Balconing is the name given in Spain to the act of jumping into a swimming pool from a balcony or falling from height while climbing from one balcony to another, performed by foreign tourists during holidays. The term was formed through a combination of the Spanish-language word balcón (‘balcony’) and the English-language suffix ‘-ing,’ in reference to the origin of most practitioners.
In 2010 and 2011, a spate of injuries and deaths attributed by the Spanish press to ‘balconing’ occurred among tourists in the Balearic Islands (including Mallorca and Ibiza). Videos of people jumping into pools from balconies were posted on video sharing websites such as YouTube, which were alleged to have played a role in the spread of the phenomenon. A similar phenomenon has been described in college-related events in the United States.
In 2010 in Spain, there were six deaths and 11 injuries in falls from balconies which were identified as relating to ‘balconing’ in the Spanish press. Most of the casualties were young British and German tourists with traces of alcohol in their blood, and the incidents occurred between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m. In the same year, hotels were reported to have raised the height of hotel railings from 1.05 to 1.2 metres (3.4 to 3.9 ft) to reduce these incidents. In Mallorca, three tourists died in 2017 in falls from balconies identified as ‘balconing’ incidents in the Spanish press. Between 2010 and 2015, up to 46 injuries are claimed to have occurred due to this practice.
According to Juan José Segura, doctor at Son Espases’s hospital, 85% of the victims fall accidentally, usually while trying to jump from one balcony to the next or while drunk and recklessly moving near the edge, while the rest actively jump off the balcony. He estimates an average of 10 to 15 cases each year since 2011, with an increase since more of these jumps have been posted on YouTube. Doctor Segura and the British Foreign Office established the profile of the ‘average practitioner’ as a 24 year old British male.
Spanish authorities consider that the culture of ‘turismo de borrachera’ (‘binge-drinking tourism’; tourism with the goal of getting drunk and going wild abroad) in certain countries is the main cause of the falls, along with the age of the participants, the choices made and the high levels of intoxication, arguably aided by the difference in alcohol accessibility between North and South Europe.
The Daily Omnivore 
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