'I live and work in Tenerife and there's something everyone needs to be aware of'

Ciara O'Loughlin says it was the perfect recipe for a party holiday with beaches, boat parties and top DJs offering cheap drinks. But the island hotspot also had its darker side

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, bartending extended beyond pouring drinks, you were expected to embody fun and vitality.

Ciara added: "When bar crawls poured in, it was showtime: clamber onto the bar, lead a chorus of dances, and proceed to dispense shots directly into eager mouths.

"However, leaping onto the bar was not particularly to my taste, a sentiment that echoed in my manager's words when they remarked that I 'needed to be more fun like the other girls' ".

She switched to a Karaoke bar, catering to hen and stag dos not necessarily reinforcing my faith in romance. But she admitted to seeing some shady behaviour in some bars and said drug dealers were often seen.

Ciara said she witnessed other bars entrenched in darker dealings, harbouring dealers within their midst throughout the night.

There were also numerous young workers on the strip, naive to the grave risks, who found themselves ensnared in precarious situations linked to these dealers. Directing drug-seeking tourists to dealers would net them a quick €10.

The culture of drinking on duty she said was encouraged. But there were penalties for overindulgence which could land you with a €50 fine - more than their nightly earnings. They were also required to dedicate three or four hours each week to give the bar a deep clean and not attending could land you with another €50 fine.

Ciara added: "The two summers I spent there were certainly memorable, but I consider myself fortunate not to have encountered any serious issues - except for the time my handbag was forcefully taken from me as I walked home.

"Every country or city has its problems, but these party destinations seem to operate within their own lawless microcosms. To all young people embarking on your first party holiday, enjoy yourselves, but stay alert."