BIZARRE footage shows Brit sunbed-hoggers taking the poolside war to the next level as spots of grass are reserved with towels before sunbeds are unlocked.
Many Majorcan hotels have declared war on sunseekers reserving loungers after dark or during dawn raids.
Fascinating footage of desperate holidaymakers staying at the Pirates Village Hotel in Majorca‘s Santa Ponsa shows the sunbed lunacy going overboard.
The unbelievable clip shows an aerial view of the hotel where towels have been pathetically placed on the grassy poolside.
In an attempt to reserve a great spot, tourists have placed towels around the pool with the plan of reaching for a sunbed when they’re unchained at 9AM.
Some towels in the footage have even been placed in single file in an attempt to reserve family spots.
In the video shared on the Right Guys Reviews Facebook, the person filming calls the towel-laying a ‘life hack’:
“Right guys, the first thing about this hotel is this. Check this out. They don’t put the sun loungers out till 9 so what people do is this.
“You put your towel on the floor. See look at this – so you put your towel on the floor where you want so you can basically claim that spot.
“So what I normally do is just throw my towel off the balcony and it ends up somewhere round there. That’s it.”
The video experienced uproar from viewers who label the sunbed warriors as “sad”.
One user commented: “Who’s awake super early on holiday to even do this? You graft 48 weeks of the year to get up at daft o’clock on holiday to claim a spot? Sad sad people.”
Another added: “I thought I’d see it all. Another level of tragic.”
Sunbed-hogging has been a contentious issue for Brits abroad.
Some tourists have even confessed to plonking towels on sunbeds in the early hours of the morning to grab a good spot.
The sad footage comes as anti-tourism protesters have popped up around Majorca in an attempt to turn holidaymakers away.
Holidaymakers love bustling Palma and party town Magaluf – but it would be natural for visitors to feel unwanted after the recent rise of the anti-tourism movement.
A poll by Majorca Daily Bulletin revealed that 43.15 per cent of tourists are doubting whether they should book a holiday to Majorca.
Anti-tourist protests have spread across Spain in the past few weeks – with Majorca said to be bracing for more as British cops are set to be deployed to the Spanish island to help with rowdy tourists.
And although Majorca has a relatively low crime rate, the Balearics had the highest levels in Spain last year, official statistics reveal.
But still – a staggering 4,438,772 British tourists have flocked to Spain from January till April 2024 – the highest first quarter amount ever.
This exceeds the pre-pandemic years of 2018 and 2019, according to Alastair Johnson, owner of Moving to Spain.
He told The Sun: “We’ve chatted to a few people in Majorca and we’ve tried to get some view on this.
“They definitely were some protests they were quite small.
“The big takeaway is that the the protests are not trying to stop tourism at all. What they’re trying to do is get some sort of a level.
“So tourism is up 15 this year already year today, 15 up last year.
and British tourism is up as well.
“So Brits are still coming over to Spain and higher numbers than they were in 2023. So I don’t think we are seeing any impact on that.”
A WAVE of anti-tourist measures are being implemented across Europe to curb mass tourism in popular holiday hotspots.
Overcrowding has become the main problem in many sunny destinations, with authorities trying to find a solution to keep tourists and locals happy.
Officials have attempted to reduce the impact of holidaymakers by implementing additional taxes on tourists, or banning new hotels.
Earlier this year Venice became the first city in the world to charge an entry fee for holidaymakers after it started charging day-trippers €5 (£4.30) if visiting the historical Italian centre.
It was followed by an area in Barcelona which resorted to removing a well-used bus route from Apple and Google Maps to stop crowds of tourists from using the bus.
Meanwhile, San Sebastián in the north of Spain, limited the maximum number of people on guided visits to 25 to avoid congestion, noise, nuisance and overcrowding.
The city has already banned the construction of new hotels.
The Spanish government has allowed restaurants to charge customers more for sitting in the shade in Andalucia.
Benidorm has introduced time restrictions, as swimming in the sea between midnight and 7am could cost a whopping £1,000.
The Canary Islands are also considering adopting measures to regulate the number of visitors – and charge tourists a daily tax.
Greece has already enforced a tourist tax during the high season (from March to October) with visitors expected to pay from €1 (£0.86) to €4 (£3.45) per night, depending on the booked accommodation.
Officials in Santiago de Compostela in Galicia want to introduce a fee for travellers to remind people to be courteous during their trips.
