London: It is billed as a student festival aimed at encouraging teamwork and professionalism in a variety of sports.
But when 5,000 British university students arrived in the Spanish resort of Salou, most had only one goal — to get blind drunk.
Hundreds of both sexes went on the rampage in fancy dress or in their underwear, exposing themselves in restaurants and on the streets of the town 70 miles south of Barcelona.
They encouraged each other to down free shots of strong spirits handed out alongside cheap beer.
During scenes of mayhem one young man broke his leg when he was accidentally run over by a police car.
Spaniards spoke yesterday of their disgust.
Aurelio Langa said: "Who thinks it's okay for 500 kids to be running about in their underwear, shouting in the street at 1am? Where were the police?"
Maria Gomez, spokesman for a residents' association, said: "This morning the streets were full of vomit. This kind of drunken tourism is deplorable."
Jaime Corbella added: "This is unprecedented. I've never seen such behaviour in my life."
Riotous scenes
While British students tend to favour the summer months after their exams are finished to unwind abroad, many are keen to emulate the American traditions of Spring Break. During the Easter vacation thousands of US students flock to the sunny climes of Florida or Cancun in Mexico, where riotous scenes ensue.
The Saloufest event, which began on Sunday and ended yesterday, has been growing in popularity since its launch in 2002. It is attended by students from more than 100 British universities — including Manchester, Loughborough, Reading and King's College London.
Students pay between £195 (Dh1,084.59) and £329 to attend, depending on their choice of transport and accommodation.
A second leg starts yesterday and ends on April 6.
Saloufest is run by ilovetour.co.uk, based in Crawley, West Sussex, which organises numerous university sports trips and is a member of the Association of British Travel Agents.
It offers students a choice of 13 sports in Salou, including football, rugby and tennis. Many admit, however, that their main reason for heading to the Costa Dorada is the round-the-clock drinking.
Dozens of students took part in an underwater sangria drinking competition, which was won by a business studies student from the University of Portsmouth who called himself Eric. He said: "We came here to play sports, but only with a hangover. Spain is our Spring Break."
After 24 hours of partying, nine had been treated by paramedics for drunkenness. Five of those needed hospital treatment for alcohol poisoning.
