Spanish police are cracking down on so-called “beach hoggers” in the popular Costa del Sol, an area in the southern region of Andalusia. Each year, the town hall of Torrox, a resort which is particularly popular with British tourists, launches its “war” against sunbeds and umbrellas.

It is currently illegal to attempt to reserve a spot on the beach by leaving parasols or beds unattended.

This week, photos shared online showed a team of local officers removing these items, as well as towels, before piling them in the back of their police vans.

The removal is viewed as controversial by many, with locals arguing that the police have no knowledge of how long the towels or beds have been left for, as users may have gone to eat at a local restaurant.

One tourist from Madrid shared some photos in a TikTok post that has gathered more than 43,000 likes and 3,700 comments. They also wrote: “You can’t occupy a place on the beach while you go to eat, but people can squat [in] your house and the law protects them… what do you think?”

People who had experienced issues linked to the so-called sunbed war were quick to share their stories in the comments, with one saying: “We spent one week in Torrevieja, Playa del Cura, there at six in the morning you have no place to sit on the beachfront, all with chair occupying and coming at 12 or 18.”

Someone replied with: “Easy and simple, I arrive and see that there is no place because they have umbrellas and chairs but there is no one and I just take them off…”

However, another commenter argued: “I think there’s something more important than taking off a chair.” Agreeing with them, another replied: “You’re taking a bath and when you get out, you’ve got nothing”.

However, according to law, the “reservation of physical space” on the beaches is prohibited, “at any time of the day or night”, by placing any type of object on the sand “without the physical presence of an owner”.

Objects removed by police are stored for up to 14 days before being disposed of. If reclaimed, offenders will be required to pay a fine of 30 euros – just under £26.

Another popular Spanish resort, Calp in Costa Blanca, just a 25-minute drive from Benidorm, is also taking action on “beach hoggers”, with police set to remove sunbeds, towels and umbrellas left on the sand before 9.30am. Those who violate the rule, regardless of being tourists or residents, will have to pay to retrieve their belongings from the municipal depot and will be slapped with an eye-watering penalty of 250 euros, of £214.

A council spokesperson stated on X: “This measure prohibits the indiscriminate occupation of the public domain, especially the beach, with items such as chairs, hammocks and parasols at the start of the day. These bad habits make it difficult to clean the beaches.”

Last summer, Benidorm’s council pledged to crack down on repeat offenders who were accused of outsmarting British tourists by setting up their sunbeds by the shoreline in the dark before heading back to bed.

These Spanish moves follow in the footsteps of many popular Greek destinations, who in some areas have started using drones to clamp down on the misuse of deck chairs and umbrellas. The drones, launched by Greece’s ministry, have been used alongside an app to issue fines totalling 350,000 euros (just over £300,000) following new regulations introduced this year dictating the size of sunbeds and their usage duration.

The rules stipulate that no rental chairs or umbrellas are permitted on the beach of Halkidiki and they must be positioned at least four metres from the water. Up to 70 percent of Greek beaches must now be sunbed-free, with protected areas at 85 percent free. Since the rules were implemented, the authorities have responded to over 1,000 complaints.

Last year, furious residents formed a protest group, dubbed “the beach towel movement”, and have seen thousands take to the streets to demonstrate against paying extortionate prices to use sunbeds set up for tourists.

Finance Minister Kostis Hatzidakis has since vowed to strictly deal with businesses who are flouting the rules: “When we say there will be order on the shore, we mean it.”