British mum is near tears over Benidorm’s chaotic tanning wars as tourists ‘swarm like ants’ to reserve sun loungers and force her family to sit under a waterslide on the first day of their holiday

A British mother was close to tears when tourists ‘swarmed like ants’ to claim sunbeds and forced her family to sit under a waterslide on the first day of their holiday in Benidorm.

Cayleigh Tuffs, who is on holiday with her husband Andrew and their eight-year-old daughter Charley, described the rush for beds as “appalling” and vowed never to return to the Spanish tourist destination.

It comes in the middle of the peak season of the tanning war abroad, especially on the Costa del Sol, as locals in Benidorm are caught setting up their sun loungers in the middle of the night to get ahead of the swarm of Brits.

Ms Tuffs, who paid £2,000 for a Jet2 package holiday to Magic Aqua Rock Gardens, said she saw holidaymakers sprinting for the sunbeds first thing in the morning to make sure they got the best spot.

The 34-year-old from Chesterfield, Derbyshire, said: ‘They’re like ants looking for food. It’s terrible. We’ve seen people throw towels over the pool to get beds and people run, even though it’s extremely slippery.

“We go on holiday five times a year and this is the first time we experience something like this. On the first day we arrived 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 almost in tears, it was terrible. I’ve never wanted to cry on vacation, but I did on that first day.’

Mrs. Tuffs said so the pool was packed with waiting Brits an hour before it opened at 10am, then ‘chaos’ ensued as the gates were opened by staff.

Footage captured by the IT manager on Thursday shows holidaymakers huddled together at multiple entrances before running across the slippery floor to toss their towels onto shady sunbeds.

Mrs. Tuffs is heard saying “Jesus Christ” as she waits to see if her husband, who started queuing at 9 a.m., can get them a spot.

Mr. Tuffs managed to reserve two beds on Thursday, one more than he could get in his other attempts on Monday and Wednesday.

Ms Tuffs says there are at least three different entrances to the pool and some have even resorted to a ‘sneak’ entrance by the toilet blocks.

A child’s mother claims that despite there being a rule for staff to remove towels left on beds for more than 20 minutes, some are left unattended for up to six hours.

She continued, “He (Andrew) started queuing at 9 so we could grab a bed and watch Charley play in the pool.

“When it opens, one of the staff tells people not to go yet (and find a bed), but you can see them pushing forward to try and get there early.

“The staff has no control. There is a sign that says “if you leave towels for 20 minutes we will remove them” but I haven’t seen that happen in 5 days.

‘There are people who save beds for five or six hours when no one has been lying on them. That’s really frustrating when all I want to do is watch my daughter play.

“If we’re not sitting around the pool, we can’t watch her play, so she either has to stay with us or we have to be in the pool with her.” We can’t leave her alone.

“Everyone is whining about the situation, but I just avoid the conflict. People I’ve shown are horrified by it and think it’s hilarious. You just have to laugh about it.

“I have never seen so many people crammed into one room in my life. I will never come with my family again because of how chaotic it is. I’ve been with my friends before, but this year was different.’

Ms Tuffs, who flew home on Friday after five nights away, says she usually heads to “more relaxed” resorts in countries like Tunisia or Turkey.

She posted her video to Facebook with the caption “sunbed wars” to show friends how hard it is to get a poolside bed.

One commented, “It’s like a swarm of ants when you lift a stone.”

Another wrote: ‘My idea of ​​hell. And pushed against people you don’t know, and in the shadows!! Insanity.’ Added a third: “Nightmare.”

Last week, MailOnline revealed how wars against tanning beds have become so intense at a Costa del Sol hotel that they’ve introduced a parking card system – whereby towels left unattended on beds are removed after a certain amount of time.

The hotel staff, who have seen tourists go to great lengths to get a sun lounger, have taken new measures to curb the madness.

Guests at the Estival Torrequebrada in Malaga, who have often paid thousands to enjoy a break, have been warned they can no longer leave towels on a sunbed as a marker to claim them for a full day.

Management has instead started leaving business cards on sunbeds with towels, handbags and other personal belongings on them, warning that they will be removed after 45 minutes if left unoccupied.

In the nearby three-star Parasol Garden hotel, Brits are only allowed to ‘grab’ a sunbed if a whistle has been blown by the staff.

Meanwhile, tourists have been spotted in Tenerife reserving sunbeds at 6.30am, despite the hotel pool not opening for another three and a half hours.

As the tanning bed war season grips the continent, locals have had to take matters into their own hands.

In Benidorm, residents were seen erecting umbrellas in front of the ocean after dark, while Greek crusaders on the coast declared war on British tourist spots, vowing to fight back against the ‘abusive occupation’ of beaches.

The so-called ‘Towel Movement’ was founded in Paros by jaded residents, who were tired of not being able to find a free spot on the beach because of aggressive tanning companies.

They claim that illegal operators have washed off vacationers, who pay too much to get a spot – and that locals have nowhere to go.

Jet 2 and Magic Costa Blanca, who oversee Magic Aqua Rock Gardens, have been contacted for comment.