Sunbed wars descend into violence as women grab and pull out each other’s hair in a furious battle for prime seafront spot on an Italian beach
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Last weekend, sunbathers clashed on an Italian beach after they were denied sun loungers at a prime coastal location.
Two women demanded to be given sunbeds close to the sea, placing them in front of people who had been sitting on the beach for hours, a local government said. official saidquoting a witness.
Rescue workers refused and a A fierce fight broke out between the women and the audience, with footage showing them wrestling and pulling each other’s hair.
Witnesses said the women then turned on the lifeguards who tried to pull them away, with the fight lasting “more than half an hour.”
The violent scenes took place in the seaside resort of Varcaturo, near Naples, where families were out for the day.
![Sunbed wars descend into violence as women grab and pull out each other's hair in a furious battle for prime seafront spot on an Italian beach 2 Sunbathers watch the violent battle](https://nybreaking.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Sunbed-wars-descend-into-violence-as-women-grab-and-pull.jpg)
Women are seen pulling each other’s hair and struggling to win the fight as the audience watches helplessly.
Locals sent a report to MP Francesco Emilio Borrelli detailing how the “very violent” fight broke out at the popular beach.
Borrelli called it “uncontrolled violence” and said the perpetrators “do not know how to behave in public and need to be re-educated.”
He said the women were endangering the safety of the public through their violence.
“A fight between women in broad daylight, in front of families and children. For what? A sunbed on the beach. We have surpassed all imagination,” he said.
In a statement on Facebook, he wrote: ‘Anyone who thinks they can do whatever they want, like causing panic on a beach, cannot go unpunished.
“We demand that these women be identified and brought to justice as soon as possible.”
A video of the incident has surfaced online, showing women in swimsuits and beachwear hitting and wrestling each other.
Their faces are barely visible in the footage as they struggle with beachgoers trying to control them.
About a dozen people can be seen surrounding the women trying to break up the raging brawl, but without success.
![Sunbed wars descend into violence as women grab and pull out each other's hair in a furious battle for prime seafront spot on an Italian beach 4 About a dozen people can be seen surrounding the women, apparently trying to break up the fight](https://nybreaking.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/1721052422_890_Sunbed-wars-descend-into-violence-as-women-grab-and-pull.jpg)
About a dozen people can be seen surrounding the women, apparently trying to break up the fight
![Sunbed wars descend into violence as women grab and pull out each other's hair in a furious battle for prime seafront spot on an Italian beach 6 One of the women appears to be trying to wrestle another woman to the ground during the fight over the tanning bed](https://nybreaking.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/1721052426_870_Sunbed-wars-descend-into-violence-as-women-grab-and-pull.jpg)
One of the women appears to be trying to wrestle another woman to the ground during the fight over the tanning bed
Although so-called ‘sunbed wars’ are not new in Mediterranean resorts, it is rare for them to escalate to such an extent.
This summer in Spain, tourists have been captured on camera competing for the best place to spend the night on a poolside or beach bed.
People have also been seen queuing for hours before the pool opened, trying to get a sun lounger.
Footage from last year showed holidaymakers racing to get a poolside lounger once campsites opened, with witnesses saying it was ‘madness’.
A British mother on holiday in Benidorm last year said she was nearly reduced to tears when her family were forced to sit under a water slide after missing out on the thrilling ride.
Hotels in southern Spain had to crack down on undesirable behaviour last year as tourists competed for the best sunbathing spots.
A hotel on the Costa del Sol announced it had to introduce a parking fine system, with towels left unattended on beds being taken away after a certain time.
Meanwhile, a German family at a Greek resort where a similar policy was allegedly enforced were awarded £280 in damages after being denied access to a sunbed.
The family, who spent £4,532 on their holiday last summer, were awarded the money after they noticed one morning that they couldn’t get sun loungers at their hotel in Rhodes.
Managers at the TUI Kids Club Atlantica Mikri Poli hotel had a policy that required guests who placed towels on any of its 500 beds to use them within 30 minutes. The court ruled that the policy had not been implemented in this case.