North African destinations are cheap. European tourists go there on budget tours, especially the Brits, who are always trying to escape their miserable weather.
Most of those tourists were not very well off, and in some cases the entire family had chipped in to send them on the trip as an anniversary present or something like that. Poor things.
Sad. RyanAir to Spain is really, really cheap, and the hotels in places like San Sebastian and Valencia are cheap, too. No need to hang out with the muzzles, even if it is a few pounds cheaper. I can’t imagine that this event is not being treated as a major story, it is being downplayed in the US press. 30 Brits, 40 or 50 Europeans total, and the biggest thing here is gay pictures on Facebook.