Sunbed wars are erupting across Europe – here are the key battlegrounds

The phenomenon of getting up early to bag the best sunlounger is nothing new, but things have escalated in recent months

Like burnt skin or a dropped ice cream, sunbed wars have become an unfortunate – and irritating – part of the British holiday. Whether it’s a group of hotel guests surging towards the pool, towels in hand, as soon as the gates are opened, or holidaymakers making forts of umbrellas, beds and deckchairs at the beach, each summer seems to see a host of battles for the prime spot. 
While there’s a historic precedent for it (remember the Carling Black Label advert?), the sunbed wars appear to be getting worse. Here, we have collected some of the most notable battles for much-coveted sunbathing spots. 
Last week, TikTok users captured zealous holidaymakers racing to the pool for sunloungers early in the morning in Salou, Spain. The video begins with dozens waiting by a locked door – as soon as it is opened, they sprint towards the most coveted spots, surging through the outdoor space to the pool. 
A struggle over sunbeds took a rather nasty turn recently in Varcaturo, near Naples. Two women demanded loungers closer to the sea but were denied the request by lifeguards, with the altercation ending in a brawl. Video footage shows the women, lifeguards and members of the public tussling on the sand and pulling each other’s hair. 
In order to stop this sort of behaviour – and to prevent sunbeds from taking over beaches – the Greek government has introduced a series of new rules. After locals complained about having to pay extortionate tourist fees to use the beds, authorities introduced licences for bars and hotels wanting to set up beach furniture, while in other places they are banned entirely. Umbrellas and deckchairs must also be 4m (13ft) from the sea – something that is being monitored by drones. 
Holidaymakers on the Costa Blanca have been subject to similar preventative measures this summer, intended to quell the usual sunbed wars. Authorities have warned that reserving a sunbed with a towel before 9.30am risks a fine of around €250 (£215), and that belongings may be confiscated. Umbrellas, chairs or deckchairs left unattended for more than three hours can also be removed from the beach. 
It isn’t just the British who engage in surreptitious furniture reservation. On Playa de Palma in Majorca – a favourite of German travellers – tourists have been filmed surging towards the beach early in the morning to dangle towels over umbrellas. The holidaymakers then return to their hotel for breakfast, having secured their spot for the day. Palma city council is responsible for renting the items, but this method allows visitors a “guaranteed” spot long before the beaches are technically open.
Last summer, a hotel on the island attempted to quell the battle for sunbeds by closing its pool area until later in the morning. Guests responded by leaving their towels on the floor of the entrance to the pool in a queue – marking their territory, and their place in line, for when the area did open. Plan a trip to Majorca with our travel guide.
In Tenerife, one hotel guest was filmed attempting to remove secured sunbeds ahead of the pool being opened by staff. In the video, the holidaymaker rearranges the pile of furniture to get to five underneath, in an early-morning bid to get their desired spot. Plan a trip to Tenerife with our travel guide.
Last month, a family who had travelled to Benalmádena shared a video of fellow hotel guests breaking through barriers to get to the pool, with groups running towards the sunbeds and reserving them with towels. In one clip, a guest appears to shout at staff who attempt to subdue the crowds. Claire Chivers, who recorded the video, told the Bristol Post: “We found it quite amusing, [as] you don’t spend thousands on a holiday to lie down all day. There were plenty of other sunbeds, chairs and sofas available, but these people rushing had to get poolside beds.” 
One hotel in Benidorm recorded a victory of sorts in May, as a pair of British tourists were sent to the back of the queue for trying to reserve sunbeds early in the morning. The two holidaymakers at Melia had attempted to secure their spot at 8.40am, before the area opened. Prior to this point, visitors are required to queue behind a rope cordon – somewhere the pair were sent after their infraction. It came a week after an elderly couple were branded “selfish” for lying on a stack of sunbeds in the popular tourist town. 
A video posted earlier this summer showed how one Turkish hotel deals with towel reservations – by simply removing the items. The 10-second clip shows a staff member piling colourful towels over his shoulder as he attempts to prevent the practice. A second video appears to show the same thing happening on a different day, demonstrating the determination of both hotel guests and staff. 
Top holiday tip: don’t steal a sunbed from the oldest psycho on the resort pic.twitter.com/43n83qUiAk
It was in 2017, however, that one of the more bizarre incidents took place. A pair of elderly holidaymakers were filmed tipping two teenagers out of a sunbed they claimed to have reserved with a towel in Albufeira, Portugal. The teens, from Scotland, had been using the beds for around four hours when the older couple accused them of “taking” their spot. The altercation ended after the man lifted up one end of the sunbed, forcing the teenage girl to slide off, with the woman yelling “find your own!” 
We asked our travel experts in Greece, France and Germany about poolside etiquette, and whether battles for sunloungers generate as much interest in Europe as they do in Britain.
“Sunbed conflict is, in my experience, limited in France. There are four reasons for this. First, France has fewer of the big popular resort hotels that generate the early-morning sunbed tension. Second, insofar as sunbed wars happen on public beaches, well, there’s plenty of beach for everyone in France, thus little need for terror towel tactics. Third, the vast bulk of holidaymakers in France are French – and the vast majority of them are too cool to start strife over loungers. They might argue to the death about the correct ingredients for a salade niçoise or the legacies of Eric Cantona or Robespierre, but creeping out pre-dawn to take on the Germans over a sunbed is way beneath them.  
“And fourth, sunbeds feature in French seaside life mainly on the private beaches which, for instance, punctuate Riviera resorts such as Nice, Cannes and Antibes. Now, a front-row sunbed at, say, Miramar beach in Cannes, costs £80 a day. Go a few rows back and you’re still shelling out more than 50 quid. For one lounger, for one day. These are not the sorts of items, or prices, which bring out the fighting spirit in northern Europeans. And, even if they were, they’re overseen by charming young men and women quite able to discipline the unruly.”
“There was a big furore in the German media a few years ago about sunbed wars, but there hasn’t been much since the pandemic. At Berlin’s Vabali spa they do not allow anyone to leave towels on the sunbeds. They put them to the side if they see them, with a little note that the sunbeds cannot be ‘owned’ in that way. More adopting this practice could only be a good thing.” 
“Greece’s so-called ‘beach towel movement’ (known locally as ‘the citizens’ movement’) has been effective in reducing the number of sunbeds on Greek beaches, with locals reporting hotels that take up too much of the beach via the MyCoast app. 
“The movement was prompted by the fact that Greeks felt crowded out by sunbeds. Many Greeks (who can barely afford to go on holiday this summer, let alone pay for pricey sunbeds) are now turning their back on sunbeds altogether and preferring a towel on the beach.”
This article was first published on August 14 and has been revised and updated.