In the Canary Islands, the Paradise Park Hotel has been fighting for sun loungers for three days now. A large tropical swimming spot turns into an arena as guests compete to be the first to take the beach chairs by placing towels. Crowds of guests rush to the pool to take their coveted seats, and real chaos ensues.
The scene, when a crowd of tourists runs for a distance of 20 meters from the entrance to the pool, and one person manages to throw towels on five sunbeds, causes amazement among other visitors.
Although the incident came to light in mid-July after the video went viral on the internet, Paradise Park hotel management declined to comment on the incident. This situation is not an isolated case in Spanish resorts, and such competitions for beach places occur daily, sometimes even assuming rampant proportions.
The British newspaper Daily Mail reports on the latest incident in the Canary Islands, where two British tourists pushed a woman off a sunbed to take it themselves. In response, Spanish hotels are developing cunning methods to manage the situation.
The emergence of “sunbed controllers” in hotels
At the Sunset Beach Club hotel on the popular Spanish coast of the Costa del Sol, queues begin to form as early as six thirty in the morning, although the place itself does not open until nine. According to Miguel Marcos, the hotel’s director, they have clients who pride themselves on being first in line. To avoid the hustle and bustle of opening a hotel, they took steps and arranged for the process to be controlled.
José Carlos, who is in charge of the beach chairs, opens the hotel doors at 9 am and the competition for beach spots begins. However, he emphasizes that this “war” is only for the best places, and the rest of the time everything is calm. He has been a sunbed controller for three years now and notices that this struggle happens every summer, but this year it is less intense.
The sunbed control method proved to be effective. The Sunset Beach Club, which has 700 sun beds to share 1,800 guests, has developed special protocols. Supervisors monitor the occupied places and provide a warning. If the place remains empty, they take things away and empty the sunbed.
Sunbed control specialists look for certain clues indicating that the sunbeds are actually in use. For example, if there is a book on the sunbed at 9:30 in the morning, this may indicate that the place is occupied. Also, some guests leave one towel on several sunbeds to secure a place.
This method allows guests to enjoy the pool without unpleasant situations. Although some customers may be annoyed when their belongings are removed, the organizers believe that such control helps to avoid conflicts.
Resort towns on the Spanish coast are in huge demand, and to meet the needs of tourists, hotels are investing in more sunbeds and developing strategies to fight for them.