Ibiza's ambulance service risks collapse due to callouts to clubs, says union
The local ambulance union says up to a third of emergency calls are to clubs, the largest of which has a capacity of up to 10,000 partygoers, and are largely drug-related. It is calling on club owners to contract private ambulance services.
'It's inconceivable that businesses with an income of millions of euros a year can't provide this service which is saturating the emergency services at the expense of the local population,' José Manuel Maroto, president of the local health services union, told elDiario.es.
'The clubs are obliged to employ nurses and other health workers but not ambulances, the cost if which is borne by public services,' Maroto said, adding that was unjust that the island's 161,000 residents should receive an inferior service due to the demands of the 3.6 million annual visitors.
According to Maroto, only one major club, DC-10, uses a private service.
The island, part of the hippy trail in the 1970s, has been a mecca for clubbers since the early 1980s. The pioneering clubs were Amnesia and Pacha but dozens have sprung up since, making the dance scene – and the drugs that fuel it – a major part of Ibiza's tourism industry.
Last month the Hollywood star Will Smith was at the inauguration of UNVRS, the island's biggest club, where the cheapest entry is €100 (£86) and a drink cancost €25.
According to the regional government, tourists to the island spend €1.5 of every €10 on the dancefloor, but many clubbers complain the scene is now all about money and big-name DJs who command enormous appearance fees.
A study by the local paper El Diario de Ibiza found that the island is the third most expensive destination in the Mediterranean, after Saint-Tropez and Capri.
Much of this money goes to a company founded by the former footballer Abel Matutes.
Sign up to This is Europe
The most pressing stories and debates for Europeans – from identity to economics to the environment
after newsletter promotion
The Matutes family, the most powerful on Ibiza, as well as owning numerous hotels in Spain, Mexico and the US, owns three of the island's biggest party venues, Ushuaïa, Hï Ibiza and now UNVRS.
Drugs are a major part of the informal economy and large drug busts are common, with over a million MDMA doses recovered in a single raid last year.
A study published in European Psychiatry found that there were 58 drug-related deaths on Ibiza between 2010 and 2016 with the largest proportion (36%) being young Britons.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BBC News
3 days ago
- BBC News
Essex woman's warning after drink spiked at Ibiza Rocks
A woman who became ill after her drink was spiked on holiday has been warning others to take extra care via a social media campaign. Layla Boudaboussa, 26, from Chigwell, Essex, was at an Ibiza Rocks event with her friends and her mother on the Spanish island on 11 July when she began to feel unwell. "I felt very drunk and I thought, I had not drunk enough to be feeling how I felt," she said. Ibiza Rocks has been approached for comment. Her mother, Jeanette Boudaboussa told her daughter that her eyes "were rolling in the back of my head"."They tried to stand me up and I couldn't stand, I couldn't speak. I was foaming at the mouth as well, apparently, which was quite traumatic to hear," the 26-year-old was taken to a medical room at the venue, where staff ran some tests."The ran a finger-prick test apparently, and that's how they determined that the level of alcohol in my system was quite low," she said. "So it meant I wasn't drunk and that obviously led to the conclusion of drugs. That's when they confirmed I had been spiked."She said she regained consciousness 15 hours later, but could barely stand up. Ms Boudaboussa said when her mother explained to her that her drink had been spiked she felt "tearful and really confused".Her GP in the UK told her she thought her drink had been spiked with the illegal drugs GHB and ketamine. "I'm starting to feel better now, but the first week was quite difficult," she said. "I kept falling asleep. I fell asleep eating my dinner."Ms Boudaboussa said her memory had also been affected and she had become added her mother was told by a manager at the event that spiking incidents had been happening on a daily Boudaboussa decided to post her experience on TikTok to warn others and her video has been viewed more than 269,000 times."I just wanted to turn a really negative experience into a positive one," she Boudaboussa said many people, including mothers, had contacted her and were buying drink covers for their sons and believed more could be done by venues to prevent drink spiking - including the use of film stickers placed over glasses once a drink has been poured. Follow Essex news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
Daily Mail
14-07-2025
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Brit tourist, 18, dies 'after taking pills' in Ibiza on first lads holiday: Teen's family issue desperate warning
The family of an 18-year-old British tourist who died 'after taking pills' in Ibiza while on his first ever lads holiday have issued a desperate warning to other youngsters. Ryan Long, from Eastwood, Essex, tragically passed away last Tuesday after falling suddenly ill while on holiday with four friends. The 'outgoing' teenager had reported feeling unwell while in UNVRS nightclub, just a few hours after the group had first arrived at the popular party island on Wednesday, July 2. It is believed Ryan had taken an ecstasy tablet. His friends, who noted that Ryan 'didn't seem right' and had 'started acting funny' had initially helped him into a taxi, believing he would simply be able to 'sleep it off'. But tragically when the group returned to their accommodation, Ryan collapsed, went unconscious and 'started foaming at the mouth'. Given his dire condition, the teenager was quickly rushed to hospital in an air ambulance. His final word spoken was simply the name of his brother, Aaron. Ryan, who fell into a coma that evening, tragically died in intensive care just five days later. Now, his devastated parents, who were by their son's side when he passed, have pleaded for others to avoid taking illegal drugs when holidaying in locations such as Ibiza. Their close friend Ben Bradford, owner of local football club Ben Bradford Goalkeeping Academy (BBGK), of which Ryan was a 'long-standing member', has also set up a GoFundMe page in a bid to help support the devastated family. Speaking to MailOnline, Adrian Long, Ryan's grief-stricken father, described his beloved son as 'always full of life' and 'smiling'. He said that both him and his wife, Angela, had first heard of Ryan's illness in the early hours of the morning and immediately began looking for flights. But, to their dismay, there were none available until Thursday, July 4. The couple, who described the agonising wait for any news as 'unbearable', said that medical professionals initially gave their son just two hours to live. Ms Long, who tearfully said that she had 'drummed into' her son the importance of not taking drugs, believed that the 'extortionate expense' of food and drinks in Ibiza may have been what drove her son towards the narcotics. She added: 'I think what was in Ryan's head was the expense of the clubs, the drinks. It was 52 Euros for a single vodka and coke, it's just extortionate. 'He was doing an apprenticeship. He's not on brilliant money. And I don't know, I just think it was a cheaper option to get a fix, look somewhere else.' Ryan, who was eventually airlifted to hospital in Palma De Mallorca, was suffering from acute and 'deteriorating' liver failure, with his body eventually unable to cope with the catastrophic affects of the drug. Ms Long, who described the loss of her son as like a 'dream', advised other youngsters planning on visiting popular party holiday destinations like Ibiza that you are 'not invincible' and that it is 'not worth taking the risk'. Meanwhile, Ryan's devastated father, said that he hoped his son's experience would make other youngsters his age 'aware' of the possible implications of illegal drug use. He added that his son, who had never been abroad without his parents before, had not even unpacked his suitcase at the time he took the fatal drug. Mr Long said: 'Everyone thinks nothing is going to happen to them but unfortunately it does. He's not going to be the first and he won't be the last. 'The season is just starting so it's possible it could happen again tonight, tomorrow or the weekend. It could be someone else's child, and they'll end up going through the same thing. 'Ryan would be on his last year of his apprenticeship this year. He had everything to look forward to. It was his 19th birthday on Saturday night.' Describing the excruciating moment the pair were eventually forced to part ways with their beloved son, Mr Long said: 'You just want him to wake up, but obviously they're not going to wake up. You hope that they do but in his case, he hasn't.' The distraught father, who also feared that his son may have been at a 'slightly higher risk' of death after taking the tablet due to suffering from a nut allergy, described Ryan's friends as 'traumatised' by the tragic incident. He added: 'Ryan obviously didn't know anything about it at the end, but he's left his mates absolutely traumatised. They witnessed him going downhill and going unconscious. 'I think one of them even went in the ambulance with him and was actually pumping something, the respirator, I think, in the ambulance, while the nurses and the paramedics were obviously dealing with him, tending to him.' Ms Long, who said that the group had 'done everything right' and 'couldn't have done more' described the loss of her son as 'so unfair', with the family planning to take everyday as it comes as they navigate their significant grief. Meanwhile, Cliff, another close friend of the family, warned against the so-called 'squeaky clean image' of Ibiza as a holiday destination for youngsters, stating that he believes 'things like this are happening all the time'. He added: 'We were told by the hospital that there had been five or six cases like this already.' Ryan was a county swimmer and had won numerous swimming events. A keen scuba diver, he was even the youngest boy to qualify for his open water dive certification at a scuba centre in Cyprus. Mr Bradford, who said that Ryan was a 'lovely lad' with a passion for DJing and a huge Southend United fan, described his decision to take drugs as 'totally out of character'. The football coach, who trains Ryan's younger brother Aaron in goalkeeping, said: 'It has sent shockwaves through the community because all of my coaches have had Aaron since he was young as well. Mr Bradford, who said that Ryan (pictured) was a 'lovely lad' with a passion for DJing and a huge Southend United fan, described his decision to take drugs as 'totally out of character' 'So, they all know Ryan and it has devastated them all. They're all in bits. We're probably going to do a minute of silence for him at our next sessions and do something in memory of him, just to get the community back with a bit of a feel-good thing.' Describing Aaron as 'Ryan's best mate' and utterly devastated by his brother's death, Mr Bradford said that the GoFundMe page had been set up in a bid to help provide some support and 'positivity' to the family. He added: 'It's not necessarily about the money, it's more about the community showing a bit of love and that they care. The best way they can do that is just by putting something in the pot for them, if it takes care of funeral expenses or a memorial for him.' The 40-year-old was also hopeful that sharing Ryan's story may help to encourage other young people to 'just think before you do drugs'. He said: 'I think young people just need a bit more education about this. They often think "Well it won't happen to me, I'm invincible", but it can happen.'
BBC News
10-07-2025
- BBC News
South West ambulance community first responders 'a lifeline'
"New incident, category three." This is community first responder Barry Catton's first call of the day, being sent to an 87-year-old man who is poorly and unable to get out of his starts by taking the patient's vital signs and is quickly backed up by an ambulance crew. He is also able to access support from clinicians at the South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SWASFT) emergency operations centre in Exeter, Devon. "We've got his legs lifted. We've also got some water in him to try and lift his blood pressure. "The paramedics are trying to see if they can find the right pathway, rather than just taking him to hospital," he says. Mr Catton, 61, from Exmouth, Devon, started volunteering as a community first responder (CFR) in the West Midlands 15 years ago before continuing the role when he moved to the south-west of attended 500 jobs for SWASFT in 2024 and was already on target to beat that figure in 2025, he service 'ready for busy summer'"I sign on most evenings for between one and seven hours, and I normally get a call out every two to three hours," he describes it as a "privilege" to treat people in their homes at their worst time. CFRs play a vital role, particularly in rural areas where they often reach patients before an ambulance trained volunteers, who wear official SWASFT uniforms, attended nearly 30,000 emergency 999 calls between April 2024 and March those, 25% were life-threatening category one about 10% of the time, CFRs were the only resource required to see the patient, while being supported remotely by specialist paramedics or clinicians."As responders, we are expected to do around 12 hours a week, but many of us do a significant amount more," says Mr adds that, as they generally drive their own cars, they must keep to the speed limit and do not get blue light exemption. Becky Melville, 26, from Barnstaple, Devon, spends about 12 hours a week volunteering as a says: "It's quite frightening for patients to be waiting a long time for an ambulance, and a lot of the time they are quite scared. "So it's nice to give that reassurance and provide some care for them until the ambulance gets there."Asked if she had saved a lot of lives, she answers: "I'd like to think I have." The SWASFT covers Bristol and the former Avon area, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, Devon, Dorset, Somerset, Gloucestershire and said that included providing ambulance services across an area of 10,000 sq miles (25,900 sq km), some 20% of mainland the SWASFT has a whole host of people available to help save lives within their local community, including nurses, engineers, postal workers, and teachers. There were 650 CFRs across the region — its highest number ever — and the service was actively recruiting more, bosses said."Our CFRs are a lifeline to local communities," says Jane Whichello, trust head of volunteering and community services. "They provide vital reassurance, life-saving treatment, and often arrive before an ambulance — making a critical difference in emergencies."
