British holidaymakers have taken sunbed wars to an extreme new level by camping out overnight on poolside loungers to secure prime spots. Ben Smith from Sheffield witnessed guests sleeping on sunbeds at a four-star Tenerife hotel three hours before the pool even opened, despite it being pitch black outside.
The 30-year-old captured the bizarre scene at the £259-per-night Gf Fanabe Hotel, where most poolside beds were already occupied by guests who had bedded down overnight. Smith described discovering the situation on Monday August 25 at the start of his two-week holiday, according to the Daily Mail.
"People sleep on sun loungers to reserve their spot," Smith said. "They reserve the beds, but the hotel has a policy that if your bed is left unattended, they will remove the towels - so they just lay in them."
The hotel's towel removal policy has inadvertently created the overnight camping phenomenon. Guests now physically sleep on loungers rather than risk losing their reserved spots, with some appearing genuinely asleep during Smith's early morning discovery.
Escalating phenomenon
Smith branded the situation a "vicious circle" where holidaymakers create the very problem they're trying to avoid. "If people didn't reserve beds they didn't need, then there wouldn't be an issue," he explained, noting beds covered with towels but rarely used by actual people.
Research suggests regional differences in sunbed reservation behaviour, with Metro reporting that West Midlands tourists are most likely to reserve sunbeds while Yorkshire and West Country visitors show better etiquette with only eight per cent admitting to the practice. The trend has spread beyond Tenerife, with videos surfacing of holidaymakers frantically rushing to claim spots across European resorts.
Official responses
Spanish authorities have introduced strict measures to combat beach sunbed wars, implementing hefty fines for rule-breakers. Beachgoers who reserve spots but leave them unattended for hours face €250 penalties in destinations including Barcelona and Costa Blanca.
Police now have powers to remove unattended sunbeds or towels before 9:30am, placing belongings in municipal depots where owners can retrieve items after paying on-the-spot fines. Hotels across European hotspots are also implementing stricter policies to manage the escalating poolside chaos.
Sources used: "The Mirror", "Daily Mail", "Metro" Note: This article has been edited with the help of Artificial Intelligence.
