So keen are tourists to bag the best spot by the pool they’re risking physical injury as sun bed wars hot up once more in resorts across Europe.
Holidaymakers have been spotted ‘limbering up’ and even wearing the kind of footwear you might tackle a 5K run in to ensure that it’s a case of fastest feet first.
Unsurprisingly, running at speed in an area that’s dotted with loungers – which effectively double up as mini hurdles – close to deep water has seen some of those joining the dawn dash reporting injuries, which has been dubbed ‘sun lounger leg’.
One tourist commenting on a TikTok post entitled ‘The morning rush at Bitacora’, which showed a stampede of guests making for the pool at the four-star Hotel Bitácora in Playa de Las Americas, Tenerife, revealed her sister had been affected.
The tourist called the common summer resort scenario ‘madness’, saying: ‘This was me last year and I go again in two weeks. Dreading it. My sister tore her Achilles heel running last year and it’s still bad! Surely they have to plan another way?’
Grant Simpson, who had posted the footage, which showed hotel guests running towards the pool, said he’d filmed ‘Bang on 8 when they open the gates’ but added that there had been ‘folk queuing from 6:30ish onwards.’
Others reported that the resort has had to employ two morning security guards to man the gates and ensure the scramble doesn’t get out of hand – and people don’t climb over the gates.
At the Hotel Sol Barbados in Magaluf in recent weeks, holidaymakers hell-bent on a day by the pool were seen doing stretching exercises to ensure they would be fully warmed up for the early morning sprint.
And they’re off! A queue of people – waiting for an hour and a half, according to tourist Grant Simpson – begin the sprint at the four-star Hotel Bitácora in Playa de Las Americas, Tenerife, this week
Tourists have reported injuries during the increasingly common sun lounger sprint, with one woman saying her sister’s ankle injury – obtained at Hotel Bitacora – still hurt a year on
One tourist, @AaronTheLocoDaily, posting on TikTok captioned a video of him limbering up with the words: ‘Had to put the sprinters on for the daily sunbed championships’.
In the comments, one person said the behaviour of guests during their stay at the Mallorcan favourite last summer had been dangerous.
He wrote: ‘We stayed in this hotel last year and it was the same then. People putting 4 towels down then disappearing for the day.
‘Walking down the stairs with my daughter and her friend and they nearly got knocked down them because of the rush.’
This week, holidaymakers desperate to bag the best spot by another Mallorcan resort’s pool were caught on camera sprinting to the sun loungers in scenes described by an onlooker as ‘like something out of the Hunger Games’.
British holidaymaker Clare Wright, 44, from Nottingham, said a warning by staff at the Protur Playa Cala Millor Hotel in Mallorca about potential injuries had fallen on deaf ears.
She explained: ‘The night before, the entertainment manager said: “No leaving towels down, the staff clean the pool area in the morning, and no running as the floor will be wet and slippy. We are all adults here.”‘
However, Claire’s footage taken the next morning showed tourists running across the deck the second the gates to the pool area were opened, having queued for half-an-hour to ensure they were ready for the race.
British holidaymaker Clare Wright filmed the moment the gate to the pool area at the Protur Playa Cala Millor Hotel in Mallorca were opened for the day – with keen tourists breaking into a run to get their preferred spot
She explained: ‘People gathered in the cafe area from about 8:30am waiting for a little chain that the staff had put around a small section of the pool to be removed.’
Clare, who shared the clip on her TikTok account Wright_Wanders, added: ‘As the staff finished the cleaning and walked towards the chain, everybody stood. And as it was lifted, the games began. There were about 50 people.’
The Brit, who had been enjoying a five-day break when she filmed the clip, was staggered to witness the lengths people would go to to bag the best spot.
Clare expressed surprise that a four-star hotel for grown ups would see such antics, saying: ‘I thought, What? People won’t be running to get a sun bed here.’
The warning though led her to reach for her smartphone and film what happened next – and the short clip doesn’t disappoint.
‘I decided to watch and film it. I watched from my balcony, having a little giggle, went to breakfast and then to the pool at about 10am to find a sun bed without any problem at all.’
Clare said the race was pointless as there were enough sun loungers for everyone.
She added: ‘There really was no need. It was such a lovely hotel and we had an amazing time there. It wasn’t the hotel’s fault – they had enough beds for everyone.’
The footage has so far racked up more than 60,000 views, with those watching it not impressed by how competitive the guests were over the loungers.
One wrote: ‘God, how sad if that’s what holidays are about.’
Another person added: ‘I hate this. I love hotels that remove stuff after 30 minutes if not in use.’
One previous guest said: ‘Just come back from Majorca and in the hotel I was in, the pool opened at 10, no stress for a sun bed.’
Over in the Canaries this week, a mother revealed she gets up early every day while on holiday to reserve eight sun loungers for her family – before heading off for breakfast and a shopping trip.
Stephanie, 29, from Wales, who’s currently on holiday in Fuerteventura in Las Palmas, Spain, with her partner and six children says she’ll happily wake up at the crack of dawn to place towels on the beds, before going about her morning as normal.
Posting a clip of her strategy on TikTok, Stephanie argued she has a ‘big family’ and so needs to take drastic measures to ensure they’re all comfortable during the day.
Far from being the quietest time of the day, 8:30am, when the gates opened at the resort’s pool, saw streams of guests arriving, with some breaking into a sprint to get their lounger of choice
Guests at the four-star adults-only property in Mallorca, pictured, had been warned the previous evening about behaviour around securing sun beds, with the entertainment manager telling them ‘we’re all adults here’
The video – which racked up 120,000 views – was met with criticism from viewers who questioned why she had taken up spaces at the pool during the height of summer.
Stephanie told her followers: ‘First things first, we have to claim our sunbeds at the pool area. We have come as a big family so we have to be there early.’
However, instead of spending the first hours of daylight soaking up the Spanish rays, took her brood out for breakfast and a shopping trip – while their towels remained on the empty sunbeds.
The family travelled into the town where they tucked into a traditional English breakfast at a cafe they had visited ‘every single day’ of the trip so far.
| Region | % of those of admit to waking upearly to reserve a lounger |
|---|---|
| West Midlands | 15 |
| Wales | 13 |
| North East England | 13 |
| North West England | 13 |
| Northern Ireland | 13 |
| East of England | 12 |
| London | 12 |
| South East England | 12 |
| East Midlands | 10 |
| Scotland | 10 |
| Yorkshire and the Humber | 8 |
| South West England | 8 |
She said the baked beans, sausages, black pudding, bacon, hash browns, tomato, toast and eggs were ‘amazing’, while her children opted to tuck into a frittata and pancakes.
After tucking into their cooked breakfasts, the family set off on a shopping trip in the area, searching for holiday souvenirs in tourist shops.
But it wasn’t until they’d finished purchasing clothes that they returned to their hotel, where they then enjoyed the pool and the loungers, after seemingly spending a couple of hours sightseeing.
This angered some viewers who commented their thoughts on the clip, with one writing: ‘I can’t believe you claim the sunbeds and then leave.’
Another penned: ‘Why claim sun beds if you’re going out for the day?’
A third said: ‘All hotels should do the same thing. After 30 minutes of not being on sun lounger, towels are removed and other people get them.’
A fourth commented: ‘Sorry but your towels would be in the pool.’
