USAToday: Young Brits who like to imbibe incredible amounts and behave rowdily on vacation are making headlines this summer.One thing they're doing is participating in a faddish pastime called "balconing" -- which some could call an extreme sport. It happens a lot at Spanish resorts and it involves participants jumping from balconies into pools, tossing drinking buddies from balconies into pools, or jumping from room to room via balconies -- often with horrific results. News reports say there were at least a half-dozen deaths in Spain last year.
This month, Britain's The Telegraph reported that Harvey Hoyte-Bone, 23, from Farnham, England landed in intensive care after after falling around 70 feet from a balcony on the Spanish island of Mallorca. The fall happened around 4 a.m., the paper reported, and was luckily broken by an overhead sunshade on a lower balcony.
Police believed he was trying to jump between balconies in the resort of Palmanova near Magaluf. The Telegraph said four people were admitted into hospital on the island in recent weeks on Mallorca. On the neighboring party island of Ibiza, a 24-year-old Brit died after balconing.
And Costa-news.com reported that in June a 19-year-old Brit staying at the Torrenova Playa hotel in Magaluf broke his arm and ankle jumping off a balcony. A Swedish tourist also was injured in a similar incident. And a 17-year-old Brit died there under similar circumstances last year.
Not to say that balcony falls are only the province of Brits.
Swedes and Germans are among nationalities involved, and there are suspicious balcony falls in resort areas of the USA and Caribbean. However, Brits -- especially young men known as "lager louts" -- are famed for their binge drinking and bad behavior.
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