcher at Son Espases and associate professor of surgery at the University of the Balearic Islands (UIB), arrived in Mallorca in 2015 from his home in Seville, where he had trained as a surgeon. He was immediately shocked by the number of balcony accidents, which mainly involved British holidaymakers, and decided to start investigating the phenomenon.

“I had read about these kinds of accidents while living in Seville but had never actually witnessed them at first hand and decided to start researching why they were happening.

“At the time, little was really known about so-called balconing, what the root causes were and what could be done to try and prevent it from happening. Young holidaymakers, the majority from the UK and aged between 18 and 25, were being admitted to Son Espases Hospital with serious head and spinal injuries. Some had lost their lives as a result of a fall,” the doctor said.

He began by reviewing medical records dating back to 2010 which related to balcony falls and their relationship with alcohol, drugs and partying. In 2017, Segura and his team published the first in-depth report on balcony falls - an article entitled ‘Balconing: an alcohol-induced fad that injures tourists’.

One of the first things he started researching was the general pattern of behaviour of balcony victims.

Between 2011 and 2016, 46 incidents were reported in the Balearics and only one involved a woman.

Dr. Segura explained that 95% percent of the incidents involved excess alcohol and 37% drugs, while 86% of the accidents were not voluntary; they were accidents while trying to climb from one balcony to another, for example.

“The response to the first report was very positive and all of the authorities both here in the Balearics and the UK took our findings on board and realised that proactive action had to be taken.

“Numerous awareness campaigns were launched targeting young people, especially on the various social media platforms. Since 2019, we have seen a slight decrease in the number of accidents.

“This year, the first full tourism year since the pandemic, we are going to be watching events closely again.

“But I think the introduction of the Law of Excesses and the various campaigns that have been launched by the Spanish and British authorities have had an effect.

“It this day and age of so much social media and with fewer, if any young people reading newspapers or watching the news, it is increasingly difficult to get messages across. That said, it is not only young people who have been involved in balcony incidents.

“But tackling alcohol abuse, especially with regard to young people who are probably not accustomed to drinking such large amounts of alcohol in an alien environment, is the key to tackling balcony accidents and anti-social behaviour in particular.

“At the same time, it’s about awareness and education. The more people who are made aware of the crackdown on alcohol abuse in Magalluf the better.

“Sadly, there will always be people who are intent on coming to Magalluf and getting a bit too carried away, but we got the impression last summer that tourists and hospitality sectors were much more aware of the problems and the subsequent consequences - hence the decline in the number of balcony-related incidents,” he said.

“People have died falling from balconies and those who have survived have had to learn to live with and overcome serious injuries. Some of the young victims will spend the rest of their lives in a wheelchair or will not be in a fit condition to lead a normal life.

“These youngsters come to the Balearics to have a good time, to enjoy themselves and that’s quite understandable. When we’re on holiday, that’s what we all want to do, but it is a tragedy to see young people being admitted to hospital in a critical condition because they’ve lost control.

“It may be because they are in a foreign environment and in a different culture. They meet new people and maybe they are easily influenced. Perhaps because they are young, they feel they are invincible and that only gets fuelled by excess alcohol and drug consumption. There is no quick fix to this, but awareness and education are key, and that is what we’ve all been focusing on with the various campaigns.

“We have to continue trying to deter people from fooling around on balconies because it could change their lives forever and those of their families as well. The repercussions are extremely serious. I think all measures the authorities have taken so far to try and curb excess alcohol consumption - banning pub crawls and party boats, limiting the number of drinks in certain all-inclusive hotels and the purchase of alcohol from shops after 9.30pm - are positive steps forward in the battle to bring an end to balcony accidents. But there is still a great deal of work to be done to reach that goal.

“It’s a very complex problem and one we are all taking very seriously and I, along with everybody else involved, including parents, hope that young people coming on holiday to the Balearics this summer will enjoy themselves and return home in one piece and be able to continue living their lives to the full,” Dr. Segura said.