ARCHIVED - Massive Covid outbreak: 245 cases confirmed in Madrid alone following student trip

The students all went on an end-of-year jaunt to Mallorca along with youngsters from five other Spanish regions.

245 students from Madrid have caught coronavirus after going on a trip to Mallorca earlier this month, and another 452 classmates are under surveillance, Madrid’s health authorities have reported.

Students from Cantabria, the Basque Country, Murcia, Valencia and Madrid also set out on the same trip by ferry from Valencia on 12 June, returning on 18 June, and were joined on the island by students from other parts of the Balearics.

The students were all taking part in an organised trip to celebrate the conclusion of the EBAU and booked the trip which included social and sporting activities organised by a travel agency and these infections appear to be linked via one hotel.

It's been reported in various regional media that there were "thousands" of students on the islands, all enjoying the celebration, the party reportedly having started on the ferry where young people were mixing freely and dancing without masks.

Mallorca media reported that complaints had been made to local police and authorities about the "botellón" drinking in the streets and the raucous behaviour of the students.

So far, Elche in Alicante has reported 32 cases among students from local secondary schools who went on the same trip, and Murcia has reported 18 cases; others are also highly likely to be detected in other areas as the results of the mass testing is made public. 

So far, all of the cases are of the British variant of coronavirus, PCR tests have revealed. Further cases are expected to come to light as trackers are working to identify patients’ relatives and others who may have been in close contact with them.

The health authorities have called an urgent emergency meeting to review the situation and determine measures to coordinate and control the outbreak.

Meanwhile, many comments on social media have been published questioning how anyone in their right mind could have allowed this to happen in the first place.