Booze, Bar Crawls & Bulgaria Stacey Dooley Investigates

This programme contains strong language.

Every year, millions of young Brits head abroad to party.

So I'm travelling to some of our most notorious holiday

destinations to find out what really happens when the sun goes down.

# Come on! #

It's quite deep, actually. It's quite a lot of blood.

Tonight, I'm in Sunny Beach, Bulgaria...

-THEY CHANT # Sunny, Sunny, Sunny

-BLEEP

-Beach! #

..where the cheap hotels and even cheaper booze

means this resort is fast overtaking Kavos and Magaluf

as Europe's most explosive party paradise.

-HE SHOUTS We're going to get

-BLEEP

-tonight!

But how much do we really know about this new holiday hotspot?

THEY CHANT Down it! Down it! Down it!

What are the consequences of 24-hour binge drinking?

I swung the chair at you because someone pushed me.

-I am going to

-BLEEP

-swing at anyone. I don't care how big they are.

What else is on offer here to tourists?

Drugs, over-the-counter, as many times as you like.

And what's life really like for the thousands of locals

who have to pick up the pieces?

This is the result of Sunny Beach.

Everybody come, pees over here, pees on my ice cream.

-When they're drunk?

-Yes.

Everybody's drunk here. Everybody.

The whole atmosphere has just got a bit ridiculous.

There are people having sex in the pool.

-THEY SHOUT OVER HER

-It's insane! It's crazy!

# Come on! #

Sunny Beach is situated on Bulgaria's eastern coast,

next to Turkey.

Just over a three-hour flight from the UK.

Super sunny, massively hot.

I can't wait to go and see Sunny Beach.

Wish me luck - I'm going to need it!

Stretching over five miles of Bulgaria's Black Sea coast,

Sunny Beach is a purpose-built resort, with over 200 hotels

and over half a million visitors a year.

Visually, it's massively different to what I was expecting.

It's very similar to a typical Mediterranean destination, I guess.

And I think when you think of Eastern Europe, Bulgaria,

with it being one of the poorer countries in the EU,

you imagine it to be quite desolate and quite grey and industrial.

But it's not like that at all. It's beautiful.

But this summer, Sunny Beach began making tabloid headlines

as a rival to Magaluf for out-of-control binge drinking.

So I'm keen to find out why.

So today, I have come to have a play on the beach,

and it's absolutely heaving.

I've got to be honest, it's so, so busy.

I've come here to find out why

this is the new contender for the 18-30s market.

I'm going to speak to people who've come here to holiday,

see what it's all about,

but also, speak to people that are working here,

grafting behind the scenes and looking after us.

-How are you?

-Afternoon!

-Afternoon! Very civilised!

Why have you come to Bulgaria?

-It's cheap.

-Yeah, I would say it was cheap.

-How much did you pay for that beer?

-Er, 2.50, which is about £1.25.

It's insane. That's SO cheap, isn't it?

There's a bar we saw up there, an offer,

-10 tequila shots for 10 levs, wasn't it?

-Yeah.

How much do you reckon you'll spend on this holiday?

I reckon I'll be all right with £400 over here.

When I go to Ibiza, I take £1,500, and I spend all that in a week.

You seem quite compos mentis. You're not that boozed. You seem OK.

-Yeah, we're good drinking, that's what it is.

-Practice?!

-Pros!

With an exchange rate of around two Bulgarian levs to the pound,

it's obvious why it cash-strapped young Brits are flocking here.

How much have you had to drink today? How come you're so boozed?

A couple of tequilas, a couple of vodkas, a couple of beers.

-How long have we been out?

-Two hours.

Is it because it is so cheap here that you're drinking more?

-Yeah, yeah. It's cheap as

-BLEEP.

Although this cheap booze in Sunny Beach is a major draw,

it's the organised bar crawls I hear most about,

as being bigger and wilder than in other resorts.

So tonight, I'm going to tag along.

I'm going to get involved in one,

and see for myself what all the fuss is about.

-Hello!

-Hello!

-I'm Stacey.

-Hello, Stacey.

-Are you...?

-I'm Ashley.

Ashley, lovely to meet you,

-and thanks ever so much for having me tonight.

-No problem.

So, talk me through very briefly what the plan is.

Every bar that we go to, we do things like champagne races,

drinking competitions.

We've got non-stop drinking,

-we've got entertainment, all that jazz?

-Yeah.

-And that's starting now?

-Yes.

-So I'm all right to jump in?

-Yes, come on, then.

-We'll give you free drinks, no problem.

-Thank you.

Over 400 partygoers have paid the equivalent of £6 each

to join the crawl tonight.

Anybody from England?

THEY CHEER

First, the staff rev up the crowd.

Everybody put your hands in the air like this. The other arm like this.

Jump around like this, scream and shouting,

-# Let's go

-BLEEP

-mental! #

-THEY SING BACK

-# Let's go

-BLEEP

-mental!

# Da-da-da-da, hey!

# Da-da-da-da, hey! #

And then, the drinking games begin.

Three, two, one, go!

THEY SCREAM

After 40 minutes, we are swept along to the next venue.

Thank you.

So we've left where we initially started, and this is the first bar.

Oh!

As well as a free shot on entrance,

the reps constantly remind the revellers of the cheap drink offers.

A drink with a quadruple shot of alcohol is just £2.

With only an hour at each venue,

the crowds are encouraged to drink as much as they possibly can.

They're already half-cut, and the night is still so young.

And because the drink here is so cheap,

it's so tempting to just completely lose your mind.

CHANTING AND SINGING

Bar crawls are big business here.

Numerous companies run events at the same time,

and the intense competition means

they are constantly trying to outdo each other

with better booze deals.

With each crawl hitting at least five bars and a club,

I want to see the state of the punters by the end,

so I'm joining a different crawl on its final stop.

So right now, I'm outside an empty bar.

Around the corner, you can almost hear, like...

a HERD of hundreds of bodies heading towards this bar.

HE SHOUTS All right, everyone,

come up here right now, and let's get close and personal!

-THEY CHANT

-# Sunny, Sunny, Sunny fucking Beach!

# Sunny, Sunny Sunny fucking Beach! #

-HE SHOUTS We're going to get

-BLEEP

-tonight!

THEY CHEER BACK

Many have been drinking for more than eight hours,

including this group of 18-year-old girls

on their first holiday together.

God, I think I'm going to be sick if I have this one.

I'll be fine.

-How many tequilas do you reckon you've had tonight?

-That's my 17th.

-Shut up!

-I've been counting.

Are you serious? 17?!

I'm fine.

You're only 18, and you've had 17 tequilas!

With it being so cheap, does that just mean you drink more

-and more and more and more?

-Yeah.

If it was more expensive, do you think you would drink less?

I don't think I would go for tequila. Like, I don't like tequila.

But only because it's cheap, I'm like, tequila, tequila, tequila.

-It's like an incentive?

-Yeah.

Because it's cheap, we just can't not come here.

I've seen tonight just how much

the bar crawls dominate the nightlife here.

For sure, they've created this hedonistic, crazy,

party atmosphere, but equally, I've gone on to learn just how

much alcohol some of us are consuming, and it's outrageous.

It goes without saying that, inevitably,

when you're drinking that much, that quickly,

all guns blazing, there's going to be consequences.

Brits seem to love the bar crawls here,

but do the bar workers who have to host them think?

I'm going to go and do a stint

with a girl who works in one of the beach bars

- she's Bulgarian, Dejana -

and hear what it's like for her to work in such a crazy environment.

-Hello! Dejana?

-Yes.

-Hello, I'm Stacey.

-Hello, nice to meet you.

-Really, really nice to meet you. How are you?

-Very well.

-Good!

-Working, and busy all the time.

That's good news, though, that's what you want!

Who are you expecting in tonight?

Have you got any bar crawls or parties?

Yeah, usually today, we have only bar crawls. We have five bar crawls.

One by one, they come in, it's full, 200 people...

the party is...big!

And these bar crawls are unique to Sunny Beach,

in the sense that they are constant.

There is always more than one bar crawl. How do they work?

We have our special offers. In every bar crawl, we have offers.

One, get one free, and special happy hour on five cocktails.

But everybody loves the Sex On The Beach!

Making the bar crawl list

is essential to a bar's survival in Sunny Beach.

If you don't make the cut, you may end up an empty bar.

Dejana has to pull out all the stops to draw in the crowds

and make them part with their cash and keep them coming back for more.

Enjoy the party!

Oh, Dejana! Look at her go!

-So bar crawls are SO popular here.

-Very popular.

They are a massive part of the Sunny Beach.

If you can put your bar in the bar crawl list,

you are one of the famous bars here.

So you're saying, the bar crawls are quite powerful, in a sense that

they have all the tourists and they can decide where they go?

Yeah, every day, every tourist is on some bar crawl.

So it's important that you have the bar crawls onside,

because then the bar crawls will bring all the tourists to your bar?

-Yeah.

-OK, and how does it work?

Do they pay you, or do you pay them?

We pay them.

Once upon a time, they paid to us. Now, we pay to them.

It's amazing, but that's the life.

Because she has to pay out to be on the bar crawl,

managers like Dejana are under pressure

to sell as many drinks as they can

before the crawl moves on to the next stop.

How many Sex On The Beaches will you serve on a busy night, typically?

Oh, more than 100.

-More than 100?

-Mmm-hmm.

One of my favourite bar crawls is the English bar crawls,

because they are very fun, they drink a lot.

They order our four-litre, big glass,

and they order it all the time, this glass.

So you do a drink...

-Yeah, four litres.

-..which is four litres?

-And our big straw!

-My God!

So it's pretty standard for you to serve drinks of this size?

Yeah, everybody loves this. Yeah, of course.

This is what I put my flowers in at home!

I've got a vase at home similar to this,

so it has loads of flowers in it. I'd never have a drink out of it!

I'd be off me swingers! I'd be in hospital!

With so much money to be made,

is no surprise bar crawls are now happening in the day too.

So I want to see if things are just as crazy as they are night.

-Hello, how do you do? I'm Stacey.

-Hello, Stacey. I'm Spence.

-How are you doing?

-Spence, you work with the bar crawls.

Talk me through what's going on this afternoon.

This afternoon, we've got staff for a foam party here for one hour,

while we're waiting for all the customer to come along.

Sort of get everyone together.

And then we're going to take the coaches up to the Palma Hotel, just down the road,

and then we'll go to a pool party with a three-hour free bar.

Perfect! Well, I'm going to come on this bar crawl, no?

Yeah, of course you can. Help yourself.

-OK, here she goes.

-Are you ready?

-Let's get you a drink!

-As ready as I'll ever be!

This event offers unlimited booze for just £9.

DANCE MUSIC PLAYS

THEY CHANT # Sunny, Sunny, Sunny fucking Beach!

# Sunny, Sunny Sunny fucking Beach! #

Staff are employed to escort the group to the next venue,

and bar crawl reps Cookie and Scott

keep them entertained every step of the way.

So they're in charge of looking after this massive crowd of people.

I wouldn't trust them to take the rubbish out!

-SHE LAUGHS

-It's nuts. Utterly nuts!

Hey!

And it's on the overcrowded coach to the next venue

that I begin to question if anyone is actually in charge.

THEY CHANT Down it! Down it! Down it! Down it!

THEY CHEER

Topless chicks?

OK, whoever gets their tits out gets a fucking free bar crawl.

THEY SCREAM

THEY CHANT AND CHEER

Fucking fried eggs!

LAUGHTER

-Cookie, is this a standard day for you?

-Yeah.

-This is your job?

-Yeah.

-All day, every day?

-All day, every day.

Same shit, different day.

HE CHANTS Same shit, different day!

-THEY JOIN IN

-Same shit, different day!

THEY SHOUT AND CHANT

I've just got off the world's most dangerous coach journey.

It was absolutely ram-packed.

We're just waiting outside to get into the pool party now.

It's going to be three hours of free drinks,

drink to your heart's content.

One of the girls on the coach, she got her boobs out,

and then everyone was slating her for her boobs,

and I really felt for her, and I think she was a bit embarrassed.

It was a massive audience.

The two guys that are looking after this massive crowd,

they are the craziest by a mile. They're completely nuts.

I'm just expecting more of the same.

Utter carnage.

MUSIC: "Pass Out" by Tinie Tempah

It's not just an open bar.

Everyone is encouraged to drink as much as they can.

THEY CHEER

THEY CHANT Down it! Down it! Down it! Down it!

Getting your kit off seems to be standard on bar crawls.

But considering it's the middle of the day, and a family hotel,

I'm genuinely shocked by how far some are going.

-Were you having sex in the pool?

-Yes.

-Did you use a condom?

-No.

What an idiot. What are you doing?

I didn't spunk or owt like that.

Yeah, but you don't know who she's had sex with.

You don't want to get an STD.

Well, I can go home and I can sort that out then.

The whole atmosphere has just got a bit ridiculous.

There's people having sex in the pool. It's insane.

-THEY SHOUT AROUND HER

-It's crazy.

The atmosphere's really changed.

Down it! Go on!

Staying around the pool are dozens of families on holiday.

I want to see what they make of this behaviour,

so I'm heading inside to see who I can find.

SHE KNOCKS ON DOOR

-Hello!

-Hi!

-I'm Stacey.

-Hi!

-Nice to meet you.

-Can I come in?

-Yes.

The Stanicz family from the Czech Republic

have travelled to Sunny Beach

for what they thought would be a quiet family holiday.

How do you find the party?

This is...this is problem.

-It's a problem?

-It's problem.

The children are not having...

not sleeping.

-The children are not sleeping?

-Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Drinking alcohol, sex...

-You can see them having sex in the pool?

-Yeah, yeah.

-And the babies see?

-Yeah.

See you keep the babies in,

so they don't see the...in the pool?

Yeah.

Would you come back to Sunny Beach next time?

No.

DANCE MUSIC BLARES

I think this is a really hard mix to get right.

Of course, young people need to come on holiday, let off steam,

let their hair down.

They work hard all year.

But also, you've got to put into the equation

the fact that families come here for a family holiday.

And the reality is, there's a girl down there having rampant sex

in the pool, and mum and dad have had to put the kids in the bathroom.

Because obviously, you don't want your babies seeing that. So it's...

..two very different scenes.

After two hours of solid drinking, things are starting to get messy,

and it seems some of the staff are in the same state.

No, fuck off! I told you.

-No, Josh! Josh!

-I told you...

You've had too much to drink. Go home.

I told you three times, I've broken my fucking foot, yeah?

And you kept dancing, and you pushed me when I was walking away.

I didn't know who it was. I grabbed the chair, and I swung.

I don't care who it is. No, I don't care.

I swung the chair you,

because you fucking hit my foot on the floor again.

If someone pushes me, I'm going to fucking swing at anyone.

I don't care how big they are...

But the disagreement between these two reps soon dies down,

as another member of staff collapses.

-You have to get her home.

-Yeah, I know.

Where are you staying? Tell me.

-No, please, don't be sad.

-She's SO drunk.

SHE SQUEALS

So, shock horror, a couple of hours into the free bar,

some people are bit worse for wear.

One of the girls was worryingly drunk.

She doesn't know where she is. She can't talk.

She's a wreck. She works here.

It definitely feels a bit less fun and carefree,

and a bit more sinister.

Moments later, someone else passes out.

This time, one of the holidaymakers.

We need to get him out. Get him over there.

-No, look at me.

-Here you are, love. Drink it. Swallow.

Drink, drink, drink.

-Drink, drink, drink.

-You're going to have to swallow.

The boy has been sick, and his friends say he's a diabetic,

so an ambulance is called.

After being assessed, he is rushed to hospital for treatment.

SIRENS BLARE

For me, I guess, stood here sober,

I've just seen how rapid the deterioration is.

You know, one minute, everyone's on top form, the beer's flowing,

the sun's out, and the next, people are really in a real state.

When you're in this kind of environment,

where there's this massive pressure to keep up with everyone else,

and there's a certain attitude

towards people who don't drink enough,

it's hard not to get caught up in that.

Three, four, five, six, seven, eight!

I'm still taken aback at how quickly

the pool party spiralled out of control.

Right now, I'm going to go and speak to one of the owners

of the bar crawl that put on that event, and have a chat with him.

I'm just keen to hear what he thinks,

what his take is on everything.

-Hello.

-How are you?

-How are you?

-Fine, nice to see you.

Lovely to see you.

Jelo Kochev has been running events in Sunny Beach

for the last three years.

The staff that work for Bar Troopers are supposed to be there

to look after the tourists.

How can they look after the tourists if one of them is in the pool,

supposedly having sex, one of them is fighting, one of them

is passed out on the floor?

They're in no position to be able to make calls that need to be

made if some of the tourists are in that state.

It's difficult because you have to create this hedonistic vibe

going on but 300, 400 tourists is a massive responsibility

and if someone is encouraged to binge drink,

accidents are going to happen.

And do you worry that some people are drinking themselves

into oblivion and having to be put in the back of an ambulance?

That's a step too far, surely?

I had a really frank chat with him.

I think he was very open, very honest about the fact that

things as they are now, are far from perfect.

Realistically, he wants to make changes

because he totally acknowledges.

But as things stand, potentially, so many accidents could happen.

I want to spend a night with some of the medics who have to

pick up the pieces when Brits end up worse for wear.

I've seen for myself first-hand at the pool party, the kinds

of incidents that can occur that require an ambulance, so tonight,

I'm going to spend some time with that specific ambulance team

and try and find out a lot more about what it's like to

work in Sunny Beach alongside tourists on a day-to-day basis.

Hello. Hi, I'm Stacey.

-I'm Jordan, nice to meet you.

-Jordan, pleasure to meet you. Hello.

-Hello.

-What's your name?

-Doctor.

-Doctor, lovely to meet you.

I'm Stacey.

I actually saw you come to help a young lad that was very, very sick.

It was a difficult case.

That guy, he was drinking hours. He'd been feeling sick

and looked very bad.

But now he's all right. Everything is OK.

And this kind of thing, you know, people becoming massively

intoxicated, is that pretty standard here?

Is it ever slightly frustrating that so much of your time

and effort is being taken up by alcohol-related cases?

No, it's our job.

Yeah, we're doing this all the time. We're here for this.

It is quiet tonight.

Over the next two hours, we aren't called to a single case.

The ambulance I'm in, is attached to a private medical clinic

but there are at least 10 other private clinics also

operating their own ambulances on the five-mile Sunny Beach stretch.

-Another ambulance here.

-Yeah, doing nothing.

-Maybe waiting.

All of them waiting. Everyone waiting.

-Another ambulance.

-Yeah, staying.

-Another ambulance.

-Yes.

-Medical care. Another poster there.

-Yes, you'll see a lot of them.

Medical centre. 24 hours health centre, Sunny Beach.

So there are so many ambulances based here in Sunny Beach.

Do you ever clash?

The tourists, they've got not just the phone numbers of our hospital,

when they start ringing, they are ringing to all emergency numbers

and for five minutes, maybe two or three ambulances can go in one place.

-All ambulances come to the one place?

-Yes.

-How do they decide who takes the patient?

-Whoever is going first.

Apart from one public hospital,

all other medical centres serving Sunny Beach are private

and charge either the patient or their insurance company.

It's comforting to know that there is such wide access to health care

for tourists, but I'm interested to know at what cost.

So I speak to some of the Brits out here who've had medical treatment.

I fell over, one beer bottle went flying,

the other one split my hand open.

Tulley injured his hand after a night out drinking.

I got the stitches and that and bandaged up

-and received 452 lev.

-452 lev?

-Yeah. That's with insurance.

-How much is that in English?

-About £250.

-For what?

-A couple of butterfly stitches?

-Yeah, literally, two stitches there.

-So you had insurance, fully covered.

-I thought I had good insurance.

-£70 but obviously...

-Not enough.

Tell me, before you came out here, are you familiar with

the clinics and the ambulances and how they work?

No, literally I just went for the closest one.

Nightclub worker, Andy, collapsed at a party

and woke up in a private hospital.

-They treated me for maybe four or five hours.

-So you now owe money.

-How much?

-1,300 euro.

-1,300 euros?

But at the moment,

I have no way of paying the private hospital down there.

Andy's treatment at the private clinic wasn't

covered by his European health insurance card.

This is only valid at state hospitals.

When you go out and you get booze and get massively on it

and you find yourself in a state needing a doctor,

you went to the first person in uniform or the first person

near a cross and all of the rest of it because you think,

I need help, I need help. You panic.

If you come over here and you get drunk

and you fall asleep on the street or what have you, you're

probably going to be screwed out of money if you need to go to hospital.

Without a doubt. I know this from experience.

I've never heard of so many medical services

competing for business in one holiday destination.

I'm keen to go and have a chat with a doctor from another

ambulance crew and try and get his take on things.

-Hello, I'm Stacey, very nice to meet you.

-Dr Petrov.

-Dr Petrov.

Dr Petrov has worked in Sunny Beach for eight years.

For tourists, there are so many medical centres,

medical clinics and ambulances on tap if they need it.

How would I know which organisation to go with?

There is a big difference between the medical services around.

Although there are so many,

not all of them are acting in such a professional way.

A lot of them don't work with the insurance companies

and they don't accept the insurances.

It's very often that the patient's need to pay unreasonable

amount of money for a medical service that may be professional,

but probably is not so expensive.

So you're saying there are people that are using

-this as a moneymaking machine almost?

-There are such services.

Hopefully there are not so many, but there are.

Private clinics are free to charge as much as they want for treatment,

which means the total bill isn't always covered by insurance.

They can also demand payment from the patient and leave them

to try and claim it back.

I think you know the paramedics I've spent time with, seem to

genuinely love their job and I think they're in it

because they want to help people.

But you've got to also acknowledge the fact that it is a business.

It's a lucrative business around here

and a lot of these privatised organisations are charging

seemingly extortionate amounts of money to treat the tourists.

I'm keen to meet the hotel workers who cater to tourists

after their night comes to an end.

I'm here to spend some time with a guy called Mario.

He manages this hotel that is popular with the Brits.

I've seen what we're like on the strip, seen our behaviour

on the beach, but I'm keen to have a chat with him.

I'm going to work alongside him and see what it's like

to look after the British on a day-to-day basis.

Before I even get a chance to say hello,

Mario has an incident he has to deal with.

So Mario, where are we going right now?

We're going to show you something that wasn't there last night.

This is something that usually happens inside the rooms,

but this time it's outside of the room

-and a little bit bigger than we expected.

-OK.

And this is the result of Sunny Beach.

-That's quite big, isn't it?

-Yeah.

-That's ridiculous.

So you think someone's put their fist through that?

-Or their whole body.

-Or their whole body.

How often are you finding holes in your walls?

Like, every check-out day. Every Monday and every Friday.

-So twice a week.

-Yeah.

And the doors as well. Let me...

This is a small one, and it has been already repaired,

but usually it's somewhere here, and it has been made with a kick.

Trying to get into the door cos they haven't got the key.

They have got the key but they just can't unlock the door.

It's not very complicated, they're just too drunk to do it.

'In fact, there are so many drunken incidents at the hotel,

'Mario shows me a list of fines they've made to act as a deterrent.'

Everything here has already happened.

-Running naked is number one.

-Yeah.

-Is that pretty standard here?

It used to be, before we enter the charge "running naked".

-And particularly British, I'm that the British love...

-Very fond of running naked around the place.

Throwing towels from the balcony.

We had cases like, the whole couch is being out of the balcony.

-Are you serious?

-Of course I am.

I wouldn't joke with that because it's very dangerous actually. You can kill somebody.

'Although sofa throwing is rare, Mario tells me urinating is not.'

Two days ago, one of the rooms over there, we looked upstairs,

a guy was pissing from the balcony.

We asked him, "Why did you do that?" And he answered, "What am I supposed to do?"

Go to the toilet, what's the matter with you?

-Did you say "Go to the toilet"?

-Apparently he didn't like it.

But that must be really frustrating for you, because like you say...

and I know they don't always behave like this at home

so for them to come over here and think it's OK to just

completely dismiss you, and disrespect your space...

I think we are very badly representative that we're

a country from the Third World, and sometimes they don't respect us a lot.

And it's sad, it's not a very nice thing to communicate with

somebody that completely ignores you and disrespects you.

'We end our chat there, as Mario needs to deal with the day's fines.'

They're just paying a fine now, they've just got it together.

-Boys, you're checking out now.

-Yeah.

-Have you had any fines so far?

Yeah, he got fined 50 levs for...

-Weeing.

-Where were you weeing?

-Just...

-Outside the hotel.

Could you not hold it, you couldn't make it to the room?

No, I... I don't really know!

Why would you take a piss

somewhere else than in a toilet?

Drunk.

-So now you understand why we have to...

-Yeah, yeah.

We just want to prevent that thing to happen, because we have kids here,

we have families here, and it's not very appropriate to see you weeing.

'Just after hearing about this bad behaviour from British tourists,

'Mario receives a call from the hotel's tour operators.'

HE SPEAKS BULGARIAN

'And we're told to stop filming.'

You're not going to believe it, I've been asked to stop filming, I've been asked to leave.

We had full consent from the hotel to film on their premises,

but the British tour operator who send all the clients here

have said that we're not allowed to film, they're embarrassed

about what we're filming, they don't want it to look bad on them - so they've pulled the whole thing.

I mean, I understand to an extent why they don't want us

to show what's going on, because there's certain things that Mario was saying

that are just...not, you know - really, really outrageous behaviour.

The idea that they're treating these people like

they're Third World citizens and completely dismissing everything they say,

they're throwing sofas of their balcony, pissing everywhere...

It's not something that the British tour operator wants to show.

'I'm beginning to realise there's a darker side to Sunny Beach,

'and back on the strip it's clear to see.

'In between the souvenir shops and supermarkets

'are more sex shops than I've ever seen in a family resort.

'I catch up with some tourists on the strip to see what they make of it.'

Hello! What's your name?

-Sarah.

-I'm Kel.

-I'm Stacey.

-How you going, Stacey?

-Nice to meet you both.

-Lovely to meet you. How you going?

I'm good. Listen, tonight I'm having a nose at the sex shops. Tell me what you know about them.

OK. Well, you can get whatever you want in the sex shops...

'And I soon realise he doesn't just mean sex toys and DVDs, but illegal drugs.'

You can get MCAT, you can get speed...

Magic is just like another amphetamine that you can take,

but it's completely illegal back home.

So you go in the sex shop, and you just quite ask quite blatantly...

Blatantly "I'm after speed" or "I'm after MCAT" which is an amphetamine.

And it's...every sex shop, some sex shops...?

Every sex shop. Every sex shop, you'll get it.

'Surprised at what I've heard, I see if other tourists have found the same thing.'

Anything you want, you get from there. Anything.

-What do you mean?

-Like cocaine, Mandy...

If you want that they've got it for you.

There's this other pill called magic...

So you're saying that you can go into numerous sex shops here,

-and they'll offer you certain drugs - coke, Mandy, magic...

-Yeah.

Basically I've been told by numerous people

that some of the sex shops out here are selling drugs to tourists,

they're readily available, so I'm keen to go into a couple of them myself

and find out what's really on offer.

'The first shop I enter sells all the usual sex paraphernalia,

'and the strongest things I'm offered are poppers, herbal Viagra

'and caffeine tablets.'

And everything here's all legal?

But some people DO sell illegal...

Thanks again. Take care.

He did acknowledge that other sex shops in the area perhaps

weren't all on the same page as him, so I'm keen to go

and see them for myself, and find out what is on offer elsewhere.

'I want to know if the sex shops are selling drugs to tourists.

'They won't sell me anything illegal if we're filming,

'so I'm going in alone.

'After 20 minutes, I find what I'm looking for.'

So I've just come out of that particular sex shop

and I guess what has become apparent fairly quickly is that I could have bought

an array of things from them, one of them being magic.

'Magic is a street name for mephedrone,

'a stimulant that's similar to amphetamine

'and is illegal in Bulgaria and the rest of the EU.

'In the last two years, it's been linked to over 100 deaths in the UK alone.'

She said that one packet was 50 lev,

and that would look after two or three people.

The guy then told me that it was stronger than speed,

and it kept him up for a couple of days when he did it.

It's a worrying thought that so many British tourists and tourists generally

are able to go into a sex shop, buy magic,

and take something that they know very little about. It's a dangerous drug.

'A man hanging round in the shop also said he could get me

'anything I wanted, from cannabis to cocaine.'

When I asked about the legalities, he said don't worry,

because you're British, you're a tourist,

the police will leave you to it, they won't search you.

It's a scary thought that if you go looking for it,

seemingly you'll find it quite easily here.

'It's unnerving to think how easily accessible drugs are here in Sunny Beach.

'And I'm surprised that I was told I didn't need to worry about the police as I'm a tourist.

'I was told by Bulgarian police that they don't tolerate any criminal activity, regardless of nationality,

'but so far this year, no British person had been arrested for possession of drugs in Sunny Beach.'

'Keen to see the police in action, I'm joining two Sunny Beach officers on their shift.'

Do you have much interaction with the tourists?

Describe to me their behaviour,

when they're drunk or when they're mixing the drink with the drugs.

-No control.

-Yes, without control.

'It's a busy night on the strip, and the drunk tourists are out in force.'

DRUNKEN SHOUTING: When in Rome...!

'As we walk down the strip, to my right I spot an incident

'between an ice cream seller and two tourists.'

What happened? I saw him push someone.

He came over, very drunk, to take money, I don't know what...

I said, stop, stop, stop. Everything falls down. Money...

Is it difficult to work on the strip when everyone's so drunk?

Very difficult. They can't stop drinking.

Everybody come piss over here, I have ice cream, they piss on my ice cream...

When they're drunk?

Everybody is drunk here. Everybody.

Only who are working is not drunk. And the police of course.

They have to stop this alcohol.

12 o'clock in the evening, stop, and that's it.

Six o'clock in the morning, there is people sleeping over there,

and they are singing like they're in a football game.

In a stadium. Not on the street.

-Nice to meet you.

-Thank you very much. Please do something for us.

-It's not my job!

-I know it's not your job, but please you can help us.

When it comes to the law, is everybody the same,

or do you make exceptions for tourists?

'Despite the strip being incredibly busy with tourists this evening,

'the police decide to stop a lone Bulgarian man.'

What are you doing?

Why him?

But everybody is drunk here.

My question is, he was walking very calmly down the street.

He doesn't seem particularly drunk or intoxicated.

Why have you singled this man out

as opposed to everybody else on the strip?

Do you know why the police have stopped you?

I don't know.

You take care. Bye. Nice to meet you.

'The man is free to go, and we continue patrolling by car.

'Some of the main problems Sunny Beach police have to deal with

'are pickpocketing and robbery.

'And minutes later, they are flagged down by a local security guard.'

-What was he saying?

-His job is security here.

He said that three, four, five Gypsies, they make problems.

'This is the first time I've heard of Gypsies in Sunny Beach,

'so I ask the officer to explain more.'

How do you know this?

You believe the majority of pickpocketers here in Sunny Beach

are of Gypsy descent? Is that correct?

And why do you think

people from the Gypsy community

are perhaps stealing?

Are they...

You think they choose to live like that?

'I feel, personally,

'like there's a bit of a two-tier'

system going on here.

I feel like you're allowed to run riot if you're a tourist,

shout, scream, get drunk, do your thing, and nothing really happens.

You can get a fine,

but that's probably as far as it goes a lot of the time.

But if you're a Bulgarian, some local Bulgarians, sounds like,

get the brunt-end of the deal.

After hearing what some of the police

thought of the Gypsy community,

I want to know if any Brits have experienced any problems,

or what they've heard.

'Rory has been working here for two months as a bar-crawl rep,

'he tells me it's couples on the beach

'who are most vulnerable to being robbed.'

You can go down to the beach, with a nice lady.

If all your clothes suddenly fall off....

You all get naked, clothes are off.

You're all in the sea, and then they've disappeared,

because some Gypsy's just robbed your shorts.

-And that's quite common?

-Most of the time

it is Gypsies who will rob you.

But that's just how it is out here.

And why do you think the Gypsies -

if they are the ones doing the robbing - why do you think that is?

To be honest, it's just an easy way of life, really.

You know, you don't have to go out and work for your money,

you can just go up and intimidate someone enough

just for them to give you their money.

'We head down to the beach to see who we can find.'

'As we look around,

'I don't see anyone who seems to be acting suspicious,

'but we do spot a number of couples looking cosy.'

I mean, the worrying thought, Rory, surely,

is that there's so many people walking past

and they're totally oblivious to the fact.

They don't even know we're stood here with a camera and a massive light.

So far they've been lucky, from the looks of it, it's just tourists,

but if a Gypsy walks past... bag, clothes - gone.

-And that's what tends to happen.

-Yeah.

If you're going to get lost in the moment, do it in your hotel room.

I think that's their bag, Rory, no?

Guys, your bits are here.

-Don't lose them, love.

-Yes, and... OK.

-Don't lose this, darlin', cos you'll get robbed.

-OK, thanks.

'What Rory's saying'

makes perfect sense.

People come down here to have sex, to do whatever they want to do.

So I'm not surprised that they're coming down here to do that,

what I am surprised at is the idea that there are loads of people

waiting to...effectively rob them, when they're down here.

I didn't see anyone stealing tonight,

and it's not clear who's responsible when it does happen,

but some police and tourists think Gypsies are to blame.

There are 700,000 Roma Gypsies living here in Bulgaria.

84% of them live below the poverty line.

So far everything I've heard regarding the Gypsies here

has been derogatory.

People have said they're a massive nuisance,

they're thieves, they're always robbing.

So I'm quite keen to try and find someone from that community myself,

have a chat with them, and see what it's like for them living here.

'We head to the outskirts of Sunny Beach,

'a place tourists don't see on their holidays.'

Here we are, here we are.

How are you? I'm Stacey.

So, can I ask, what's your name?

You live around here?

So, can I ask,

what community are you guys from?

TRANSLATION:

And can I come and spend some time with you?

Where are we going now?

So, generally, are you constantly on the move?

So this is your boy's bed?

This is your bedroom?

Tell me how you wash. You have a shower, you clean yourself nearby?

And every single person that lives on this camp

uses this one can as a shower.

The reason I was so keen

to come and listen to what your family had to say

is because you almost have this reputation in Sunny Beach -

all Gypsies rob, all Gypsies are thieves, all Gypsies are bad news.

How does that make you feel?

'They tell me that they do legitimate jobs

'like woodcutting and fruit picking.'

Is that the only way you get money? Are there other ways?

Do any of you have the opportunity

to work within the tourism industry that exists here?

If someone said, "All right, I'm going to give you a go",

how would that change your family's life?

'Of course, the vast majority of time I've spent here in Sunny Beach

'has been down the strip, near the beach,'

with the tourists, it's lights, action, fun,

music, drink, all that jazz.

You only have to walk a few minutes down the road

to stumble across...

this kind of scene.

You know, poverty exists everywhere,

but this is extreme poverty.

It's nice to think that some people are able to benefit from tourism

and they're getting decent jobs, they're able to feed their kids.

For me, it's just massively unfortunate that some locals,

some Bulgarians, like these people,

like people associated with the Gypsy community,

will never be given the option or the chance

to also benefit from Sunny Beach.

I think very few tourists will ever, ever be made aware

of...this kind of scene.

It's a very different story.

Having spent a fair amount of time here,

I've obviously seen things

that are problems that do need addressing.

And so I've come to have a chat with the Mayor,

he's one of the guys in charge.

I'm keen to hear what his plans are to improve things in Sunny Beach.

I'm here observing why so many tourists

are coming to Sunny Beach.

Tell me why you think it's so popular.

I'm sure the architecture is fascinating here,

but I'm almost certain

that the vast majority of tourists that I've spoken to in Sunny Beach

haven't come here for that.

I think they've come here

because the alcohol is so outrageously cheap

and the rules are very lax.

Do you appreciate that's a massive draw for lots of people?

Surely it's in your interest

to know what is going on in Sunny Beach.

You're saying that everything is fine and dandy -

everything is not fine and dandy in Sunny Beach.

But I'll tell you what I've witnessed over the past few weeks.

Excessive drinking.

It's very easy to buy drugs here in Sunny Beach,

there's robberies on the beach. The list could go on and on and on.

I'm really surprised that you're not aware of these issues

if you're the Mayor of that particular area.

Just so I'm completely clear,

you're saying you're not particularly interested

in managing the current tourism that exists here.

So you don't necessarily want people coming here, drinking, taking drugs,

you want them to come to look at the heritage and the architecture?

I'm surprised that you feel offended

that I'm trying to discuss the bad things,

because I thought, "I'll go to the Mayor

"and see what he thinks."

Thank you. Thank you very much.

Nice to meet you.

SHE SIGHS

Ridiculously frustrating.

Him and I were just going

round and round in circles at one point, you know.

Understandably he wanted to focus

on the beautiful, historical part of his region.

He almost didn't even want to entertain the fact

that there were problems that existed in Sunny Beach.

He started asking me what the problems were, and he's the Mayor.

It's...

outrageous to think that somebody in that position

is seemingly so out of touch with what goes on.

The Mayor may want tourists to come here for the culture,

but with more high-rise hotels going up all over Sunny Beach,

it looks to me like it'll be the bars and clubs

that'll be getting busier.

And unless they curb the binge-drinking and bar-crawling,

I can't see this place changing any time soon.

I think it's worth bearing in mind

that Bulgaria is one of the poorest countries in the EU,

so of course any tourism, any serious money

flocking into a certain area is a really positive thing.

But the cheapness of the drink here is both a blessing and a curse.

You know, on the one hand, it adds to Sunny Beach's appeal,

but on the other hand, for sure it's the main reason

why so many negative things are happening here on the resort.

'Next time I travel to top stag destination Prague,

'to investigate what really goes on on a man's last night of freedom.'

-Semen on the ceiling?

-Semen on the ceiling, yes!

'I get the low-down from the women who entertain British stag parties.'

-He wants to eat me.

-He wants to eat you? I bet he does!

'And track down the criminals who prey on them.'

They are like prey.

Prey for the night creatures.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd