Do you remember when the then Mayor, Juan Carlos Benavides banned planting beach umbrellas at first light and then disappearing until around eleven in the morning? Well today’s Looking Back article from June 2009 was about how people reacted to this bylaw.

The problem was – as is always the case – people were taking liberties until it got out of hand, forcing the authorities to crack down. If it had been just one or two ’empty’ umbrellas close to the waterline, then it would not have been a problem, but it got to the stage that at seven in the morning there was nobody on the beach – just a forest of closed beach umbrellas.

People who did intend to use the beach at that hour found that they couldn’t set their towel and other beach equipment down anywhere near the water, even though there was nobody on the beach – it was all seemingly taken.

What had been going on was that families would pay their block janitor to take they’re beach stuff down at first light although they didn’t have the slightest intention of going down to the beach until later in the morning. Sometimes is was the block janitor, sometime the abuela or abuelo who was always up early anyway and sometimes it was one of the kids with an ‘extra’ in their pocket money.

Well, as you can imagine authentic ‘early’ beachgoers were not happy and before long planted umbrellas would be ripped out and flung out of the way with the new occupant staunchly and firmly in place.

Scuffles would break out.

So the Mayor said, “Enough’s enough,” and brought out a by law where the municipal police would go around and confiscate any unattended beach chairs and umbrellas. If you wanted them back, you had to go round to the police station and pay a small fine.

Enter stage left the Chinese bazaars, who were selling dirt cheap beach umbrellas; ones that were cheaper than the fine, so they would be planted and if confiscated, no matter, as the expensive ones were brought down later when the family arrived.

Now, 15 years later, people have got it into their heads that you can’t ‘take the piss’ and the habit has died out, much to the dismay of cheap, beach-umbrella suppliers.

(News: Herradura, Costa Tropical, Granada, Andalucia)