5 days ago
Sunbed wars continue across Europe as people line up by pool gates in the early hours and 'sprint' to grab their spot in 'embarrassing' holiday trend
British holidaymakers are once again leading the charge in the annual sunbed wars sweeping European tourist hotspots.
Sunseekers armed with towels, suncream, and flip flops were captured queuing at pool gates from as early as 6am just to bag their favourite lounger in resorts across Spain, Greece, and Portugal.
Footage shared on TikTok showed determined Brits forming orderly lines outside hotel pools before waiting on a whistle, in some cases, to competitively run to their chosen lounger.
Numerous guests have captured the chaotic scenes from their hotel balconies, often expressing amusement at the bizarre behaviour unfolding below.
Isabelle Hanssen, from the Netherlands, who was enjoying a holiday at Barceló Lanzarote Active Resort, Spain, filmed guests racing to lay out towels across multiple loungers.
Taking to her TikTok @isabellehanssen, she wrote: 'Nothing like the 9:30 sunbed sprint to start your relaxing holiday.'
Meanwhile influencer Chelsea Rushworth, from York, revealed people start queuing at 7:30am for the pool to open to 8am.
In a clip, which racked up over 170,000 views, she filmed holiday makers at Atlantica Oasis Hotel, Cyprus, 'waiting for the whistle' before they ran to a sunbed.
She said: 'Look at this. Sunbed wars. People are queuing to put their towels on a bed. All of them. Everywhere, there's groups of people.
'They're all waiting for the whistle. Oh, my God, look at him!'
She captioned the video: 'Sorry I can't even cope with this.'
Meanwhile another exasperated traveller in Crete filmed a crowd gathering outside the pool area at five-star hotel Akasha Beach Hotel and Spa, located in Hersonissos.
Kia Millington, from North Wales, was clearly puzzled as she watched people scramble for sunbeds from her hotel balcony, saying: 'There's three pools and a private beach area BTW.'
She claimed she saw four arguments break out and three people 'stormed off' while trying to secure their spot by the pool.
The clip saw dozens of guests charging towards available loungers as the pool opened for the day.
Elsewhere mother-of-two Alanna captured the tense moment people sprinted for sunbeds at a resort in Tenerife.
Taking to her TikTok @alannab17, she shared a clip of a man running for his spot the minute the gates to the pool opened with others on his tail.
Many confused travellers slammed the behaviour as 'embarrassing' in the comments.
One person wrote: 'I've seen this recently in Mallorca. How sad that people do this! How is it a holiday when this is their priority??!! It's so embarrassing to see.'
Another added: 'Why do people wanna lay so bad by a pool, if there's an ocean nearby.'
Someone else fumed: 'This reminds me of how much I detest MOST Hotel holidays…. Plonk the towels down, pretend to read a book, go to brekky for hour and half, put sunscreen on for another half hour, back to the sun bed and then ** ss off to the beach all day.'
A fourth added: 'Imagine doing that everyday. that's not a relaxing holiday.'
However others understood why some people like to queue for their sunbed location.
One person wrote: 'Waiting for the whistle. There should be an adequate amount of beds for every guest. As much as it annoys me I do understand why people do it. You don't want to be round the pool with no beds.'
Another said: 'This is ridiculous, maybe hotels should allocate sun beds to rooms that way we all have one.'
It comes after two British holidaymakers got into a furious row over a sunbed at a three-star Lanzarote hotel in May.
A disgruntled woman could be seen telling a sunbather that she is going to complain about her to the manager at the Hyde Park Lane apartments on the Spanish island.
Footage shows the woman, who appears to have a Scottish accent and is wearing a pink cover up, accusing the other Brit of taking a spot which members of her group had been occupying 'all week'.
The tourist lying on the sunbed warns her 'don't be rude' and tells her to 'turn around and walk away'.
Holidaymaker Callum Lines, who can be heard shouting 'Karen' at the woman in pink, witnessed the commotion while sunbathing poolside and decided to film the row.
'The Scottish lady said they had been using those beds all week, accusing the couple lying down and moving their items,' Lines, 31, said.
'Just to the left, out of shot, was a sign stating no reservation of sunbeds. I'm not sure this was the case though'.
The holidaymaker, from Leamington Spa, said the Scottish woman then left to hunt down hotel management - who he said never showed up.
'There were plenty more available beds - all with equal sun exposure - so this really wasn't needed,' Lines said.
'I've always got two pence to share even when it's probably not required, but you come away for a rest and some relaxation.'
Lines said he was also on the receiving end of the woman in pink's complaints.
In the video the angry woman claimed she had been there all week and said she now had to relocate.
Lines chipped in: 'Excuse me is there somebody underneath you? Are you sat on someone?'
The woman on the sun lounger said: 'Get your facts right before you start accusing people,' to which the other woman responded: 'That's what I said to you.'
The sunbathing woman then tells her: 'Don't be rude, turn around and walk away.'
The fuming woman denies being rude, to which Lines pipes up: 'Get out of her face then.'
The bikini clad sunbather continued: 'Turn around and walk away,' but the other woman insists that her group had been sitting in the spot before her.
'They've had to move,' she said, but the woman responded: 'I don't care.'
The man laying beside her piped up and told the woman to 'go away,' and Lines reassured him that the fiasco was being filmed.
The woman in pink then said: 'Sitting here and you say you didn't move and take their stuff away.'
The other Brit quickly fired back: 'But why ain't they got their names on them then?
'You come over here rude, turn around and walk away. You've picked on the wrong person, turn around and walk away now.'
The angry lady told the sunbathers she was going to report them to management before Lines yelled out and called her a 'Karen'.
She then turned on him and said: 'Don't be cheeky, don't be smart mouthed either.
'You don't know who you're talking to and you don't know who we're here with.'
Lines quipped: 'Ronnie Pickering?' But she said: 'Just keep your f******g mouth shut.'
One woman wearing a black cap and bikini could be seen gesturing to the 'Karen' to walk away.
The pair went back and forth as the woman in pink claimed someone had moved their beds.
