Guests at a hotel in Mallorca are queuing from 6am to secure sun loungers by the pool, with every bed claimed within five minutes of the area opening, video footage shows.
Edward Lawton, 58, a businessman from Wesham, Lancashire, captured the scenes at the Globales Santa Lucia Hotel in Palma Nova on August 19. He said he watched from the sidelines as holidaymakers sprinted to grab sunbeds the moment the pool opened at 8am.
‘Absolute carnage’ by the pool
Lawton, CEO and founder of his own company, criticised the hotel for the “crazy” scenes. He said: “There are 170 bedrooms and they’ve got 130 beds. Work that one out. It was absolute carnage again this morning. There are no beds available at all.”
He described guests queuing up to two hours before the pool opened, some holding pots of coffee, and said the rush to claim loungers involved pushing, shoving and throwing belongings onto the beds.
‘Mad dash’ as doors open
Lawton said: “It’s absolute mayhem. As soon as the doors open at 8am, because they’re on a timer, everybody runs. It’s like a mad dash to grab the sunbeds. They’re throwing their belongings onto them, there’s pushing and shoving, and they’re just grabbing everything. It’s very, very competitive.”
He added: “People walk away with smug looks on their faces because they’ve managed to get one. I was an observer from the sidelines because I was just laughing. I thought the hotel should have a better policy on this because it’s absolutely crazy.”
Similar scenes in Tenerife
The Daily Star has approached Globales Santa Lucia Hotel for a comment. Similar “sunbed wars” were reported in June at the Spring Hotel Bitacora in Playa de las Americas, Tenerife, where guests began assembling from approximately 7:30am to secure the best loungers.
