With his side second bottom of the Premiership and with a two-week break looming as the relegation candidates prepared for the final run-in, Micky Adams, the Leicester manager, decided to take his players on a sunshine break.
He wanted to take their minds off the prospect of going down to the First Division, to get some sun on the players' backs and focus them on the games ahead. How he - and everyone else involved in the case - must wish he had kept his squad at home.
Three players are being held in prison having been charged with sexual aggression with penetration, while another five have been released on bail pending further investigation. The victims of the alleged incident are reportedly distraught. And Leicester have to deal with another crisis.
Paul Dickov, Frank Sinclair and Keith Gillespie will wake up in San Gomera prison this morning and perhaps for the foreseeable future. Spanish legal sources have suggested it is normal practice for individuals charged with serious crimes to be held on remand, although Leicester said last night they would do their utmost to return the players to Britain as soon as possible. There is always the danger more players will join them in prison if investigations lead to further charges.
La Manga has been the setting for controversial incidents involving English-based footballers in the past. In 1998 Paul Gascoigne trashed a hotel room after being told he would not be playing in that summer's World Cup. Four years ago Leicester City themselves were forced to leave a pre-season training camp early after Stan Collymore let off a fire extinguisher.
Indeed, one of Leicester's coaches, when pressed on the subject after the team's last fixture, at Wolves, refused to reveal where the team were flying for their ill-fated mid-season break. If he was afraid of bad headlines, he has certainly got them now.
No one at the opulent Hyatt Regency hotel, where the alleged offences took place, will comment publicly on what occurred in the early hours of last Monday.
But the British family who reportedly heard screams and "sexual noises" emanating from rooms 305 and 306 have checked out, disgusted at the perceived behaviour of their compatriots.
Leicester are expected to engage the services of a private detective to help prove the innocence of the trio. According to a source at the Walkers Stadium, the club will also order their own investigation into the backgrounds of the three alleged victims and the events leading up to the incident.
"We're taking the best possible legal advice," confirmed Paul Mace, the club's chief operating officer. "We wish to make it clear that these three players continue to protest their innocence concerning the charges made against them.
"I must point out that no Leicester City player has been found guilty of any criminal actions. This began with nine players, a number that has been reduced to three. It's up to you to draw your own conclusions.
"We're not looking at the prospect of our players being kept in Spain for a matter of weeks or months. We will move heaven and earth to get the players home as soon as possible."
In addition to conducting an investigation, Leicester are due to meet with the Professional Footballers' Association next week to discuss the scope of the punishment clubs can impose on errant players.
Keith Allsop, a season-ticket holder, said: "This can't do anyone any good. Leicester have been involved in trouble on previous trips there. I would stop them going anywhere abroad at all now. I think this is the final nail in the coffin for this season. As if things weren't bad enough already, now we have extra problems to contend with.
"I don't think it will affect matters on the pitch though, because it is not as if things could get much worse. Leicester has a reputation as a family club. If anyone is found guilty, that will be ruined."
At this stage it is hard to fathom where the blame lies. It is certain though that Adams - proud of his reputation as a disciplinarian - will be dismayed. And a number of lives may be ruined.
