The beginning of the summer tanning wars? Holidaymakers in Benidorm shoot two men for stacking five sunbeds around the hotel pool

British holidaymakers have slammed two men for having five sunbeds between them at a Benidorm resort – in what could be an early sign of the poolside chaos to come this summer.

Last season’s tanning wars are threatening to make a comeback as hotels in hotspots including Spain’s Costa Blanca fill up with tourists from Northern Europe looking for a sunny retreat.

Paul Hitchcock, who regularly holidays in Benidorm, shared a photo of two sunbathers at his hotel who had stacked several sun loungers on top of each other, apparently allowing other holidaymakers to get a spot.

“Two people, five sunbeds, and they’re not the only ones,” he told fellow tourists, who decried the men’s “selfish” sunbathing etiquette.

Others came to the pair’s aid, suggesting that the chairs had been stacked by the gentlemen, as loungers are often too low for the elderly.

“Ask them to move them if people need them. It’s not good, but if they have bad knees like me and can’t get up easily, I understand why they do it,” one woman sympathized.

“If there are enough 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 because it’s easier to get off .’

But some questioned whether the men were saving the seats for friends or family members, arguing that seats should be taken on a first-come, first-served basis.

‘I would throw the towels away and take them with me. Not on them, they are not ‘yours’. Simple,” one person commented on the Benidorm group’s Facebook post.

Many argued that it was the hotel’s responsibility to deal with uncooperative guests.

“I would ask the hotel staff to do something about it,” said one, while another added that it is “not allowed.”

Another said: ‘This should be stopped, how embarrassing!’

Brits heading to Mediterranean resorts this summer are once again expecting pools to fill up – with reports last year of people queuing for hours before pools opened in a bid to get a lounger.

Footage showed holidaymakers racing to get pool loungers as soon as campsites opened, with witnesses saying ‘madness’ ensued.

A British mother on holiday 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 had to crack down on unruly behavior last year 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 time limit.

Guests at the Estival Torrequebrada on Benalmádena beach, many of whom paid thousands for their holidays, were warned 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.

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.