Alex McGugan, who moved from Britain to Ibiza 13 years ago, has highlighted the alarming increase in deaths amongst British tourists from balcony falls in 2025
A British man in Ibiza has highlighted a worrying trend on the Spanish island and issued advice to all those planning holidays in the region. Alex MacGugan took to TikTok to share a video in which he claimed the problem is occurring “every single year” and will “continue to happen” in the future.
His alarming warning concerns balcony falls in the tourist hotspot. In a clip posted this week, he said: “There’s been a lot of stuff in the news recently, especially at the big branded hotels about people who have tragically lost their life. That incident has happened again twice in the last three days but you won’t have heard much about it as it wasn’t at these hotels.”
Alex went on to urge others not to mess around by balconies – something he has always adhered to in his 13 years living on the island.
“Stop climbing over teammates or birds’ balconies just because you don’t want to use the door,” he advised.
WARNING – explicit language in TikTok video below, viewer discretion advised
Offering his thoughts on why Ibiza has seen such an increase in balcony falls, Alex theorised that the “only thing” he could put it down to is an apparent huge increase in sales of balloons and canisters.
“They’re a cancer to this island,” he argued. “I know you want to have fun and I probably sound like a prude, but they are ruining this island. It’s the only thing I can think of as to why people are passing out and falling off balconies.”
Alex closed with a message to potential visitors: “Please try and be a little bit more careful and safe. Your family and friends are going to miss you and it’s a waste of life.”
Indeed, last month, two young men died after falling from the balcony at Ibiza Rocks Hotel in San Antonio. Scottish ice hockey player, Gary Kelly, 19, was visiting the island when he fell from the third floor on July 21.
It followed the death of another Brit, Evan Thomson, who lost his life after falling from his sixth-floor balcony at the same hotel while celebrating his 26th birthday with friends two weeks prior.
In April, meanwhile, a 33-year-old British woman died at the Ibiza Rocks Hotel, whilst a 19-year-old Italian tourist of Turkish origin plunged to her death from the fourth-floor at the same hotel in the same month.
And last year it was reported by the Mirror that numerous ‘balloon men’ are giving clubbers a hits of nitrous oxide, known as ‘nos’ or ‘laughing gas’ for just €5 a go.
Spain has banned the sale of nitrous oxide for recreational use, warning it can cause suffocation, hallucinations and even cardiac arrest. But San Antonio’s streets are full of groups of drunk and high Britons openly taking it.
A police officer told the Mirror at the time they are almost powerless to stop street dealing. “We arrest some people 20 times, but they go to court and then you see them in the same place again, doing the same thing,” he said.