Arrests Up Among British Tourists Traveling Abroad

LONDON (AP) - Europe's sun-soaked beaches, bars and boulevards are the destination of choice for millions of vacationers, particularly from rainy Britain. But a worrying number of British visitors are being arrested or hurt in alcohol-fueled melees, the U.K. government said Tuesday.

Spain saw a 33 percent jump in arrests of British citizens: 2,032 between April 2006 and March 2007, according to report by Britain's Foreign Office. Arrests were also up in Cyprus, where two Britons were sentenced to three years in prison for a road crash that killed one teenager and injured another.

And in Greece last month, a 20-year-old British tourist was charged with infanticide after she gave birth in her hotel room to a boy who later was found dead.

Officials blamed the culture of binge drinking in Britain, where pub culture historically has put an emphasis on drinking and not dining as in other European countries.

"We are concerned that drink does play a part in a number of these situations," junior foreign minister Meg Munn told the British Broadcasting Corp.

Britain is one of the hardest-drinking countries in Europe, with an alcohol-related death rate that nearly doubled between 1991 and 2005, according to a recent report from the British Medical Association.

Britain's drinking age is 18, but Munn noted a suspected increase in underage drinking. Shops only recently started enforcing the law.

Spain was the most popular destination for British travelers, taking in roughly 17 million Britons last year. It is also home to some 761,000 British citizens.

Spanish newspapers regularly run stories about Britons arrested for unruly or drunken behavior, particularly in resort areas such as the Costa del Sol in the south or the Balearic islands that are home to Ibiza and Mallorca.

And when big-name British soccer teams like Liverpool or Manchester United visit, police are on the ready for booze-fueled brawls.

The British government report said more Britons were hospitalized in Spain than in any other holiday destination, and there were more reported rapes.

Still, although Spain had the highest number of hospitalizations, Thailand was proportionally the most dangerous destination for British tourists, with 324 hospitalizations and 269 deaths during the period cited.

Greek destinations such as Malia on Crete, Kavos on Corfu, Lagana on Zakynthos and Faliraki on Rhodes also reported an increase in alcohol-fueled incidents, with Greek tourism officials appearing on British television networks to appeal for sensible drinking and behavior at Greek resorts.

The British government report said there were 3 million visits by Britons to Greece from 2006 to 2007, resulting in 230 arrests, 602 hospitalizations, 131 deaths and 28 reported rapes. Most arrests were for drunken and disorderly behavior and public indecency.

Proportionally, Britons are most likely to be arrested in the United States, which saw 1,415 arrests out of 6.5 million British visitors.

But Dubai also reported a recent surge in arrests: About 1.1 million Britons visited the United Arab Emirates recently - and another 55,000 live there - and there were 230 arrests, many for drug-related offenses.

In July, a British man and woman were detained for allegedly having sex on one of Dubai's sprawling beaches.

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