FEARS this summer will see the worst towel wars yet have been sparked as hotels across holiday hotspots are bracing for sun-seeking tourists fighting for a spot by the pool.
Last summer there was a huge rise in scraps over sunbeds with holidaymakers rushing to place their towels on loungers first thing in the morning.
The craze saw holidaymakers bring chairs and form a queue hours before the pool opens to make sure they reserve a good spot - with a mum being reduced to tears after struggling to save a sunbed for days.
And fearing this year it will be even worse, hotel owners decided to impose stricter pool rules.
Staff at the Ving Hotel Sunprime Pollensa has resorted to putting up a sign that reads: "Do not reserve sun loungers with towels or other personal belongings if the lounger is not to be used immediately".
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The hotel's manager Diego Martinez told Norwegian newspaper Dagbladet: "We want to stop the culture where sun loungers are occupied before they are to be used.
"We have affixed signs to a number of the parasols and will have several new ones put up shortly. Here we have a clear recommendation for guests: 'Do not reserve sunbeds using towels or other private belongings if the sunbed is not to be used immediately.
'All unattended towels will be removed by 8am each morning.'
"Now it is no longer possible for people to occupy sunbeds before going to breakfast. Then we remove the towels."
He claims that most holidaymakers welcomed the new rule adding: "One challenge is those who use the sunbed for a couple of hours in the morning and then block it with a towel while they go to their room to get some sleep.
"We try to find good solutions and then we have to accept that some people are dissatisfied."
Spanish authorities were considering imposing strict fines reaching up to £650 on sunbed hoggers last year.
The sunbed wars bring to mind last year's chaotic scenes where sunseekers raced to the pool way before opening to grab a free lounger.
A man was filmed frantically running trying to secure as many sunbeds as possible at a hotel.
A TikTok video showed the moment tourists ran to grab a sunbed while on holiday in Majorca .
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Within seconds, all of the loungers were taken with towels and bags put on top of them.
The situation was so extreme, that a hotel was forced to hire a security guard to break up fights between tourists.
A holidaymaker tried to shame sun bed hoggers by filming them laying out towels at a hotel first thing in the morning.
At some hotels, Brits have resorted to lying their towels on the ground at 5am - even though they can't reserve the sunbeds until 9am - to make sure they are first in line.
It appears that sun-loving Brits were the first ones to race for a spot, with German media slamming them for an “embarrassing deckchair and towel race” in Tenerife.
Tourists in the Canary Islands, the Costa Del Sol and the Costa Blanca spoke about the “carnage” which unfolds each morning.
And a family were given nearly £300 in compensation after they complained they were unable to ever get a sunlounger at the hotel they were staying at.
