Locals come up against serious problems with trying to find a space to place their towels on a popular beach in Majorca, it has emerged.
So much so officials have described Cala Major beach at the edge of the city of Palma in Majorca as being “lost” because space is taken up by sun loungers and beach bars.
According to the Sant Agustí and Cala Major Neighbours Association, only 22 percent of the beach is free space.
The remaining 78 percent is taken up by sun loungers and parasol sets, beach bars, lifeguard stations, showers and storage.
Esteban Camps, vice-president of the association, estimates that space for sun lounger concessions on the beach have increased by more than twenty percent over the past five years.
“The beach now seems like it’s private,” he argued.
The association revealed it will be writing to Palma Town Hall to complain about the excessive occupation by the different services, especially the sunloungers, as well as to demand a new tender process for next year. The company with the contract obtained a special extension this summer.
Camps highlighted that while the space for services has been increasing, the beach itself has been receding because of storms and a rise in sea level.
“It is reduced year after year due to erosion. [The] beach is being lost.”
The prices of the sun loungers are an additional problem. For a set of two beds and one parasol, the hire charge is 25.30 euros (£21.10) a day. There is also a premium zone, which caused a fuss earlier in the season, where a set costs a staggering 70 euros (£58.37) a day.
This so-called “sunbed war” has been felt across Spain, as well as in Greece. In August, holidaymakers were warned that they could face fines of over £200 if they tried to hug the best spots on the beach before breakfast.
In the popular Costa Blanca resort of Calpe, just a 25-minute drive from Benidorm, police said they would be removing sunbeds, towels, parasols and any other items left on the sand before 9.30 am. Those who violate this rule, both tourists and locals alike, would be required to pay to retrieve their belongings from a municipal depot and will also be hit with a penalty charge of 250 euros (£214).
Meanwhile in Tenerife, a clip went viral in May which showed a 7.47am rush, with a crowd of tourists racing to the pool area to reserve sun loungers. In the video, a hotel worker is also seen lifting a towel off a sunbed, to prevent the reserving of loungers.
In Greece, furious residents formed a protest group last year, dubbed “the beach towel movement”, and have seen thousands take to the streets to demonstrate against paying extortionate prices to use sunbeds set up for tourists.
As a result, Greek authorities implemented new extreme measures, including bars and hotels needing a licence to put furniture out, with some beaches even having blanket bans. New rules also dictate that the furniture must be at least four metres from the sea.
Up to 70 percent of Greek beaches must now be sunbed-free, with protected areas at 85 percent free. Finance Minister Kostis Hatzidakis has now vowed to strictly deal with businesses who are flouting the rules: “When we say there will be order on the shore, we mean it.”