Sunlounger stereotype? Poll finds Italians and French are worse than Germans

The image of Germans racing down to the pool at dawn to reserve a sunlounger may be due for an update. A YouGov poll of European holidaymakers found that the stereotype is mostly held by Britons and Germans themselves, and that Italian and French travellers are actually the most likely to stake a claim with a towel.

While 51% of Germans and 46% of Britons associate Germans with the early-morning towel ritual, only 5-17% of those surveyed in other European countries said the same. The poll also found that 38% of German holidaymakers admitted to ever reserving a lounger with a towel, compared with 45% of Italians and French. Britons were the least likely to confess to the habit, at 33%.

Most people across all countries polled — 60-82% — called the practice unacceptable, yet it appears widespread. Between 51% and 63% said they had found all loungers taken, and 14-28% admitted to moving someone else’s towel to solve the problem.

In Rome, no one The Guardian spoke to admitted doing it, although they could believe the data. “I would never do it but I have seen it happen,” said teacher Claudia Morani, describing fellow Italians leaving towels out overnight to keep the same loungers the next morning. She said the same thing happened on free beaches.

In Italy, some beachgoers have gained notoriety as “furbetti dell’ombrellone,” or umbrella cheats, for leaving umbrellas pitched overnight to hold spots on free beaches. Authorities have run dawn sweeps, seizing umbrellas and chairs, with fines of up to €500 and a bureaucratic process to get belongings back.

In southern France, locals said they were not surprised. “I see it all the time at my local beach club,” said Chantal Henry. A friend blamed Italians, while one Briton living in France insisted Germans were the worst, recalling a 5.30am sighting of a German man reserving five loungers with towels.