A Spanish town has taken the action others have threatened or promised: It’s prosecuting people who stake out beach space early in the morning and only come back to use it later, leaving others with no blanket space.
Torrevieja, on the Costa Blanca, has collected a ESIGN 150 fine from a Madrid man who violated the ordinance that prohibits umbrellas or any kind of “beach furniture” on the beaches between 3 am and 8 am, and bans leaving it unattended to reserve space.
The timed restriction is to keep the beach free for trash collection and grading. The man claimed he was unaware of that, and that he had only left his umbrella while he went off for a swim…hours earlier.
City officials didn’t buy that argument . The Torrevieja councilmember for beaches, told the TV program Hoy por Hoy that the city’s intention was to “prevent the private use of beaches. People who live in Torrevieja know that there are people who come at 5:30am, place their umbrella and their things right at the front of the beach and then leave.”
Photo: LMBuga / Wikimedia
This selfish attitude is what we travellers hate, it brings out the worst in people. Ban this behaviour I say!