Footage posted by Harry Tokky showing rows of empty sunbeds on a quiet stretch of Benidorm beach has reignited debate over whether the resort’s day-on-the-sand fees are putting visitors off. Tokky said he had never seen Benidorm beach so empty before and described the scene as deserted.
He filmed the video in May, when he said the temperature was 26 degrees and the beach should have been busy. “I can't believe it. Benidorm is deserted. Have you ever seen so many empty sunbeds in May in Benidorm? Because I haven't,” he said, adding that he had never seen so many empty sunbeds there at this time of year. He also said he thought people were avoiding the beds because they are charged for them.
The resort, long known for packed sands and crowded promenades, still draws more than three million visitors every year and can see its population swell by up to 12 times during peak periods. Tokky’s clip stood out because it showed the opposite: a tranquil beach scene with sunbeds available in numbers that surprised him. He said the beach was normally “absolutely rammed” and that on this occasion there were “a lot of sunbeds available.”
That quiet appearance has been linked by some viewers to the cost of using the beach furniture. On Benidorm’s beaches, including Levante and Poniente, visitors must pay €6, or about £5.18, for a sunbed and €6 for a parasol per day. No advance booking is needed. Payment is made to the attendant on the beach, and the ticket allows use of the selected spot for the day. Some viewers said flights were no longer cheap, others said they would sit on their towel when they returned, and some said the resort was getting too expensive. A few pushed back, saying the price was decent for all-day use, while others said the beach had been packed earlier or at another time of day.
The broader picture is less simple than the clip suggests. Benidorm remains one of the best-known holiday destinations on the coast, and a single quiet patch of sand does not mean the resort has lost its pull. But Tokky’s video has put the focus back on a question the destination has faced before: whether the convenience of a reserved sunbed is now colliding with the price some holidaymakers are willing to pay.
