Whereas in Motril police restricted access to Playa Granada, turning people back, on Torrenueva Costa beaches people were fined for ‘reserving space.’

This fining had nothing to do with the pandemic and observing safety distances; in fact, it completely predates it and was first seen on Almuñécar beaches when Juan Carlos Benavides was the mayor.

The problem had long been that people would send Granddad or Granny down to the beach at first light to stake out  a spot on the sand next to the water, using beach umbrellas and towel. In some blocks of flats the block janitor would receive a tip for doing the same task.

The trouble is that the family wouldn’t deign to turn up until eleven in the morning or later, depending on when they eventually got up. So, when somebody who genuinely wanted to use the beach at eight or nine in the morning they would find that the shore line was lined with unoccupied beach umbrellas.

Benavides decided to tackle this social selfishness by sending out the police to confiscate any unoccupied brollies etc. When the family eventually went down to the beach it was to find it all gone and firmly in the hands of the local police station – if you wanted it back, you had to pay something like 50 euros.

In consequency, many decided to buy a cheap beach brolly from the local Chinese bazaar and use that, so if the police did confiscate it, it only cost them the 20 euros that it had cost them and not 50-euro retrival fee at the police station. The more expensive beach kit they would bring down to the beach with them when they did eventually turn up. If their cheapo kit was still there, they would replace it with the good stuff and if it wasn’t there… well, they’d just have to find a new spot.

This is basically what happened on Torrenueva beaches this weekend past. .Mayor Plácido Lara, explained that this year like every year people were warned beforehand that they would lose their beach umbrella, if they use it to stake out an ‘early morning’ claim, and if they leave it on the beach when they go home for lunch, they should take their things home with them.

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