Why are English people always falling from balconies in Spain?

[Nurseychick]

Just seen a second news article about this this week?

It seems to be increasingly common, why?

We have balconies in the UK.

Definitely alcohol. It’s not just Spain, I’ve read a few stories of Brits falling off balconies in the States too. In both cases they were trying to stand on or hang off of the railings.

I live in a holiday area in Spain.
We have our fair share of Brits/ Irish and other Northern European visitors.
Brits seem to have what I call Holiday Head - road safety, water safety, anything safety is not considered enough.
When I beeped at a woman who had blithely crossed in front of me on a duel carriageway she told me that she just didn't think because she was on holiday 🤦‍♀️.
As for the latest tragedy its unspeakably awful and my heart goes out to the family.

It is always tragic when someone dies on holiday, wherever they are, whatever age and whatever the circumstances. It must be so difficult for those left behind to make arrangements often when they are grieving and sometimes in a different country. Hard to get answers I imagine 💔

Well, an acquaitance of mine worked as a hotel receptionist. this English couple, fully naked, fell off their balcony, through the roof that covered the patio where reception was and landed mid reception. They were shagging on the edge of the balcony railing.
When my mum was in hospital in Malaga 25 years ago, a young English girl also fell off her hotel balcony. She didn´t remember anything, her back was broken and her foot catastrophic. We asumed litres of drink were involved.

We stayed in a hotel in Barcelona about 7 floors up, and the window was like a sliding French door that just opened up to nothing. No balcony, or Juliet balcony, just a massive opening from floor to ceiling. I insisted that we move the double bed to the other side of the room to cover it, because I was paranoid that dd would suddenly start sleep-walking for the first time in her life, and plunge to her death.

What the fuck???

I didn’t realise the latest accident was a child, how sad. I think many kids get over excited on holiday and silly and need more supervision than at home. It only takes a minute though, I remember walking into a young DS leaning out an attic window to grab a leaf.

He could easily of slipped and died. It was at floor level on the gable end, normally stair gate blocked off the attic stairs but we had a guest who hadn’t closed it and it was warm so window was open.

I suspect for every fatality there are many near misses. I have so much sympathy for the family, my heart goes out to them.

I think it’s likely a lack of safety.
I always remember reading an awful story about a toddler walking out to one of those transparent (Perspex?) balconies abroad, and part of it was almost invisibly missing (which the family didn’t notice until they saw the child fall off) and they fell to their death. It has really stayed with me and I never go near those sorts of balconies now.

This is a strange thing to say. Spain is in the EU. It has just as stringent health and safety laws as the U.K. (maybe more so). It’s not the 1970s any more. The U.K. is not as advanced as you think, in any respect.

There’s just less H and S abroad. Combined with booze and stupidity I suspect.
where we go regularly in Spain, you can walk through a cave that comes out on the side of a cliff with a drop of 30m or so into the sea/rocks. There no signs, no barriers, just a drop to your death if you didn’t know it was there. It’d definitely be closed to the public here.

No, this is an open discussion. Clearly it’s not just drunk people. And from what I’ve read, Spanish people have stereotyped English people for falling off of balconies. Plus 2 in one week. It’s a lot.

Australians do it on the Gold Coast. It’s not a purely European phenomenon.

Booze, drugs, stupidity, or in the case of children, poor or lazy parenting.

Another one happened two weeks ago in Ibiza aswell. Seriously, there needs to be some kind of awareness training for Brits abroad.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14702805/amp/Brit-18-fighting-life-falling-floor-apartment-Ibiza.html?ico=amp_articleInlineText

Insurance companies won’t pay out for injuries caused by over a certain level of alcohol in the blood.

We have a balcony here at home in the UK. The railings are rib height on me (and I am 5ft 7in) and they are covered in a metal mesh overlay to stop any thing (or one) falling through the gaps in the railings. It would be impossible to accidentally fall off.

I am not sure if there are similar standarda for hotels and holiday apartments - here and abroad.

However, this might be why you hear of young adults having accidents off balconies on holiday.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balconing

For adults likely alcohol, for children likely a lapse in concentration from their parents, which at home would have been fine.

Last time we were in Spain a child climbed onto our balcony from the room next door, we were on the fifth floor. Her parents weren’t in the room, they had locked her in and gone out so the hotel called the police. She was very lucky not to fall.

So, sadly, this has been reported to me by some witness, on their own school trip as teens there: some crazy people jumping from their balconies into swimming pools..... (better said, almost into....)
I am not sure how much alcohol you have to consume to start thinking this is a possibility in real life.
Also, trying to get from one balcony to another, possibly friends, parties....

I suppose it happens more in Spain as the hotels have nice little balconies for the rooms, so you can have breakfast or a drink/ snack overlooking the pool. And the balconies are quite close together.
The architect did not forsee the outcome.... they were just likely thinking of someone sitting quietly, keeping an eye on children on the pool, courtyard, or just chilling people watching....

A friend of mine was recently mugged & beaten up in Ibiza - the news articles have reported it as fall from a balcony. He was on the beach - very odd

Just noticed someone has posted the article above. He did not fall from a balcony but currently in an induced coma

What happened to a little boy of 8 to cause him to fall? Poor child.

Most of the time it's down to drugs and stupidity.

No, they don't. Brits are famous for it

The only people who seem to fall from British balconies tend to have had arguments with Putin. Also a strange coincidence.

Can’t say it’s something that English me has ever done.

drink or drugs, relaxed and letting your guard down, being silly with the people you are with like young people daring things like jumping off into swimming pools especially young lads and girls on their first parent free holiday or hen/stag parties. I should think those must be dreaded by locals