The Germans and Brits Are at War Again
As German and British tourists head to the beach, the battle for sun beds is on.
PASSAU, Germany, June 6, 2008 — -- Its summertime in Europe and thousands of tourists are heading for the beaches.
It's also time for Germany's top-selling tabloid, Bild Zeitung, to fire the first salvo in the annual "beach towel war" — the age-old battle between British and German sun loungers who flock to beaches in great numbers.
The German tabloid published a "Warning – may contain Britons" guide listing the best European summer hot spots for avoiding British tourists.
Bild Zeitung's campaign was a response to news of a U.K. court compensating British tourist David Barnish for his case against his tour operator. Barnish's complaint? The hotel where he and his family were sent last August had too many German tourists.
Barnish claimed that the holiday company, Thomson, had not told him that the Grecotel resort on the Greek island of Kos was occupied almost exclusively by German tourists and only a small number of the guests at the hotel were English.
He said that his family and his kids in particular were unable to take part in entertainment or children's activities at the hotel because those activities were only organized in German.
He told the British newspaper The Daily Telegraph, "I'm not a racist. I wouldn't like to take my family holiday at a hotel overrun by English holiday-makers and the same would apply if there were French or Spanish or any other nationality."
"But everything from the leaflets telling you what's on in the morning to the people staying there, the language the representatives spoke and service was all in German."
He also complained that the sun beds by the pool were being taken up by "stereotypically German Germans," who would put their beach towels on the empty sun beds at crack of dawn in order to reserve them for later use.
It's a complaint often heard — German tourists are notorious for putting towels out first thing in the morning, before anybody shows up at the pool — a bad habit bound to drive other holiday makers crazy and cause tension.
Related Stories
ABC News Live