Calls to shut down 'abhorrent' website that rates countries after tourists' deaths on balconies | Scotland

A Scottish politician has called for the closure of an “absolutely abhorrent” Spanish website which ranks countries by the number of tourists killed or injured by falling from balconies.

The intervention by Christina McKelvie, MSP for Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse, came days after the death of a Scottish law student who was born in a constituency represented by McKelvie.

Emma Ramsay, 19, was on holiday in Ibiza when she reportedly fell from a sixth-floor hotel balcony. Spanish police said the fall was being treated as an accident.

Responding to news of Ramsay's death on social media, a group calling itself the Balearics Federation of Balconing appeared to celebrate the “comeback” of British tourists, featuring in their latest ranking of deaths and injuries resulting from balcony falls in the Balearics.

The post was accompanied by a detailed table in which each country received points for deaths and injuries to their citizens caused by balconies. The UK came first with seven points, followed by Germany and Spain.

“The Brits NEVER disappoint,” the page told its more than 55,000 followers. “Everyone trusted that the kings of the sport would once again take the lead.”

McKelvie, who was appointed Scotland's Minister for Drugs and Alcohol Policy earlier this year, slammed the website. “This is absolutely abhorrent and my sincere condolences go out to the families of all those who have been victims of this organisation,” she said. “It is reprehensible that someone would seek to exploit tragic deaths in such a cruel way.”

She continued: “The sooner the organization is shut down the better, and social media organizations should take all possible measures to remove such objectionable content from their pages.”

McKelvie's office stressed that she made the comments in her capacity as an MSP and not as a Scottish Government minister.

The “association”, which describes itself on the Internet as “Darwinistically tourist-phobic”, appears to have been keeping records of falls among international and domestic tourists in the Balearic Islands since 2000.

Part of the name refers to the term “balconing”, which was coined in Spain after a series of serious incidents involving holidaymakers attempting to jump from balconies into swimming pools. On its website, the group said it had broadened this definition to include all vertical falls.

The group did not respond to The Guardian's request for comment.

However, the website did publish a response to a Spanish media report about McKelvie's call for the hotel to be closed. The problem is not the rankings, the website stressed, but rather the region's “mass tourism” model and the “consequences” that flow from that model.