Furious British tourists have gained an unlikely ally in the form of German lawyer Ralf Höcker, who said that his research into Spanish and German law had revealed that leaving towels on loungers was not legally binding.
"A British tourist would be quite within their legal rights to ignore the reservation implied by the towels if there is nobody there," said Cologne-based Höcker (34).
Höcker also cautions against doing anything undiplomatic with the offending German towel.
Bar patrons who leave coats on chairs and pedestrians who try to claim parking spots for yet-to-appear cars are on equally shaky legal ground. "Yes, Germans do such things," Höcker says.
Höcker, who runs a law firm that represents celebrities including supermodel Heidi Klum, discovered the British paranoia about Germans and loungers when he lived in London from 1999 to 2000.
"The towel thing is not such a big deal in Germany, but I have to say that the stereotype is true—German people do reserve all the loungers.
"It's also worth saying that it also infuriates some German people.
He says that he has not recently been a victim of the towel phenomenon while on holiday but recalls: "I remember being on holiday in Germany when I was young.
I wanted to sit down and the only seat was reserved with something.
Höcker admits the rest of the book is somewhat drier. "It's about all these German laws, like signs in shops that tell you to do things that just aren't legal.