More than 100 guests struck down by food poisoning at a popular tourist hotel in Spain

The final stretch of the summer at a hotel in La Manga (Murcia) turned into one of the worst nightmares that a tourist establishment could serve up to its guests. Hotel corridors were turned into makeshift emergency rooms, entire families suffering from vomiting and diarrhea and a field hospital set up in the function room, with IV drips and beach loungers converted into improvised stretchers. More than a hundred guests of beachfront hotel Cavanna, out of the 800 who were staying there this past weekend, were affected by food poisoning which, according to the first microbiological results, has been linked to the salmonella bacteria, as confirmed by the regional ministry of health.

The outbreak apparently started after lunch on Saturday, 23 August. Some hours later, the first episodes of fever, malaise and vomiting began. The initial alert was for 28 cases, but the figure had risen to over 100 by Sunday. Among those affected were many children, including a 15-month-old toddler, who was taken to the Santa Lucia hospital in Cartagena.

In total, around 20 people required hospital attention and two remained under observation until Sunday night. To attend to the avalanche of patients, the regional ministry of health mobilised 061 ambulances from Cartagena, Murcia, Los Alcázares, Puerto Lumbreras and La Manga, with around 20 medical staff. The volume of patients prompted the setting up of a field hospital inside the hotel. Some guests were treated in their rooms, with rehydration serums and a soft diet.

The regional ministry of health has opened the epidemiological investigation protocol. The most likely hypothesis is that a single contaminated foodstuff caused the outbreak on Saturday. Inspectors have collected samples from the kitchen. Although there is no official confirmation, several guests said that they or someone staying at the hotel with them had started to feel ill after eating fish or ravioli with spinach. The regional ministry of health ordered the precautionary suspension of the kitchen's activity and a "thorough" disinfection of the facilities.

The hotel turned into a chaotic scene on Sunday, with corridors heaving with stretchers with dazed tourists, children with IVs and parents asking for help. "She's been in the bathroom all day, she can't hold anything down," said the mother of a 10-year-old girl with a rare disease, as the paramedics lifted her onto an ambulance on a stretcher. "The poor thing was exhausted, dehydrated and it took them a long time to treat her," she added.

Another guest - Susan from Talavera de la Reina - criticised the hospital management. "We were discharged from the hospital with the child still feverish and dehydrated. We found her alone in the car park, dizzy and without strength." Her 15-year-old daughter "has been discharged, but she is worse than before". Susan says the girl only ate the spinach ravioli on Saturday and she is suspicious that the sauce had been the source of intoxication.

A couple from Madrid described the night as "a nightmare". The man spent the early hours of the morning vomiting in the bathroom and his wife had to call reception three times to get them to come up and help him. "A healthcare worker came, but we were already half dehydrated. I wouldn't wish it on anyone," she said.

Miriam - a 17-year-old girl from Madrid - said she was fine, but her friend Elsa had not left the room since the evening. "It must have happened at lunch, because she only had a yoghurt for dinner, as she already had a tummy ache. She started to feel more discomfort in the afternoon and we thought it might be because of the fish. There were four of us, but only she ate it. The rest of us ate meat and we are fine. She has abdominal pain and general discomfort and has spent most of the day in bed in the room," Miriam said.

The Cavanna hotel kitchen remained open until Sunday afternoon, despite the fact that dozens of guests were already reporting feeling unwell. Some 400 Portuguese tourists arrived at the hotel on Sunday morning. They headed to the restaurant to have lunch. "Why are there so many ambulances outside the hotel?" asked one of them. "There has been food poisoning," replied a health worker. The tourist left, mumbling that he should have been informed before eating at the hotel. The kitchen was closed as a precautionary measure after the lunch.

From then on, food was temporarily provided by an external caterer, although many guests preferred to go outside. Others opted to order and fast food delivery drivers started to enter the complex one after the other.

There were families who immediately left the hotel and put an end to their holiday, but not before lodging their complaints at the reception desk. Dozens of guests did that on Sunday afternoon. A queue of tourists with complaint forms in hand formed at the reception desk, many claiming reimbursement for their stay or compensation for damages suffered.