There is little that Spain can thank Franco for, but if there is something, it is the fact that nobody can own a beach in Spain – they are all publicly owned and open to all.

We mention this because there is a beach just below the Balcon de Europa that has allegedly been ‘taken over’ by a nearby hotel; the Hotel Balcón de Europa.

Well, that is what a man from Madrid claims, because he filed an official complaint at the Town Hall and before the Guardia Civil, for good measure.

The said hotel, which opened in 1965 and is built on the cliffs, has direct access to La Caletilla Beach below. Now, the Town Hall has granted a summer licence to the hotel for many years to mount 75 sunbeds on the beach as a business – i.e., charge for their use.

This year, however, there was no lease because the spring gales had worn away much of the beach, but this didn’t stop 50 beach shades, 75 sunbeds and 15 beach chairs appearing, according to our miffed tourist from Madrid.

Somehow, he found out that the hotel had not been issued the licence for the summer, so off he trotted to the Town Hall. The clerk there told him that they would “study the situation,” which basically means, “go away.”

The hotel admits that they don’t have a licence but points out that they’re not charging anybody; that the hotel guests take them down and that other beach users also do the same.

(News: Nerja, Axarquia, Costa del Sol, Malaga, Andalucia)