Sunbed showdown: Holidaymakers sprint out of their hotel and race for prime pool-side loungers the second gates open at Costa del Sol resort
- Holidaymakers were filmed racing to get a lounger in latest 'sunbed wars' spat
This is the moment dozens of frantic holidaymakers dashed to claim their spot on sunbeds the moment the pool opened at a resort on Spain's Costa del Sol.
The Sunset Beach Club hotel in Benalmádena is said to be one of the worst battlegrounds for spats over sun loungers.
A video posted on TikTok shows tourists carrying towels and bathing gear rushing past one another to make sure they secured the best spot after the doors were opened to the Spanish resort's pool.
While some hotel guests are seen making a run for their sunbeds, others can be seen tempering their pace and slowing to a power walk as they seemingly decide not to demean themselves in the pursuit of a sunbathing spot.
Commenting on the video, one TikTok user said: 'My idea of hell', while another said: 'That would give me major anxiety in the mornings'.
Dozens of frantic holidaymakers were filmed dashing to claim their spot on sunbeds the moment the pool opened at a resort on Spain 's Costa del Sol
It comes during peak sunbed season across southern Europe, with tourists filmed fighting it out in holiday hotspots
Last year the same hotel had to hire a security guard to break up fights as Brits got up before dawn to battle other holidaymakers for sunbeds.
Tourists, including several Brits, have reportedly had to join long queues to bag a spot by the pool-side spot.
It comes during peak sunbed season across southern Europe, with tourists filmed fighting it out in holiday hotspots like Costa del Sol and Benidorm for the best pools
Just last month, a British tourist blasted two men for hogging five sunbeds between them at a Benidorm resort.
Paul Hitchcock, who regularly holidays in Benidorm, shared a picture of two sunseekers at his hotel who had stacked up multiple deckchairs - seemingly preventing other holidaymakers from bagging a spot.
Paul Hitchcock, who regularly holidays in Benidorm, shared a picture of two sunseekers at his hotel who had stacked up multiple deckchairs
Sun bed wars have been a problem in popular holiday destinations for several years. Last year, people were photographed queuing for sun loungers at Hotel Estival Torrequebrada near Malaga as many brought chairs and a good book as they waited for almost two hours before the beach and pool opened
'Two people, five sunbeds, and they are not the only ones,' he told fellow tourists, who slammed what they called the men's 'selfish' sunbathing etiquette.
Others jumped to the pair's defence - suggesting that the chairs were piled up by the gentlemen as the loungers are often too low for elderly people.
'Ask them to move them if people need them. It's not right but if they have dodgy knees like me and can't get up easily I get why they are doing it,' one woman sympathised.
'If there's plenty of beds it's not a problem,' said another person, adding that the beds 'are so low' that 'older people or people with back problems put two together as it's easier to get off.'
But some questioned whether the men were saving the chairs for friends or family members, arguing that chairs should be taken on a first come first served basis.
Tourists carrying towels and bathing gear sprinted past one another to make sure they secured the prime spot by the pool
Brits heading to Mediterranean resorts this summer are once again anticipating poolsides filling up - with reports last year of people queueing for hours before pools opened in a bid to secure a lounger.
A British mother holidaying in Benidorm last year said she was left close to tears after her family was forced to sit under a water slide after missing out on the mad dash.
Cayleigh Tuffs, who was on holiday with her husband Andrew and their eight-year-old daughter Charley, described the rush for beds as 'horrendous' and vowed never to return to the Spanish tourist destination.
Ms Tuffs, who paid £2,000 for a Jet2 package holiday to Magic Aqua Rock Gardens, said she saw holidaymakers sprinting to sunbeds first thing in the morning to ensure they got the best spot.
The 34-year-old, from Chesterfield in Derbyshire, said: 'They're like ants scurrying for food. It's horrendous. We've seen people throw towels across the pool to get beds and people are running even though it's massively slippery.
Cayleigh Tuffs, pictured with her husband Andrew and their eight-year-old daughter Charley, said she was left on the brink of tears
'We go on holiday five times a year and this is the first time we've ever seen anything like this. On the first day we got here in the afternoon so there was no chance of getting a bed so we sat under a slide to get some shade.
'I was nearly in tears, it was horrendous. I've never wanted to cry on holiday before, but I did on that first day.'
Ms Tuffs said that the pool was packed with queuing Brits an hour before it opened at 10am, then 'chaos' ensued when the gates were opened by staff.
Last summer, sunbed wars became so intense at one Costa del Sol hotel that they introduced a parking ticket style system - with towels left on beds unattended removed after a time limit.
This year Spanish sunbed wars seem to have escalated with tourists now battling for the best umbrella on the beach.
According to locals in Majorca, many foreign holidaymakers are marking their territory in the early morning, reserving their straw-covered beach umbrellas on the first row, just inches from the sea.
Over the weekend, more than a dozen parasols were bagged at dawn near a leading hotel in Playa de Palma - an area popular with Germans.
Towels were seen hanging from almost all the poles, many of them belonging to nearby resorts.
