Scottish minister calls for closure of Spanish website satirising ‘balconing’

Scotland’s drug and alcohol policy minister Christina McKelvie has called for the closure of a Spanish website and of a social network account X —formerly Twitter— which satirizes tourists who died after jumping from hotel and apartment balconies during their holidays in the Balearic Islands, known as balconying“Social media should take all possible measures to remove such deplorable content from their sites,” the minister said, According to the newspaper The Guardian, after learning of the death of a 19-year-old Scottish student who died after falling from a balcony during her holiday in Ibiza. Both the page and the X account are still operational and those responsible for it point out that the big problem is “the drunken tourism that exists in the Balearic Islands and its consequences”.

The account of the Balearic Balconing Federation The accident took over from a less active one which also satirically reported on tourists who died after falling from hotel and apartment balconies. Initially, many of these accidents occurred when tourists, usually young and under the influence of alcohol or drugs, threw themselves from hotel terraces into the pools below. However, in recent years many of these deaths have occurred because tourists fall from balconies when trying to get to adjacent rooms, also under the influence of alcohol or drugs, which reduces the perception of the danger involved.

The X account, with almost 56,000 followers, has compiled a ranking of the season’s deaths under the label Balcon League, with a grid detailing the deaths by nationality and in which each country obtains points based on whether the person who fell died or was injured. The number of floors travelled during the fall is also indicated.

“Comeback. Everyone was hoping that the kings of this sport would once again be leaders of the Balcony League and, even though that moment has been a long time coming, the British never disappoint. A thrilling end to the league is on the horizon, we will see if Germany responds.” reads one of the latest publicationswhich links to the death of the 19-year-old Scottish student. The people behind the account define themselves as “Darwinistically tourism-phobic” and make it clear on their website that they do not cover suicides, cases of minors, accidental cases or falls caused by third parties.

“This is absolutely vile and my heart goes out to the loved ones of anyone who has been targeted by this organisation,” said the Scottish minister, who criticised attempts to exploit and use these deaths in a “cruel” way. The latest death occurred on 20 August, when the 19-year-old Scottish student lost her life after falling from the sixth floor of a hotel in the early hours of the morning in the Ibizan town of Sant Antoni. Emergency services attended the scene after receiving a call for the accident, but were unable to revive the young woman due to the severity of her injuries.

In 2020, the Balearic Government approved the Law against Tourism of Excess with the aim of reducing this type of episodes, caused by the abuse of alcohol and drugs and which increased after the pandemic. The legislation provides for fines of up to 60,000 euros for people caught practicing balconyingThe law also provides for their expulsion from hotels and restrictions to restrict the mass sale of alcohol aimed at younger tourists. In addition, in recent years there have been information campaigns in countries of origin, such as the United Kingdom, warning of the consequences of this type of behaviour.