A former resident and worker on the sunshine island of Tenerife has warned others about its darker side. Ciara O'Loughlin, who was then 20, embarked on an adventure to the sunshine haven with a friend, worked in a bar and had a flat near the island's party central Playa De Las Americas . Being independent excited the girls the most and like many others it was their first taste of freedom.
She says it was the perfect recipe for a party holiday with beaches, boat parties and top DJs offering cheap drinks. But the Irish Mirror reports the island had a dark underbelly and a serious drug underworld. Ciara said it was easy for visitors from abroad to innocently land themselves in hot water.
The case of 19-year-old Jay Slater whose body was found on the island's mountains showed it can be every parent's worst fear to wave their son or daughter off to their first holiday and not see them return home. Ciara said: "Seven years ago, working and living in Tenerife was everything I'd hoped for - so much so that I returned the following summer for another season. "Despite earning less than €4 an hour and serving drinks six nights a week, I was having the time of my life.
Our days were spent luxuriating by the pool or basking on the beach, while our evenings entailed serving drinks with a smile, and our off hours meant VIP access to the finest festivals and electric parties." She said nights working often implied an 'unspoken obligation to drink on the job'. In these tourist-targeted bars.