Peter Dench

the british abroad

The world of the clubbing holiday is a place of extremes, and one of the greatest is alcohol. Britons regularly top the league of drunken holiday hooligans. And no wonder. 

On arrival holidaymakers are met by party promoters selling tickets for everything the Brit abroad has come to expect: foam parties; boat parties; water parties; luminous paint parties and the holiday staple, the organised party bar crawl. 

Partygoers must be ready to embrace the lows along with the highs.... 

A copy of the book is available here 

A full edit of the reportage with accompanying text is available from Getty Images 

  • 15:14 A group of British men, most of who are not wearing shirts, head in to the part of San Antonio town, Ibiza, known as the West End. The fine for not wearing a top in town centres and public areas is up to €750.
  • 16:25 An afternoon boat party for the many British seasonal bar workers and promoters in Ayia Napa, Cyprus. They are performing a dance to the 1979 funk anthem recorded by The Gap Band, Oops Up Side Your Head.
  • 15:56 Three men drink through coloured straws from one drink during an afternoon swimming pool party at Club Aqua in Ayia Napa, Cyprus. The party is hosted at the club each week during the season for tourists and seasonal British workers.
  • Advertisement boards for the English Breakfast available in: Ayia Napa, Cyprus; Sunny Beach, Bulgaria; San Antonio, Ibiza and Magaluf, Majorca.
  • 16:43 British seasonal workers and tourists in Ayia Napa, Cyprus, pose for a group photograph by the outside pool, during an afternoon pool party at Club Aqua.
  • 15:47 A group of friends from Scotland, smoke, drink and chat in the sunshine at an afternoon pool party, hosted at Club Aqua in Ayia Napa, Cyprus.
  • 15: 54 An inflatable pool with goals at either end is filled with foam on the beach for a party organised at Sunny Beach, Bulgaria, by promotional entertainments team, The Party Crew. Enjoying the foam, among others, are friends from Norwich, Triston and Tom, with their girlfriends Danielle and Vicky.
  • British University Students on the inaugural ILOVETOUR to the town of Porec in Croatia. The tour organizes various sports and themed events and club nights.
  • 14:47 A young woman on a boat party for seasonal British workers in Ayia Napa, Cyprus, holds a carton of Sodap Dry Rose Wine.
  • 12:36 Andy Hole outside the Disco Orange night club where he works as venue manager. Disco Orange is a popular club with British tourists visiting Sunny Beach, Bulgaria. Andy, has lived and worked in the resort  for seven years. Next door to Disco Orange is the Playboy sex and strip club.
  • 15:59 Girls enjoy an afternoon boat party for the many British seasonal bar workers and promoters in Ayia Napa, Cyprus.
  • 15:33 19 year old students Kelly (centre) and Paige (right) from Stoke, shower foam from themselves after attending a party organised by The Party Crew at Guaba Beach Bar, Sunny Beach, Bulgaria.
  • 16:42 A British man swallow dives into the sea from a cliff near Nissi Beach, Ayia Napa, Cyprus.
  • British University Students on the inaugural ILOVETOUR to the town of Porec in Croatia. The tour organizes various sports and themed events and club nights.
  • 22: 16 The main tourist trip at Sunny Beach, Bulgaria, viewed from the 14th floor of one of the resorts first hotels, Kuban. The Black Sea resort now has more than 200 hotels.
  • 20:49 A young woman is administered some alcohol by Party Hard bar crawl staff at Ice Lounge, Ayia Napa, Cyprus.
  • 02:47 A combined British tour operator crowd, including Escapades and Club 18-30, on the dance floor during a foam party at the Club Ice, Ayia Napa, Cyprus.
  • British University Students on the inaugural ILOVETOUR to the town of Porec in Croatia. The tour organizes various sports and themed events and club nights.
  • 21:57 A Barcode bar employee dances on the bar at a hen party for Jody from Manchester and around 30 of her friends and family.
  • 01:51 19 year old Calum, from Scotland, on the strip with friends in Ayia Napa, Cyprus. Calum slipped on the floor where he was staying and fell through a patio door and from a first floor balcony, severing the tendons in both of his legs. Travel operator, Thomas Cook, arranged three seats for him on the aeroplane home as Calum had appropriate travel insurance.
  • 22:40 Invasion Angels, Robyn (left), 19, from Rotherham and Holly, 24, also from Rotherham, get ready for the evening in the apartment they share with one other.  As Invasion Angels, they help manage tourists on Invasion holidays. Tonight they are escorting around 40 people on a bar crawl to the West End area of San Antonio, Ibiza. Holly manages Invasion Angels entertainers. Robyn, works as an Invasion Angel in between training to be a primary school teacher at Liverpool Hope University.
  • 02:16 A British woman flashes her breasts in front of tourists on the Invasion Ibiza bar crawl in the West End area of San Antonio, Ibiza. The fine for shouting in the street, especially at night and not respecting the rest of others is up to €750.
  • 21: 43 Jody from Manchester, lies on the floor at Barcode bar during a game to celebrate her hen party in Ayia Napa, Cyprus. She is accompanied on the trip by around 30 of her friends and family.
  • 22:02 A sign on the main strip in Sunny Beach, Bulgaria, reminds tourists to enjoy their stay. Located on and around the strip are many Erotic Bars that offer full sex from around €60. Visitors to the Red Rose erotic show, can select a woman to have sex with at the nearby Joy Hotel, for around €90.
  • 15:08 A Scottish woman checks on the well being of a British man slumped on a wall next to Magaluf beach, Majorca.
  • A bar in Sunny Beach, Bulgaria, warns motorists about the possibility of drunken people leaving the premises.
  • 06.58 two British men hold their bottles of San Miguel beer as they sleep of the nights excesses on sun beds at the beach at Magaluf, Majorca.
  • Clockwise from top left: 2012, Michael White, 27, died after he slipped and fell from a balcony at Hotel Orosol after leaning out to be sick. 2012, Adam Atkinson, 20, plunged to his death from a third floor balcony at Hotel Martinique, Magaluf. 2011, Jodie Taylor, 25, died falling from the third floor at Hotel Galera after arguing with a guest from the floor above. 2012, Charlotte Faris, 23, plummeted to her death from the Teix Hotel, Magaluf. In 2012, there were 14 incidents of Britons falling from balconies, many of which, according to the Foreign & Commonwealth Office, involved young people and alcohol.
  • British University Students on the inaugural ILOVETOUR to the town of Porec in Croatia. The tour organizes various sports and themed events and club nights.
  • British University Students on the inaugural ILOVETOUR to the town of Porec in Croatia. The tour organizes various sports and themed events and club nights.
  • 07:17 A man stands on the beach at San Antonio, Ibiza with a bleeding elbow that the thinks he cut open smashing it through a shop window. It’s his first day in the resort after arriving on a late flight from Manchester.
  • 14:32 A British father is removed from the beach on a stretcher at San Antonio beach, Ibiza, after falling unconscious.
  • 14:13 A British University Student on the inaugural ILOVETOUR to the town of Porec in Croatia with a bandaged foot. He was unable to pay the hospital fee that the wound required and decided instead to drink some beer to take the edge of the pain. The tour organizes various sports and themed events and club nights.
  • The British Surgery located above the Green Parrot Bollocks Bar in Magaluf, Majorca. The bars and clubs in the resort largely cater for British tourists.
  • 07:16 A naked man holding his clothes in the sea at San Antonio beach, Ibiza. He arrived with friends late the previous evening on a Monarch Airlines flight from Manchester.
  • 07:38 Derek from Hull, waits for an ambulance to arrive, with a man he discovered in distress in the West End area of San Antonio, Ibiza.
  • British University Students on the inaugural ILOVETOUR to the town of Porec in Croatia. The tour organizes various sports and themed events and club nights.
  • 08:04 32 year old security officer George, tries to wake a British man found slumped on the beach in Magaluf, Majorca. George works a nine hour shift, seven days a week, five months a year. He patrols the beach alone, armed with only a baton and five years experience. At around 06:30 each morning, George starts to clear the beach of people who have chosen to sleep there or who have collapsed on it.
  • 08:05 Three British friends make their way back to their accommodation as the sun rises over the main bar strip in Magaluf, Ibiza.
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