'We never want them back'... drunken British students wreck Spanish resort

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An invasion of thousands of British students at a small Spanish resort for a sports tournament has left locals reeling from their drunken antics.

Students from 37 universities including the London School of Economics, Manchester University and King's College London, descended on the town of Calella to compete in games including netball, hockey and lacrosse.

But so many spent their days drinking instead of competing that locals said the tournament was more about being drunk than sport.

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Booze-fuelled mayhem: British student revellers manhandle a girl in Calella, whose mayor said they 'do not behave like civilised human beings and we don't want them here'

They said beaches were left littered, revellers kept them awake until the early hours, road signs were vandalised and hotel furniture wrecked.

The town's mayor, Josep Maria Juhe, said: "These students do not behave like civilised human beings and we don't want them here."

The games' organisers flew to Spain late last week for an emergency meeting with town hall officials.

Calella, 30 miles north of Barcelona, outlaws drinking on the streets.

But that was a point lost on many students as they embraced the all-you-can-drink deals advertised with the £300 travel packages.

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Invaded: peaceful Calella, where the university students' sports event descended into a non-stop drinking rampage

They had free entry to four nightclubs and with a 150 euro wristband could drink all they wanted from 9.30pm to 4.30am.

The town spent an extra £4,000 on policing and £4,000 clearing up rubbish, said the mayor.

Some £1,200 in police fines was handed to those who damaged road signs.

"The philosophy is to get drunk, nothing more," said the mayor.

"They start first thing in the morning drinking beer on the beach.

"They leave the beach like a rubbish dump.

"Then they get more drunk in the discos until the early hours when they return to their hotels before starting all over again."

Antics: a student falls onto a bench

Students boasted about their antics on social networking site Facebook.

One from Derby University wrote: "I havnt been so s***faced for soo long in my life!! was awesome."

Andrew Hammond, 23, of Derby University's American football team, admitted he and the team never went to play sport.

"I just went for the crack," he said. "We drank but we were well-behaved.

"I did not see any vandalism."

Last year, students boasted of trashing a hotel.

This year two hotels banned students during the tournament.

Sergi Esteve, of the Hotel Esplai and Hotel BonRepos, described damage in 2006 and 2007.

"They broke doors, destroyed plasterwork and tiles, plastered the walls in paint, ripped up towels and stole security cameras," he said.

Some 500 students this year stayed at the Oasis Park hotel.

A worker said: "They get drunk, scream and shout, vomit, destroy the hotel rooms.

"It has nothing to do with sports.

"They threw tables from their balconies."

It is unclear which university teams were responsible for wreaking the damage and ill-feeling.

But Edge Hill University in Ormskirk, Lancashire, said it was aware of unruly behaviour and had in the past disciplined students over it.

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'The philosophy is to get drunk, nothing more': a student swigs from a jug of beer

James Anderson, student president at Bath Spa University, who went to play hockey, said: "The Calellafest is one of the best organised festivals.

"But it does not promote responsible drinking. It's the minority that spoil it for the majority."

Alex Castro, communications officer at Manchester University's students' union, said: "We have never heard of any problems in Spain with our students." No one was available for comment from the London School of Economics or King's College London.

Mark Gardner, managing director of Teamlink Travel, which runs Calellafest, said the mayor's comments were shocking and that he had met him on Friday to negotiate the festival's future.

"Some of the quality of the events such as cheerleading, netball, women's football and hockey is at the top end," he said. "We respect [Calella's] neighbourhoods."

 

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