Holidaymakers queue for two hours at crack of dawn to secure sunbeds in bizarre scenes
Brits abroad can only mean one thing: sunbed wars. And it seems those on holiday in Spain have been at the centre of chaos as reports of queuing for two hours for a bed emerge.
It's almost become something of a rite of passage for everyone who jets off somewhere sunny for the holidays. Brits wake up at the crack of dawn and stand with bated breath waiting for the signal to cry havoc, let slip, and claim a sun lounger.
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Shakespeare sums it up rather well: "Stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood, disguise fair nature with hard-favoured rage."
Once more unto the beach, dear friends, once more.
The practice has drawn a lot of controversy online as Brits head off on their jollies to the Costa del Sol in Spain. Videos have shown people scrambling across the pool to throw a towel over a sun lounger, only to disappear off to the restaurant.
Meanwhile, the lounger is empty as others can't use it.
One TikToker staying at a hotel in Torremolinos on the Costa del Sol jokingly filmed people laying out the loungers from their window. They gave a scathing commentary on how people would be waiting until it opened to rush in.
Another image shows rows and rows of sun beds with towels draped over them while guests all head off to have breakfast at the hotel.
Some have even resorted to sending in their quicker and more nimble children to secure them a spot.
Charlotte Chartell has recently been on holiday and told how people had been taking chairs in the queue with them. She told MailOnline: "There are two pools, but only one for children, so everyone wants to get as close as they can to the slides as well. There definitely aren’t enough sun loungers for the number of guests in the hotel.
"But as soon as the lifeguard opens the gate, people literally run in, someone sent their children running ahead of the adults. It’s madness. I was there the week before the holidays started so God knows what it’s like now."
Another tourist, Laury Mackie, said: "Gates open at 10am and off they go.
"There's a clear strategy... look at the determination in the directions they take. Watch the lifeguard and maintenance guy clearly taking the mick."
Some hotels have even introduced measures to combat tourists who hog sun loungers even if they are not actually using them.
Members of staff are assigned to time how long a lounger has been empty, and if no one is back after half an hour, they remove the towel and open it up for someone else to use.
Kit Roberts