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THIS is the moment Spanish cops confiscated sunbeds and umbrellas left by beach-hogger tourists, charging them a whopping £210 to get their items back.
Police appear to have joined the war against the greedy sun seekers who claim their spot by the sea while they have breakfast or even go back to bed.
Maria De La O Menore
Maria De La O Menore
Maria De La O Menore
Maria De La O MenoreFootage showed officers at Playa de Torrox in Malaga picking up dozens of unoccupied loungers and umbrellas before tossing them in the back of their trucks.
Tourists who got their beach items seized will now have to collect them at their local police station after paying an eye-watering £210 fine.
Local rules in coastal areas now ban the placement of chairs, loungers, or umbrellas before 9am, in an attempt to prevent them from interfering with resort beach cleaning efforts.
Authorities in the popular Balearic and Canary Islands also say that umbrellas, chairs, or deckchairs left unattended for more than three hours may be removed.
There must be evidence that the items have been left without the owner present in order to be taken from the beach.
Facebook users seemed to have welcomed the new rules, with one saying: “Where are the people? We’ll tell you… sleeping or having breakfast at home.
“This practice, which has been carried out for many years, is beginning to be regulated by coastal town councils, because it is not normal to arrive at 9 or 10 in the morning and find the first and second rows of beach full and no one around.
“Only those who have suffered it understand the importance that town councils, through their local police, regulating the proper use of these spaces.”
Spanish authorities said they receive many complaints every summer about people arriving at the beach to find much of the sand taken over by objects belonging to people who were not even there.
Protesters shoot water from water guns at tourists during a protest against mass tourism in Barcelona
Protesters in Tenerife demanding fewer tourists to the island earlier this year
A growing anti-tourist movement has swept Spain in recent months
Majorcan families gather on the beach of Sa Ripita to protest mass tourismThe new limits are only the latest development in Spain‘s war on tourists, which has resulted in numerous demonstrations and even attacks with water guns over the summer.
Foreign tourists in Majorca were also booed and jeered as they ate evening meals on terraces during a protest there on May 25.
They also occupied a beach with umbrellas covered in the slogan “Ocupem Les Nostres Platges”, which translates into: “We occupy our beaches”.
Demonstrators previously flocked to Majorcan beaches in yet another display of locals’ discontent with holidaymakers and mass tourism.
They were seen huddled together at the coastal resort of Colonia De Sant Jordi, east of the island’s capital, Palma.
A group called Mallorca Platja Tour – Majorca Beach Tour – had earlier campaigned online for locals to “occupy” the island’s beaches.
In April, thousands of anti-tourist protesters took to the streets in Tenerife and demanded a freeze on holidaymakers.
The anti-tourist hordes filled a square in the capital brandishing banners including some that read “You enjoy we suffer” in English.
More than 15,000 people waved Canary Islands’ flags and blew horns to make a deafening noise in the capital Santa Cruz.
Protests also took place at the same time in other popular Canary Islands including Lanzarote and Gran Canaria.
Campaigners have tried to distance themselves from anti-tourist graffiti which has appeared on walls and benches in and around southern Tenerife.
Anti-tourist measures sweeping hotspots
A WAVE of anti-tourist measures are being implemented across Europe to curb mass tourism in popular holiday hotspots.
Overcrowding has become the main problem in many sunny destinations, with authorities trying to find a solution to keep tourists and locals happy.
Officials have attempted to reduce the impact of holidaymakers by implementing additional taxes on tourists, or banning new hotels.
Earlier this year Venice became the first city in the world to charge an entry fee for holidaymakers after it started charging day-trippers €5 (£4.30) if visiting the historical Italian centre.
It was followed by an area in Barcelona which resorted to removing a well-used bus route from Apple and Google Maps to stop crowds of tourists from using the bus.
Meanwhile, San Sebastián in the north of Spain, limited the maximum number of people on guided visits to 25 to avoid congestion, noise, nuisance and overcrowding.
The city has already banned the construction of new hotels.
The Spanish government has allowed restaurants to charge customers more for sitting in the shade in Andalucia.
Benidorm has introduced time restrictions, as swimming in the sea between midnight and 7am could cost a whopping £1,000.
The Canary Islands are also considering adopting measures to regulate the number of visitors – and charge tourists a daily tax.
Greece has already enforced a tourist tax during the high season (from March to October) with visitors expected to pay from €1 (£0.86) to €4 (£3.45) per night, depending on the booked accommodation.
Officials in Santiago de Compostela in Galicia want to introduce a fee for travellers to remind people to be courteous during their trips.
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