Viv Proops took to social media to rant about her experience at the Havana Beach Bar in Estepona.
‘On Playa del Cristo beach today. Ordered an iced coffee at Havana Beach Bar and was charged for a coffee and charged extra for two ice cubes. Is that normal?, she wrote.
‘Is ice always an extra billable item? Seems a bit petty minded in my opinion!!’, she added.
Viv was charged 50 cents extra for her added ice cubes, on top of the €4.50 she had already spent for a coffee.
Many others were quick to come to the tourist’s defence, calling the bar a ‘rip off’ and saying that the charge was definitely out of the ordinary.
‘People need to stop going to these places. Everyone is getting ripped off’, one user wrote.
Another said: ‘That’s ridiculous. I would not go back there.
‘That is just pathetic, and then they wonder why people go and never go back a second time’, a third user added.
However, the bar defended their actions and the addition of the extra charge, saying that it fitted with the cost of running the ice machine.
‘We use a professional industrial ice machine that cost us over 9,800 euros, and it consumes a significant amount of electricity daily’, a spokesperson for the bar told English speaking newspaper Spanish Eye.
‘We understand it might seem minor, but in our setting where everything is brought close to the sea with comfort in mind, small extras help cover the high operational costs.’
This news comes after another recent holiday rip-off, with a British tourist in Benidorm being charged what they deemed an unacceptable amount on two sachets of HP sauce.
At The 4 Kings bar on Avenida Mediterraneo, the tourist stopped by with her family on the way to the popular holiday hotspot, but received a shock upon looking at the bill.
The bar charged an extra €0.50 for each sachet of the sauce, which led the holidaymaker to take to social media to warn others of her experience.
‘Be careful going for breakfast in this place, €1 for two HP sachets, rip off.’
Her order consisted of two ‘jumbo’ breakfasts, a jug of orange juice, one coffee and two sachets of brown sauce, which only set the family back €15.90.
Many other users defending the bar, commenting on how cheap the two breakfasts were.
One said: ‘I think if anything this bar is now going to get more customers thanks to you.’