The annual sunbed wars have escalated across Mediterranean holiday hotspots, with British tourists engaging in increasingly extreme tactics to secure prime poolside spots. From Spain to Turkey, the battle for sun loungers has turned normally civil holidaymakers into early-rising competitors willing to queue overnight or run in flip-flops to beat the rush.
In Tenerife, the conflict erupted in May when a TikTok video showed tourists racing to the pool area, some flinging towels from staircases. Thomas Clifford, who filmed the scene, said: 'I couldn’t believe it! People were sniping by throwing their towels off the top of the stairs.' Dad-of-two Matthew Vine watched from his balcony as sunbathers sneaked out before the pool opened at 10am, preparing beds illegally.
Majorca became a focal point in June, with guests reserving entire rows of seats at 7pm for a whole week. TikToker Gillian captured the scene, saying: 'It’s 7 o’clock at night, and these people reserve their sunbeds for the whole week. They don’t move them.' In July, holidaymaker Geoff witnessed a queue of towels lined up overnight outside a locked pool area in Camp de Mar, noting that it was 'mostly elderly and middle-aged people' participating.
Mum Rebekah posted a humorous Instagram video showing towels laid out from 5am to reserve spots before the 9am unlock time. She joked: 'Ladies and Gentlemen I present to you the British efforts from this year’s annual Sun-bed Showdown.' One woman described her trip to Turkey as the 'worst holiday we have been on' due to the intense pressure to beat the crowds.
The sunbed wars have raised questions about whether the phenomenon will ever end, as tourists continue to battle for limited space under the fierce south European heatwave.
