Calpe, Spain Beach 'Sun Lounger Hogging' Fine

Tourists in Calpe, Spain, face €250 fines for reserving beach spots with items like chairs and umbrellas before 9 a.m., with penalties for leaving them unattended for over three hours. This crackdown aims to prevent crowded beaches and hindrance of clean-up efforts. The measure follows complaints about reserved beach spaces, with similar issues in holiday hotspots like Benidorm and Barcelona. The fines are part of broader actions in Spain, including Barcelona planning to ban tourist apartment rentals by 2028 and crackdowns on excessive tourism in Ibiza and Mallorca. The move is not anti-tourist but targets early space reservation practices that disrupt beach cleanliness and visitor experiences.