SUNBED WARS

Visitors to Mallorca in thick of the fight to reserve poolside spots

By Alberto Lejarraga

WHEN it comes to the sunbed wars, Mallorca is at the forefront.

While mainland Spain is awash with reports of burgeoning unrest as tourists fight and push children to get their coveted poolside spot, weary mallorquinos will know they were well ahead of the curve. Images of hundreds of people queuing at the swimming pool gates of their four-star hotels in the Costa del Sol and Costa Blanca at the crack of dawn have been beamed around the world.

And when staff do open the gates, at 8 or 9am, it’s as if a starting gun has been fired and the mostly middle-aged visitors scramble their ways to the plum pool positions. And Mallorca is no stranger to such scenes, with hotels forced to close their pools overnight to stop people leaving towels on the sunbeds before going to bed.

Special measures were brought in after people were filmed reserving an entire row of poolside seats for the next day in one Camp de Mar hotel - at 7pm the evening before.

One English mother filmed tourists sneaking out as early as 5am to lay down their towels, and likened it to ‘a British hybrid version of musical chairs meets the Hunger Games’.

In response to overnight pool closures, cunning tourists - thought to be mostly Brits due to the expert nature of the queuing technique - came up with a new strategy.

“In an effort to control the sunbed mad ness, the door from the hotel to the pool area was kept locked until 8am,” one wit ness reported.

“So people were lining their towels up on the floor in a queue order by the door before it opened. “I must add this wasn't youngsters, but mostly elderly and middle-aged people,” he added. Meanwhile, bosses at Zafiro hotel in Can Picafort introduced a ‘40 minute’ rule for sunbeds left unat- tended with just a towel. The move was an effort to reduce reported tensions between Brits and Germans, who it seems chose the swimming pool arena to resume their customary rivalry. Instead, the towels are replaced by a note, written in English, German, and Spanish, which informs holidaymakers that their belongings have been taken to ensure ‘all our customers can benefit from the sunbeds.’

Bouncers

And as hotels in the Costa del Sol have taken to hiring bouncers to keep a lid on deckchair disputes, hotels in the Balearics had already taken the step at the start of the season.

Sunset Beach Club in Benalmadena caught onto the trend this week when they hired poolside security.

The resort had become a focal point for the sunbed wars after global media broadcast images and video of hundreds of people sprinting for their favourite sunbeds at

9am.

“There is literally a queue of over 100 people waiting to access the pool in the morning and, at 9am, when the gate opens,” holidaymaker Katherine Green, 35, told the Olive Press.

“And some people even just jump over the fence to get the best beds,” added the Yorkshire mum, who admitted her family had been forced to join the scrum or face losing out.

“We’ve had to get down there shortly after 8am to guarantee a spot as there are just not enough pool chairs and beds.

“Incredibly as soon as the door opens people start pushing as well as running and jumping over the sunbeds to get to the best spots.”

A Scottish family staying at the resort, that caters for around 2,000 guests a week in summer, had a similar experience.

“My daughter was first in the queue but grown men started jumping over the fence, behaving as if they were the kids,” the Glaswegian grandma, who asked to remain anonymous, told the Olive Press.

White surprise

A TRUCK driver aged 54 who was transporting 10 kilos of cocaine from Valencia to Mallorca has been arrested at Palma port after a sniffer dog detected the drugs.

Gang assault

SEVEN youngsters, one of them under 18, accused of sexually assaulting a minor and committing several robberies with violence, have been arrested in Llucmajor.

Horror night

TWO men accused of kidnapping a woman and sexually assaulting her in the early morning have been arrested in Palma after she WhatsApped a plea for help and location details to a friend.

Sinking ship

A MARRIED couple has been rescued after their boat sank at Mallorca’s Cala Millor beach. No one was injured and no fuel spills have been reported.

A BRITISH man has been arrested for stabbing the man in whose arms he found his girlfriend after he came home unexpectedly.

The bloody love triangle took place at a residence in Santa Ponça in Calvia at around 3.45am, after which the suspect fled the scene while his love rival staggered with a knife stuck in his side. The victim was rushed to Son Espases

Jealous rage

Hospital by ambulance, where he remains in a serious condition and is currently receiving treatment in the Intensive Care Unit.

The incident unfolded when the young Brit returned home unexpectedly in the early hours and discovered his Congolese girlfriend in a compromising position with her 32-year-old Moroccan lover. A heated argument ensued between the two men which soon became violent, culminating in the boyfriend committing attempted homicide on the lothario.

“The suspect stabbed his victim with a 20cm kitchen knife out of sheer jealousy,” Guardia Civil sources told the Olive Press.