ECSTASY and cocaine are frequently consumed by as many as one-fifth of tourists in Ibiza,

ECSTASY and cocaine are frequently consumed by as many as one-fifth of tourists in Ibiza, according to the Balearic ministry of health and consumerism.

This is thought to be closely linked to the 'club culture', since hard-drug use in Mallorca is only around four per cent.

The minister, Vicenç Thomàs, reveals that 68 per cent of tourists who head to the Balearic Islands do so for the nightlife.

A study was carried out of 3,000 holidaymakers, covering 82 per cent of the Brits and 71 per cent of the Germans who have travelled to the islands.

And whilst in Mallorca, nine per cent admitted to having smoked cannabis, three per cent having taken ecstasy and five per cent having snorted cocaine, these figures multiply when the same analysis is carried out in Ibiza.

Around 18 per cent of Ibiza tourists have smoked joints, 22 per cent have taken ecstasy and 19 per cent have snorted cocaine.

More than half of the British tourists on the island say they drink to excess when they go to Ibiza – five or more days a week of their holiday – compared to two or more days in the case of the Germans.

Well over half of 14- to 18-year-olds drink excessively when they are in Ibiza, and around 23 per cent admit to having taken drugs.