Just when the authorities were beginning to make progress in clamping down on mamading in British-packed seaside resorts in Spain, another scary fad has reached the Balearic Islands. This time, it's bath salts, or Methylenedioxypyrovalerone (MDPV), the drug which causes such lack of inhibition and anger that it's been known to cause cannibalism in the US. Seriously, in Miami in 2012, a drug user bit off a homeless man's face while under the influence of MDPV.
In one case in Ibiza, it took eight police officers to restrain one man under its influence: 'One patient was extremely aggressive, so he was handcuffed,' Matilde Fernández, a nurse at the San Antonio Health Centre, told Diario de Ibiza, according to The Local**.
'Several police officers tried to hold him down on the stretcher. He ended up on the floor and then he bit the hand of one of the officers. They had to call back-up; there were eight officers at the scene in the end.'
A video of another 28-year-old man on the drug – nicknamed Cannibal by some – in Magaluf, Majorca, has been obtained by MailOnline, and shows him being restrained after trying to bite multiple bathers on the beach.
The side effects of MDPV – which can remain in the body a week after ingestion – include paranoia, hallucinations and panic attacks, plus violent and suicidal tendencies. Alberto Arean, Ibiza's chief anti-drugs officer, told Diario de Ibiza: 'Our hope is that it was just a small batch and has now been consumed.'
However, dance music website Mixmag advises revellers to be vigilant: 'If you're off on holiday to the Balearics, be careful. Don't buy or take anything that you are unsure of or that is hard to identify.'
** Follow Sophie on Twitter @sophwilkinson**
Picture: Getty
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.