Tourists in the Costa Blanca resort in Calpe will be banned from reserving a sunbed before 9.30am – and could face a hefty fine if they’re caught doing so as soon as this year
Brits heading to Spain for some sun have been warned they could be slapped with eye-watering fines for a very specific reason – reserving sunbeds. Anyone caught trying to bagsy a spot on the sand before 9.30am with their towel could be hit with a £210 fine.
Holidaymakers in the Costa Blanca resort in Calpe have been told police will be patrolling beaches and have the power to remove any belongings left unattended. Brits who have their towels and other items taken away will then have to pay the hefty fine to get them back from a municipal depot.
And its not just early birds who could be caught out – tourists who leave their belongings on a sunbed for more than three hours unattended will also be hit with the same penalty. The council explained the rules have been brought in following an increase in complaints in recent years.
A spokesperson explained in a post on X: “This measure prohibits the indiscriminate occupation of the public domain, especially the beach, with items such as chairs, hammocks and parasols at the start of the day. These bad habits make it difficult to clean the beaches.
“The by-law establishes that all these items and others installed on the beaches before 9.30am can be removed and the owners reported. It also states that those umbrellas, chairs or hammocks that are left for more than three hours without the presence of their owners throughout the day may be removed and transferred to a municipal depot.”
They added: “For some years the council has received complaints during the summer about the reservation of space on the beach, with people arriving in the middle of the morning to find large parts of it already occupied without the owners of the items laid out on the sand being present.”
This follows a growing wave of resentment towards tourists in Spain and its islands. Barcelona’s government has even declared a ban on apartment rentals to tourists by 2028.
In the Canary Islands, residents took to the streets in April to protest against the surge in tourism, blaming holidaymakers for soaring housing prices and environmental harm.
