British tourists 'forced off beach for drinking wine' as Spanish police clamp down on booze

They fell foul of the new law while guzzling on a bottle of rose on a beach at the Spanish resort.

The two men were being spoken to by local police while sitting in deck chairs in the Spanish sunshine.

Footage of the incident comes after authorities in Benidorm imposed fines of up to £650 on people caught drinking on the beach.

Darren, 46, and his pal Graham, 36, both from Middlesbrough, caught the confrontation on camera.

Darren said: “It’s getting really strict over there, the police don’t mess about and they’re out searching people every night. Really clamping down on a lot of stuff.”

Despite new fines being rolled out, the two men were not forced to pay a charge but were simply told off and moved on.

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Benidorm is not only introducing fines for drinking alcohol on beaches.

Separate fines have been brought in for smoking, which costs up to £1,700, and using soap or shampoo could cost £560.

Tourists can also cough up cash if they are caught riding a scooter, making graffiti or being nude in non-nude spaces.

Local newspaper Murcia Today explained: "Benidorm has issued a blanket ban on people entering its beaches or swimming between the hours of midnight and 7am."

It continued: "Visitors are also prohibited from sleeping on the sand during these hours, and flouters could be fined between 750 euros and 1,200 euros."

The footage from Benidorm comes after British tourists were branded a “plague” in Malaga.

Malaga lawyer Luis Navarrete took to social media to slam Britons for turning a once traditional cafe into “John Scotts”.

He wrote: “Our central cafe is now called John Scotts and at 11am it stinks of foreigners and pints of beer.

“They have destroyed our identity, they have prostituted everything they could in our city. This deserves a change.”