Benidorm 's famous beaches will be "back to normal" for Brits heading on Spain holidays this Easter - the first time in two years.
The town's mayor, Toni Pérez says the holiday resort is ready and waiting to welcome thousands of tourists, including a huge contingent of Brits who are now once again the leading market.
He also confirmed that the strict coronavirus restrictions of the past are being lifted.
"After two years of the pandemic, this will be the first Holy Week in which there will be no restrictions on the use of the sand," he said.
At one stage during the Covid crisis, beaches in Spain had to close and when allowed to reopen, they were subject to strict social distancing measures.
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Restrictions at the time included plots of sand for sunbathers, tight controls over access points, time restrictions and even a pre-booking system which often saw long queues on seafronts. In fact, some Brits reported facing two-hour queues to book the beach squares at the time.
Toni Pérez said the council had worked constantly throughout the year to make sure the beaches were in "an optimal state" for users for Easter which marks the beginning of the high season. To this end, repair and adaptation work has been carried out on different elements, as well as adjusting the lifeguard and cleaning device.
Sunbeds are also making a welcome return, with the mayor specifying "the maximum on the beach will be 3,500 per day".
The number of rescue and lifeguard is also being increased with five on Levante beach, six on Poniente beach and one on Mal Pas beach. They will be on duty from 10am until 6pm and there will be two ambulances with personnel.
The cleaning service has also been reinforced so that at Easter there will be a total of 21 operators rather than the usual 13.
One regulation which will remain is the " six metres" from the shore requirement. This means that sunbathers can't sit within this line, leaving the shoreline space for people who want to walk along the beaches.
Spain has already lifted the requirement for beach users to wear masks as they are no longer required outside. The indoor rule is to be lifted from April 20th.
Benidorm's mayor also confirmed that the beaches were not badly affected by the recent storms as they are more protected than others.
Spanish authorities sparked confusion over travel rules last week after it was announced that unvaccinated Brits would be welcomed back with Covid tests - only for Spain to backtrack less than a day later.
The Spanish Tourist Office had announced that the country would reopen with immediate effect to unvaccinated UK travellers, but hours later issued an apology as the rule change was incorrect.
The confusion is believed to have come after a bulletin was misinterpreted.
Pedro Medina, deputy director of the Spanish Tourist Office in the UK said at the time: "We apologise unreservedly for the miscommunication earlier today which was due to a misunderstanding of the new entry requirements."
Under the current Spain travel rules, which also apply to the Canaries and Balearics, anyone aged 12 or over can visit the country for tourism if they are either fully vaccinated against Covid, or can show proof of recent Covid recovery.
Unvaccinated teens aged 12-17 can visit, but only if they have proof of a negative PCR test within 72 hours prior to travel, and are travelling with vaccinated adults.
All other travellers will need to fill out a pre-travel form, and obtain a QR code to be scanned at border control.
There is an exception for the travel form; children aged under 12 who have an EU Covid passport or NHS Covid travel pass won't be required to have the form.
The country is also expected to relax its local Covid rules later this week, including ending the requirement for face masks indoors.
A number of holiday hotspots have been easing their rules in recent months.
In fact, 14 destinations have axed Covid travel rules entirely including the likes of Iceland, Mexico and Madeira.
Meanwhile a number of holiday hotspots including France, Greece and Portugal are open, although you may need proof of a Covid vaccination, or a negative Covid test. To give you a helping hand, we've rounded up the latest travel rules for major holiday destinations including the rules in place for the Easter holidays.
