Britain loses the first battle in this year’s tanning wars! Hotel security in Benidorm puts two Britons at the back of the queue after they tried to get a place at the pool too early
This is the moment British tourists in Benidorm were kicked off their sunbeds for trying to pack them in too early.
Video footage from the Melia Hotel shows a security guard waving his finger and shouting “no, no, no!” shouts. at the two men as he frantically gestures at his watch.
The men are then led away from the beds and told to go to the back of the line that had formed at the entrance to the pool.
It comes as hotels brace for this year’s dreaded tanning wars, which could start sooner than ever. This week, two elderly tourists were branded ‘selfish’ for lying on piles of sunbeds in Benidorm.
In Melia, the pair of holidaymakers had tried to take two beds at 8.40am, in breach of the hotel’s policy, which appears to be becoming law this year.
Video footage from the Melia Hotel shows a security guard waving his finger and shouting “no, no, no!” shouts. at the two men as he frantically gestures at his watch
The men are then led away from the beds and told to go to the back of the line that had formed at the entrance to the pool.
The pool area and beds are strictly off-limits until 9am, with guests forced to queue behind a rope rope.
A security guard in a bright yellow top keeps an eye out for sun worshipers who try to cheat the system by going to bed early.
However, those who have paid for Level Lounge Access can relax as early as they wish in a cordoned off area with VIP beds.
At 9am the security guard releases the rope rope, unleashing a swarm of British tourists rushing to secure their favorite spot by the pool.
Travelers have started their antics earlier than ever this year. Many Brits at the Melia have been seen carrying piles of towels to reserve a row of beds, before heading straight to the breakfast buffet.
Children were filmed running ahead with towels to secure their family’s favorite spot for the day.
A security guard in a bright yellow top keeps an eye out for sun worshipers trying to cheat the system by going to bed early
In Melia, the holidaymakers had tried to take two beds at 8.40am, which was against hotel policy.
It comes after the hotel witnessed identical scenes last August, at the height of the season.
Clare Fairbrother, 49, from Warrington, Cheshire, described the scenes as ‘crazy’ during a holiday with husband David, 50, and daughter Lily, 10.
They filmed the moment when Brits ran from the VIP area to the sunbeds.
She said at the time: ‘Okay, we thought it was funny and crazy to watch this at 9am for breakfast…
‘There were about fifty people in line, twenty of whom were running. I didn’t see it getting violent, but people sent their kids ahead first because they’re faster, I guess.
“The hotel limited the tanning booth doors to 9 a.m..”
Footage from last summer showed holidaymakers racing to get pool loungers as campsites opened, with witnesses saying ‘madness’ ensued.
A British mother who was on holiday at another hotel in Benidorm last year said she was left almost in tears after her family was forced to sit under a water slide after missing the mad dash.
Cayleigh Tuffs, pictured with her husband Andrew and their eight-year-old daughter Charley, said she was on the verge of tears after missing last year’s mad dash
Cayleigh Tuffs, 34, who was on holiday with her husband Andrew and their eight-year-old daughter, described the rush for beds as ‘terrible’ and vowed never to return to the Spanish tourist destination.
Hotels across southern Spain were forced to crack down on unruly behavior as tourists fought for the best spots to sunbathe.
One hotel on the Costa del Sol revealed they had been forced to introduce a parking ticket system, where towels left unattended on beds were removed after a certain time limit.
Guests at the Estival Torrequebrada on Benalmádena beach, many of whom paid thousands for their holidays, were warned that they could no longer leave towels as markers on a sunbed to claim them for a whole day.
People queue for the sun loungers at Hotel Estival Torrequebrada near Malaga. Many brought chairs and a good book as they waited nearly two hours for the beach and pool to open
Management instead started leaving cards on the sunbeds with towels, handbags and other personal belongings on them, warning that they would be removed after 45 minutes if left unoccupied.
Similar scenes have occurred elsewhere in the Mediterranean. After missing out on a sunbed at their Greek resort, where a similar policy had to be enforced, a German family received a £280 payout.
The family, who spent £4,532 on their holiday last summer, received the money after they were unable to get sun loungers at their hotel in Rhodes one morning.
The managers of the TUI Kids Club Atlantica Mikri Poli hotel implemented a policy that meant that guests who put towels on any of their 500 beds had to use them within 30 minutes. The court rules that in this case the policy was not implemented.