Spanish holiday resorts have started to dish out heavier fines to tourists for reserving sunbeds on beaches outside permitted hours. A local council near Valencia has ticked off two elderly holidaymakers for “booking their places” before 8am.
Their nationality has not been revealed but they were two men, one aged 75, the other 80. Police say they failed to comply with the regulations for access and use of the San Antonio beach at Cullera which is about 25 miles from Valencia city. Officers were patrolling the area before 8am. Access to the beach is banned between 5am and 8am to allow for cleaning work.
Both pensioners were marking out a space on the sand, right on the shoreline, for their exclusive use, a practice expressly prohibited according to the local ordinance.
Municipal sources stressed that during these months, it is forbidden to reserve a place on the beach by placing umbrellas, towels or other objects, even if they are occupied without supervision. The police are authorised to remove them and offenders face penalties ranging from 300 to 750 euros, according to current regulations.
“This type of action seeks to guarantee access to the beach by all citizens, preserve cleanliness and order on the beaches and avoid practices that violate the public domain,” said a council spokesman.
The authority insists that compliance with these rules “does not seek to penalise but to ensure citizen coexistence and the proper functioning of an essential public resource during the summer, such as San Antonio beach.”
Valencia had pre-warned before this summer that the region would be getting tough on tourists and locals alike for flouting the rules. The coast of Cullera is just one of the Spanish resorts facing the “war of the umbrellas” summer after summer.
The reservation of spaces on the beach, which generates constant complaints, began to be combated with municipal campaigns and specific ordinances from 2017, when the city council intensified surveillance and established the first sanctions.
In the latest campaign, the council wants to step up its crackdown.
Beach staff have the authority to remove abandoned objects, and the police can impose fines ranging from 300 to 750 euros in minor cases or up to 3,000 euros in the most serious cases.
