Bag that sunbed in Mallorca!

For years, the sad ritual of ‘claiming’ sun beds within the hotel industry has long been a problem, worldwide. Well, not for those who are prepared to get up before the crack of dawn and lay claim to a lounger, even if they don’t intend to use it until later that afternoon. ‘And what’s wrong with that?’ I can almost hear the ‘quick to comment’ brigade, keypads poised, towels tightly rolled under arms, champing to jump in with their defensive views. Yet in an ‘everyone for themselves’ world where it’s becoming increasingly acceptable to just grab what you want, no holds barred, is it really a trending trait we should seriously encourage?

For years, hotels have been trying to dissuade the early morning ‘grabbers’, with some establishments even restricting the opening times of sun bed areas to around 9am. However, in backlash, the ‘dawn grabbers’ are still queuing at first light to be front line in the stampede to claim their favoured sunny spots.

Obviously, appealing to holidaymakers to not reserve sun beds until they are ready to use them has had no effect on individuals whatsoever. And yes, we all like our favourite spots, whether out of compulsive habit or genuine preference, but it’s never really the end of the world if you have to sit in a different spot!

Many moons ago before the Costa Blanca was dotted with high rise hotels and her beaches were regimented with tightly packed sun bed franchise rentals, Other Half and I took a few holidays there, as you did. It was early October and the wide stretch of golden beach was relatively empty as we laid down our towels. However, within minutes, we were eclipsed by a large, menacing shadow. “This is my place,” barked the hefty Fraulein. “Excuse me? The beach is almost empty. There’s plenty of room,” said Other Half. “Besides, what do you mean, this is your place?”

“That is my stone.” Fraulein jabbed her finger excitedly at a small rock which was indeed settled at the foot of Other Half’s towel. “Well, there’ plenty of room over there,” smiled Other Half, politely. “But this is my place,” insisted Fraulein, who then proceeded to pick up the corners of Other Half’s towel and dragged Yours Truly bodily out of her place.

We have never laughed so much at such a ridiculous principle! Honestly, how does a stone mark anyone’s permanent place on a public beach? (Can just hear that quick to comment brigade again!) We decided that the fixated Fraulein’s exact and precise piece of sand was far more important to her than it could ever possibly be to us. She obviously had extreme boundary issues, bordering on paranoid psychosis, so we simply moved away and prayed for the tide to come in a lot quicker that day.

How truly sad that some people are so inflexible in their lives. And it’s not just the German’s, who rumour has it, started the whole bed-bagging-business, but the Brits who have jumped on the bandwagon. Notably, the Spanish don’t seem to go in for this futile, national sport. They are more than happy to just go with the flow and will happily sit on your sun bed with you, or as close as they can get!

Many hotels are adopting a policy of including an allotted sun bed with every room booking (at a premium) to avoid any unwanted, unnecessary unpleasantness along with poolside problems. However, we have stayed at a five-star resort where all beach villas had a prime, front line sun-lounger and parasol allocation. Guest’s names were on display to indicate the sun bed sets were strictly reserved and paid for! Unfortunately, we still found ‘dawn raiders’ ensconced in situ who were reluctant to vacate without an argument. Why do otherwise civilized people turn into unreasonable monsters whenever there’s a sun bed involved?

I don’t really know how it all started, or indeed, how it will all end. All I know is that a holiday is supposed to be an enjoyable, relaxing, chilled out experience. Not all-out war, or a training camp for the fastest sprinters on the resort. And it should never, ever cause disagreement or squabbling amongst guests. Don’t give a sun bed the potential to ruin your day. Is it really worth it?