Tipsy tales from a Benicassim tattoo parlour

Tattoos can be cool. We all know that. But they can also be shit. So when you decide to get inked in a tattoo parlour with only three walls on a Spanish beach, you know its going to fall into the latter category.

One in three young adults have a tattoo, so what is it that compels us to take the plunge abroad? Is it the rebellion?  Is it the lack of hygiene and the cheap Strongbow? What makes British teenagers think it’s the right decision to get a Kandinsky tat from a woman who speaks no English? YOLO.

Benicassim Festival is essentially a week long British invasion of a small town in the East of Spain. Situated along the coast, with headliners including Florence and The Machine, Blur and The Prodigy, of course there’s nothing better to do than get ‘Mam’ tattooed on both of your shoulders.

You can get more than just tattoos at “Estudio Estrella”, placed in the heart of the festival. Piercings are also available for the bargain price of 30 euro. Lucy, 19, from Rotherham, made an impulse decision to get her nipple pierced.

She told The Tab “We had about 20 minutes to spare before Noel Gallagher was on and I’d drank a lot, I’d snuck vodka in under my dress, I just didn’t think about it really.

“I questioned myself a few hours later though when I was bouncing about to Prodigy holding my boob feeling like it was about to come off.”

“I’m glad I had it done because I wanted it when I was in England but I think I just needed the courage my bottle of vodka gave me.

“It hurt but I think it’s worth it and it’s a funny memory to have of Benicassim.”

We hung around the tattoo parlour for a while and spoke to the other punters making terrible decisions when the sun gets a bit too much for them.

Baz’s mate – Manchester

“Baz said he’d pay for my tattoo if I got his name done. So I got Baz tattooed on my arse. I don’t regret it because I can’t see it, I’ll probably forget it’s there. Didn’t even hurt. He’s 50 euros out-of-pocket now though.

“What’s this going on, The Tab? Isn’t that the newspaper for all you posh cunts?”

Laura – 20, Stoke

 “I don’t even know why I got it done. Who has reasoning behind a weed tat? I just wanted to see what my mates thought.”

“I didn’t really have a thought process, I was a bit too drunk to think it through.

“It was about midnight and there was a big group of us. We all thought it would be hilarious to get tattoos on holiday and be those people.

“The shame hits when you land back in the UK and social convention means it stops being as funny as on the Spanish beaches.”

Anne, 18, Manchester

“I got so burnt on the first day so I thought it’d be banter, spelt with an ‘a’, to get a little sun on my foot.

“But the woman doesn’t speak English and she didn’t really understand me, so it ended up being on my calf and looking like the funk from The Mighty Boosh.”

“I had been planning it all day. I’d been debating which foot to have it done on with my mates.

“I wasn’t even drunk which makes it completely worse.

“The tattooist didn’t speak English and she kept turning round and speaking Spanish to this man whilst the needle was in my leg, but I was in too deep to stop at that point.”

Katie, 19, Blackpool

“Just, YOLO. This one wasn’t permanent but it lasts for five days and that’s long enough to have YOLO tattooed half way up your leg I think.”