Picture the scene: you’re lying on the beach, the sun is beaming down, the sea breeze is balancing out the scorching temperatures. Things couldn’t get much better until… what’s that? An ice-cold cocktail. Perfect! Except for one thing: it’s full of poop. No, not me – the cocktail.
Well, this could be a reality in tourist hot-spots such as Benidorm and Barcelona, according to reports – it’s been claimed that illegal vendors are serving up drinks using beer that’s been stored in drains, and fruit that’s been washed in public toilets.
According to The Sun, salespeople are allegedly flogging trayfuls of drinks such as Sex on the Beach and Pina Colada to tourists – misleading them by saying that they’re from nearby bars.
It has been claimed that some of the people selling these cocktails even have their own uniform. Because we all know uniform = legitimacy.
On a Facebook page dedicated to the Spanish resort of Benidorm, a holidaymaker snapped a seller in action, saying: “I see the dodgy cocktail sellers are about today. Yuk, I think I will give it a miss. There were 2 sellers out today with blue shirts. They look so official but yuk. Keep away everyone.
“I saw this outside my other half’s bar, he was chopping the fruit up on the bin lid, and lifting bottles of spirits up out of the drains.”
The Sun reported that police cracked down on the vendors in holiday resorts across Spain last year after they found them selling drinks made from ingredients stored in dirty drains.
A shocking video shows officers in Barcelona lifting the covers of drains to reveal bottles of spirits and mixers, towels, straws, ice and glasses.
There have been three men arrested and charged for selling what could be bacteria-filled cocktails.
The unsanitary drinks are being sold for half the price of similar ones at legitimate beach-front bars.
Lauren Bate, a travel writer who lives on the Costa Blanca, warned holidaymakers about the trade on her blog, Diary of a Spanglish Girl.
She wrote: “Nothing says summer like sipping a cocktail in the sun, kicking back. Relaxation mode on. Do it wrong, you could end up spending the rest of your holiday with your head down the toilet, or hospitalised. Not quite summer goals or summer vibes.
“These street vendors create the cocktails in the most awful of ways. They have been known to wash fruit where you wash your feet on the beach, yes really. Using toilet water as a substitute for water.
“They’ve even been known to chop up the ingredients on cardboard boxes, once lived in by stray cats. Yum.
“They fill their cocktails with fruit that has gone mouldy out in the sun. Use old, dirty cutlery. Plus, you guessed it, they don’t wash their hands.”
Anyway, don’t let this put you off your summer getaway – just make sure you know where your drink is being made
