Young holiday makers in Spain jump from their hotel balcony into the pool, but some miss and many die.
The so-called "balconing" craze has taken off to such an extent in Spain's Balearic Islands that doctors at the Son Espases hospital in Palma de Majorca - a major trauma centre - decided to study the phenomenon.
"It's endemic," says Xavier Gonzalez, head of surgery at the hospital who participated in the study. "It seems that... it's like an initiation rite for some tourists, whose parents already came here when they were young."
The hospital treated 46 patients during 2010-2015, more than 60% of whom were British, followed by Germans and then Spaniards, the study found. Only one woman was involved, all the others were men, aged 24 on average.
The fall itself was from an average height of eight metres (26 feet). Alcohol was involved almost every time, and in close to 40% of the cases, drugs also played a role.
It is unclear exactly how many people have died from "balconing", but Spanish media have reported more than a dozen deaths over the past five years.
Hit every balcony on way down
In 2012, the British foreign ministry published leaflets called "Booze and Balconies Don't Mix," using the story of Jake Evans from Liverpool.
Drunk, he fell from the seventh floor of his flat in Magaluf in 2011. "I hit every balcony on the way down, as they jutted out like steps," he was quoted as saying. "I landed on a sun lounger which broke my fall and probably saved my life.
"I fractured my skull, broke front teeth which pierced through my upper lip, snapped my right wrist and broke all the fingers on my right hand," he said. "The accident has changed my life... I have recurring problems with my back and right wrist and doctors have told me I probably always will."
Further details: http://thelocal.es/119264
Author verification: http://thelocal.es/steemit