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This is the moment British tourists were kicked off their sunbeds in Benidorm for trying to bag them too early.
Video footage from the Melia Hotel shows a security guard waving his finger and shouting ‘no, no, no!’ at the two men as he frantically makes hand gestures towards his watch.
The men are then escorted away from the beds and are told to get to the back of a queue, which had been forming at the pool area’s entrance.
It comes as hotels are bracing for the dreaded sunbed wars this year, which may be starting earlier than ever. This week two elderly tourists were branded ‘selfish’ for laying on stacks of sunbeds in Benidorm.
At Melia, the pair of holidaymakers had attempted to take two beds at 8.40am, going against the policy of the hotel, which appears to be laying down the law this year.
Video footage from the Melia Hotel shows a security guard waving his finger and shouting ‘no, no, no!’ at the two men as he frantically makes hand gestures towards his watch
The men are then escorted away from the beds and are told to get to the back of a queue, which had been forming at the pool area’s entrance
The pool area and its beds are strictly off limits until 9am, with guests forced to queue behind a rope cordon.
A security guard in a bright yellow top keeps a watchful eye for sunseekers attempting to cheat the system by nabbing a bed early.
Those who have paid for Level Lounge Access, however, can relax in a roped-off area of VIP beds from as early as they like.
At 9am, the guard releases the rope cordon, unleashing a flock of British tourists who scurry to secure their preferred spots by the pool.
Travellers have started their antics earlier than ever this year, with many Brits at the Melia seen carrying stacks of towels to reserve a row of beds before immediately slinking off to the buffet breakfast.
Kids were filmed running ahead with towels to secure their family’s favourite spot for the day.
A security guard in a bright yellow top keeps a watchful eye for sunseekers attempting to cheat the system by nabbing a bed early
At Melia, the pair of holidaymakers had attempted to take two beds at 8.40am, going against the policy of the hotel
It comes after the hotel witnessed identical scenes last August, at the height of the season.
Clare Fairbrother, 49 from Warrington, Cheshire described the scenes as ‘crazy’ during a holiday with husband David, 50, and daughter Lily, 10.
They filmed the moment Brits made a run for the sunbeds from the VIP area.
She said at the time: ‘Ok we thought it was funny and crazy to watch this at 9am having breakfast…
‘About 50 people in the queue and 20 of them ran. I didn’t see it get violent but people were sending their children ahead first as they are quicker I think.
‘The hotel restricted the doors being open to the sunbed area until 9am.’
Footage from last summer showed holidaymakers racing each other to nab poolside sun loungers the moment sites opened, at which point witnesses said ‘madness’ ensued.
A British mother holidaying at another Benidorm hotel last year said she was left close to tears after her family was forced to sit under a water slide after missing out on the mad dash.
Cayleigh Tuffs, pictured with her husband Andrew and their eight-year-old daughter Charley, said she was left on the brink of tears after missing out on the mad dash last year
Cayleigh Tuffs, 34, who was on holiday with her husband Andrew and their eight-year-old daughter, described the rush for beds as ‘horrendous’ and vowed never to return to the Spanish tourist destination.
Hotels across southern Spain were forced to crackdown on unruly behaviour as tourists battled for the best sunbathing spots.
One hotel on the Costa del Sol revealed that they were forced to introduce a parking ticket style system – with towels left on beds unattended removed after a time limit.
Guests at the Estival Torrequebrada on Benalmádena Beach, many of whom paid thousands for their holidays, were warned they could no longer leave towels as a marker on a sunbed to claim it for a whole day.
People queue for sun loungers at Hotel Estival Torrequebrada near Malaga as many brought chairs and a good book as they waited for almost two hours before the beach and pool opened
Management instead began leaving cards on sunbeds with towels, handbags and other personal belongings on them, warning they would be removed after 45 minutes if they remain unoccupied.
There have been similar scenes elsewhere in the Mediterranean. After missing out on a sunbed at their Greek resort where a similar policy was meant to be enforced, one German family was awarded a £280 payout.
The family, who spent £4,532 on their break last summer, were awarded the cash after they were they were unable to get any loungers at their Rhodes hotel one morning.
Managers at the TUI Kids Club Atlantica Mikri Poli hotel had been operating a policy that meant guests who put down towels on any of their 500 beds had to use them within 30 minutes. The court found that in this case, the policy was not implemented.