BRITS who try and nab a sunlounger too early on holiday could be left hundreds of pounds out of pocket.
Council chiefs in the popular Costa Blanca resort of Calpe have ordered local police to remove sunbeds, towels and parasols placed on the sand before 9.30am.
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Tourists and locals who breach the ban will have to pay to retrieve them from a municipal depot and face a penalty charge of €250 (£210).
Calpe Council says the municipal by-law is designed to facilitate the early-morning cleaning of beaches in the popular holiday resort a 25-minute drive north of Benidorm.
A similar approach is being taken to sun seekers who try to keep the best spots by going for a long lunch followed by a siesta, leaving their belongings unattended for more than three hours.
A spokesman said in a statement on X: “This measure prohibits the indiscriminate occupation of the public domain, especially the beach, with items such as chairs, hammocks and parasols at the start of the day.
“These bad habits make it difficult to clean the beaches.
“The by-law establishes that all these items and others installed on the beaches before 9.30am can be removed and the owners reported.
“It also states that those umbrellas, chairs or hammocks that are left for more than three hours without the presence of their owners throughout the day may be removed and transferred to a municipal depot.”
It added: “For some years the council has received complaints during the summer about the reservation of space on the beach, with people arriving in the middle of the morning to find large parts of it already occupied without the owners of the items laid out on the sand being present.”
Benidorm council chiefs vowed to get tough last summer with repeat offenders accused of trying to beat British tourists by setting up their sunbeds by the shoreline in the dark and then going home for a lie-in.
Incredible pictures published in the second half of last July showed Spaniards grabbing the best spots by the sea before dawn when many UK holidaymakers were still out partying or snoring in bed.
The photos showed beachlovers described as Benidorm locals setting up large umbrellas and deckchairs to get the best spots to soak up the sun when it rose.
Council chiefs said at the time they were aware of the problem – and insisted police had been given powers to remove items abandoned on the sand where it is creating conflict but denied Spanish ‘early-risers’ were deliberately trying to deprive British holidaymakers of the best beach spots.
The problem is expected to resurface again this year as more Spaniards flock to the famous Costa Blanca resort.
It’s not just the Costa Blanca where sunbed hogging is a problem.
Majorca residents have slammed tourists who get up at the crack of dawn to put towels on the straw-covered beach umbrellas.By early morning, just over a dozen parasols had been ‘occupied’.
By early morning, just over a dozen parasols had been ‘occupied’.
Majorca may even have a sunlounger shortage at beach resorts this summer, hoteliers have warned.
Etiquette expert on sunlounger rules
Etiquette expert William Hanson has given his tips on how to behave well at the pool.
“You can’t hog the sun lounger for the entire day.”
“You don’t want to come back and find your towel covered in sand or chucked over the hedge.”
“It’s also a personal bugbear when people play music through speakers around a public pool – if everyone did that it would be chaos.”
“And when it comes to food, if there is a menu offered by the pool, you are well within your rights to eat and drink at the pool.
“But I personally wouldn’t, I would go away to the hotel restaurant and eat there.”
And Greece is deploying drones to patrol beaches with restaurants being slammed for taking up space with sunloungers and tables.
Don’t want to have to fight for them this summer? We’ve found the huge hotel resorts where there are more sunloungers than guests.
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