by The Spanish police are joining the fight against tourists by confiscating sun loungers and parasols from selfish beach robbers who set up their spots and then disappear again – sometimes before dawn.
Council leaders of popular holiday resorts on the Spanish mainland and in the Balearic and Canary Islands have introduced fines for sunbathers who leave their belongings behind while they eat lunch or even go back to bed.
The deckchairs and parasols are taken to the local police station and tourists have to pay the equivalent of £210 to collect them.
The new rules are just the latest development in Spain’s war on tourists, which has led to widespread protests and even attacks by visitors with water pistols this summer.
On the island of Mallorca, demonstrators also occupied beaches in order to reclaim them for the local population.
Spanish police are joining the war on tourists by confiscating deck chairs and umbrellas from selfish beachcombers who set up their beach chairs and then leave them again – sometimes before dawn.
Pictures show a police car packed with confiscated chairs and umbrellas
Police in Malaga confiscate unoccupied beach chairs
The sun loungers and parasols are taken to the local police station and tourists have to pay the equivalent of £210 to collect them.
Local laws in coastal areas now prohibit the setting up of chairs, sun loungers or umbrellas before 9:00 a.m. to prevent them from hindering the resorts’ beach cleaning operations.
Photos shared on social media show police in Malaga enforcing the rules by having uniformed officers remove chairs from the beach.
Other images show police cars packed with confiscated chairs and umbrellas.
The angry user captioned his TikTok post with the statement “They are not allowed to occupy a spot on the beach while you go to lunch, but yes, they are allowed to occupy your house” – a reference to Spain’s unpopular anti-squatting laws.
Others, however, welcomed the new rules.
A Facebook page dedicated to Spanish tourism said: “Where are the people? We tell you… they are sleeping or having breakfast at home.”
“This practice, which has been going on for many years, is now being regulated by the coastal municipalities, because it is not normal to arrive at 9 or 10 in the morning and find that the first and second rows of the beach are full and there is no one there.”
“Only those who have suffered from it themselves understand how important it is for city councils, through their local police, to regulate the proper use of these spaces.”
Spanish media reported that the regulations prohibit the “indiscriminate occupation of public land and specifically refer to the occupation of beaches with elements such as chairs, deckchairs and umbrellas from the early hours of the morning”.
Local laws also state that umbrellas, chairs or deck chairs left unattended for more than three hours may be removed.
If there is evidence that the items have been left without the owner being present, the town hall may have them removed by the local police or its cleaning staff.
A Spanish news agency reported: “For several years now, every summer the city council has received numerous complaints about reserved spaces on the beaches. This is because when beachgoers arrive in the morning, they find that a large part of the sand is covered with objects belonging to people who are not there.”
“The confiscated items are handed over to the local police station, where the owners must pay 250 euros to get them back, in accordance with Article 54 of the Regulation on Police, Good Administration and Taxation of Street Trade.”
This summer, thousands of people took to the streets in Spain to protest against mass tourism in the country.
In July, thousands of demonstrators marched through Barcelona with placards and sprayed holidaymakers with water pistols.
The protest was organised under the slogan “Enough! Let’s put limits on tourism” to demand a new economic model that would reduce the number of millions of tourists who come to the country every year.
Protesters marched last week with slogans against the Formula 1 fan festival in Barcelona in the city center
A banner reading “No holiday apartments for tourists” hangs on a balcony to protest against the rental of holiday apartments to tourists in the Barceloneta district of Barcelona.
A family walks past anti-tourism graffiti in Barcelona
A group of tourists on a bike tour pass an anti-tourism graffiti that reads “Your Trip Our Misery.”
The protesters carried signs reading “Barcelona is not for sale” and “Tourists, go home” before some of them used water pistols to attack tourists eating outdoors at restaurants at popular tourist attractions.
As some stopped in front of the hotel entrances, shouts of “Tourists out of our neighborhood” rang out.
Rising housing costs in Barcelona, which have increased by 68 percent in the last decade, are one of the movement’s main issues, along with the impact of tourism on local commerce and working conditions in the city of 1.6 million inhabitants.
According to real estate website Idealista, rents in tourist cities such as Barcelona and Madrid rose 18 percent in June compared to the previous year.
This summer, there were also protests on the beaches of Mallorca, calling on locals to reclaim their beaches.
This weekend, anti-tourism protesters armed with banners and placards stormed a popular party beach on the island.
Activists in Mallorca blame the number of visitors for problems such as the rising cost of living and the lack of housing for locals.
One of the protesters said: “40 years ago, when I was young, I came here to swim, then people came to drink and it got worse.”
Another added: “We try to remember for a moment, for a few hours, that these sandbanks belong to all Mallorcans, not just tourists, but that we can all enjoy them.”
On August 11, members of the Mallorca Platja Tour association demonstrated against tourism on the beach in Palma de Mallorca with a banner reading “Let’s occupy our beaches!”
Members of the Mallorca Platja Tour association demonstrate against the tourist saturation on the beach of Palma de Mallorca
Protesters demonstrate against tourism restrictions on the beach in Palma de Mallorca on August 11
Activists in Mallorca blame the number of visitors for problems such as rising living costs and housing shortages among locals.
The demonstration on Sunday was one of numerous protests this summer against excessive tourism in Mallorca.
Members of the Mallorca Platja Tour association demonstrate on August 11 against the tourist oversaturation on the beach of Palma de Mallorca
Three signs attached to a parasol on the beach read “Stop drunk tourists”
“Many tourists understand this, it is easy to understand that the rent has doubled, that everything is full.”
Last month, anti-tourist activists in Mallorca mocked England’s defeat to Spain in the Euro 2024 final and demanded that Britain “bring back its drunks”.
Up to 50,000 locals took to the streets in the Mallorcan capital Palma on July 21, demanding a limit on the number of foreign visitors to the Spanish island.
Among them was one holding up a picture of England full-back Kyle Walker, along with the words: “The only thing coming home is you.”
