Overdosing tourists in vacation hotspot are straining local health system

The popular Spanish island of Ibiza has had a longstanding reputation as a party hotspot for tourists - but those partying too hard are straining local health resources.

A quarter of the ambulance emergencies are linked to large leisure centers, Spanish publication elDiaro.es reported. 

"The situation is entrenched because the population increases, leisure centers increase, and instead of moving forward we go backward," said union president José Manuel Maroto.

The study found that MDMA and cocaine were the most commonly used substances, with the number of fatalities per year "steadily increasing."

Party promoter Wayne Anthony told Sky News last year he does not think the drug problem in Ibiza will be stopped. 

"When you have these movements that are driven by music, that are driven by art, that are driven by fashion and drugs are a part of it, whatever you put up, whatever boundaries, whatever laws, I don't think you're going to be able to stop it," said Wayne.

He arrived on the island in 1988, noting that "what Ibiza represented was this beautiful, hot island, which was visually stunning and we knew you could party there quite legally."

The WCUHT is calling for clubs to work with their own private ambulance services. 

He added, "We all pay for ambulances to these companies that make billions. It is unaffordable."