Spanish police are joining the fight against tourists by confiscating the sun loungers and parasols of selfish beach-goers who set up a spot here and then leave, sometimes before sunrise.
Governors of popular holiday resorts on the Spanish mainland and in the Balearic and Canary Islands have introduced fines for sunbathers who leave their belongings behind during lunch or even when they go back to bed.
The sun loungers and parasols are taken to the local police station and tourists have to pay the equivalent of £210 to get them back.
The new rules are just the latest development in Spain’s war on tourists, which has already seen widespread protests this summer and visitors even being attacked with water pistols.
Also on the island of Mallorca, protesters have occupied beaches in an attempt to make them available again to the local population.
Spanish police have joined the war on tourists by confiscating the sun loungers and parasols of unruly holidaymakers
The photo shows a police car loaded with confiscated chairs and umbrellas
Police officers in Malaga confiscate empty beach chairs
The sun loungers and parasols are taken to the local police station and tourists have to pay the equivalent of £210 to get them back
According to local laws in coastal areas, it is now forbidden to set up chairs, sunbeds or umbrellas before 9am to prevent them from getting in the way of cleaning the beach at the resorts.
Photos shared on social media show police in Malaga enforcing the rules, with uniformed officers removing chairs from the beach.
Separate photos show police cars loaded with the confiscated chairs and umbrellas.
The angry user captioned the TikTok post: “You can’t occupy a spot on the beach when you go to lunch, but they can occupy your house” – a reference to Spain’s unpopular squatting laws.
Others, on the other hand, were happy with the new rules.
A Facebook page dedicated to Spanish tourism said: ‘Where are the people? We’ll tell you… are they sleeping or having breakfast at home.
‘This practice, which has been in place for many years, is now being restricted by the local authorities of coastal towns. It is not normal to arrive at 9 or 10 in the morning and see that the first and second rows of the beach are full, with no one in sight.
‘Only those who have experienced it themselves understand how important it is for councils, through their local police, to monitor the appropriate use of these spaces.’
According to Spanish media, the rules prohibit “the arbitrary occupation of public land and specifically refer to the occupation of beaches with elements such as chairs, sun loungers and parasols from the early hours of the morning.”
Local law also states that umbrellas, chairs or loungers left unattended for more than three hours may be removed.
If there are indications that the items have been left without the owner present, the town hall can remove them through the local police or cleaning staff.
A Spanish news outlet reported: ‘For several years now, the council has received numerous complaints every summer about reserved spaces on the beaches. When visitors arrive at the beach in the morning, they see that a large part of the sand is taken up by the belongings of people who are not there.
‘The items taken are handed in at the local police station. The owners must pay €250 to get them back, in accordance with Article 54 of the Ordinance on the Police, Good Governance and the Taxation of Street Trade.’
This summer, thousands of protesters took to the streets of Spain to raise their voices against mass tourism in the country.
In July, thousands of protesters marched through Barcelona, waving banners and spraying holidaymakers with water pistols.
The protest was organized under the slogan “Enough! Let’s put limits on tourism” to demand a new economic model that would reduce the millions of tourists who visit every year.
Protesters march in the centre of Barcelona last week, chanting slogans against the Formula 1 Barcelona Fan Festival
A banner reading ‘No apartments for tourists’ hangs from a balcony to protest against holiday apartments for tourists in the Barceloneta district of Barcelona
A family walk along anti-tourism graffiti in Barcelona
A group of tourists on a bike ride pass an anti-tourism graffiti that reads Your journey, our misery
Protesters carried signs reading “Barcelona is not for sale” and “Tourists, go home,” after which some used water pistols against tourists eating outside at restaurants in popular tourist spots.
There were cries of ‘Tourists out of our neighborhood’ as some stood outside the entrances of hotels.
Rising house prices in Barcelona, which have increased by 68 percent in the past decade, are one of the main problems for the movement, along with the impact of tourism on local commerce and working conditions in the city of 1.6 million people.
According to real estate website Idealista, rents in tourist cities such as Barcelona and Madrid rose by 18 percent in June compared to a year earlier.
Protests also took place on the beaches of Mallorca this summer, with locals calling on them to reclaim the spaces.
This weekend, anti-tourism protesters armed with banners and placards stormed a popular party beach on the island.
Campaigners in Mallorca blame the number of visitors on problems such as the rising cost of living and a lack of housing for locals.
One protester said: ’40 years ago, when I was young, I came here to swim, but then people came to drink and it has gone downhill.’
Another added: ‘We are trying to remind, for a moment, for a few hours, that these sandbanks belong to all the inhabitants of Mallorca, not just tourists. We can all enjoy them too.
Members of the Mallorca Platja Tour association demonstrate against tourism with a banner reading ‘Let’s occupy our beaches!’ on the beach of Palma de Mallorca on August 11
Members of the Mallorca Platja Tour association demonstrate against the tourist saturation on the beach of Palma de Mallorca
Protesters protest against tourism on the beach of Palma de Mallorca on August 11
Campaigners in Mallorca blame the drop in visitor numbers on problems such as the rising cost of living and a lack of housing for locals.
Sunday’s demonstration was one of many protests this summer against excessive tourism in Mallorca
Members of the Mallorca Platja Tour association demonstrate on August 11 against the tourist crowds on the beach of Palma de Mallorca
Three signs on a parasol on the beach with the text ‘stop drunk tourists’
‘Many tourists understand this, it is easy to understand that the rent has doubled, that everything is full.’
Last month, anti-tourism activists in Mallorca joked about England’s defeat to Spain in the 2024 European Championship final and demanded that Britain “take back its drunks”.
On July 21, around 50,000 residents of Mallorca’s capital, Palma, took to the streets to demand that fewer foreign visitors be allowed to the Spanish island.
Among them was one who held up a photo of England defender Kyle Walker with the caption: ‘The only thing coming home is you’.