Tourists are made to queue up for sun loungers at hotel where ITV’s Benidorm is filmed

Dozens of Brits have been pictured queueing up from 7am to secure a sunbathing spot at the Spanish resort where ITV’s Benidorm is filmed.

The Sol Pelicanos Ocas hotel, which is called The Solana in the show, has been playing host to real-life drama as tourists compete for the best spot. 

Frequented by the likes of the fictional grandmother Madge Harvey in the popular sitcom, the resort is now seeing sunbed wars play out between British tourists.

Holidaymakers pulled up chairs to wait as long as two hours to secure loungers, sprinting to claim them as soon as the pool opened at 9am, The Sun reports.

And now staff are cracking down on sunbed hoggers, warning sunseekers that their belongings could be thrown in lost property if they leave them to reserve a bed.

They have been putting notices on empty loungers, warning guests ‘it is not allowed to reserve sunbeds with towels or other belongings’.

Dozens of Brits have been pictured queueing up from 7am to secure a sunbathing spot at the Spanish resort where ITV’s Benidorm is filmed

The Sol Pelicanos Ocas hotel, which is called The Solana in the show, has been playing host to real-life drama as tourists compete for the best spot

Frequented by the likes of the fictional Madge Harvey (pictured) in the popular sitcom, the resort is now seeing sunbed wars play out between British tourists

Guest Guy Gibson, 46, from Newcastle, said that trying to relax at the hotel has been a ‘nightmare’ amid the sunbed crackdown.

‘All day long we’ve got to keep an eye on the beds and watch out for the ‘fun police’.

‘Even if you’re in the pool they try to take your towels.’

It is just the latest example of rules being brought in to tackle the so-called sunbed wars, which have been taking place across the Med this summer.

Footage published today showed families, including young children, racing out of the gates at another resort in Benidorm – as VIP loungers watched on in hysterics.

Tourists carrying towels and bathing gear sprinted past one another to make sure they secured the prime spot after the doors were opened to the Spanish resort’s pool first thing in the early morning.

Last week, MailOnline revealed how sunbed wars have become so intense at one hotel on the Costa del Sol that they have introduced a parking ticket style system – with towels left on beds unattended removed after a time limit.

Staff at the hotel, which has seen tourists go to extreme lengths to secure a sun lounger, have brought in new measures to curb the madness.

Guests at the Estival Torrequebrada in Malaga, who have often paid thousands to enjoy a break, have been warned they can 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 – many brought chairs and a good book as they waited for almost two hours before the beach and pool opened

Hilarious footage captures the moment holidaymakers get the whistle as they race to collect their sunbeds for the day

Management instead began leaving cards on sunbeds with towels, handbags and other personal belongings on them, warning they will be removed after 45 minutes if they remain unoccupied. 

At the nearby three-star Parasol Garden hotel, Britons are being given the green light to ‘grab’ a sunbed only when a whistle has been blown by staff.

Meanwhile at a resort in Tenerife, tourists have been spotted reserving sunbeds at 6.30am – three-and-a-half hours before the hotel pool opens. 

As sunbed war season grips the continent, locals have had to take matters into their own hands.

In Benidorm, residents were seen erecting parasols in the dark in front of the ocean, while Greek coastal crusaders have declared a sunbed war on British tourist hotspots, pledging to fight back against the ‘abusive occupation’ of beaches.

In Benidorm, locals were seen erecting parasols in the dark in front of the ocean as they battle with Brits swarming to sunbeds

The so-called ‘Towel Movement’ was set up in Paros by jaded residents, tired of not being able to find a free space on beaches due to aggressive sunbed firms.

They argue that illegal operators have been rinsing holidaymakers, who are paying over the odds to secure a spot – and leaving nowhere for locals to go.

Nearly 38.5million tourists visited Spain in the first six months of 2023 – and these were predominantly, British, German and French travellers.