Thousands of Brits head to the sunny beaches of Spain every year with Benidorm being a firm favourite.

But, over the last two years coronavirus regulations have meant that the holiday resort looked unrecognisable.

Now, the beaches are finally “back to normal” with the town’s mayor saying Benidorm is ready for tourists including Brits who usually lead the market.

He also confirmed that strict coronavirus rules were 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," Toni said.

At one point during the pandemic, beaches in Spain had to be shut down and when they re-opened they were subject to extremely strict social distancing rules.

This included plots of sand being assigned to sunbathers, tightly controlled access points, time restrictions and pre-booking requirements.

Some Brits reported there were two hours queues to book a beach spot.

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, reports the Mirror.

And, this means repair and adaptation work has been done and they adjusted the lifeguard and cleaning device.

Sun beds also return to the beach with the mayor stating "the maximum on the beach will be 3,500 per day".

Rescue and lifeguard numbers will be increased with five on Levante beach, six on Poniente beach and one on Mal Pas beach.

They will work between 10am and 6pm each day with ambulances also available.

And, cleaning services have been strengthened with 21 operators rather than 13.

The main rule that will not be lifted is the “six metres” rule – this is where sunbathers are not allowed to sit within six metres of the shore.

The rule allows beachgoers to walk along the beaches.

Spain will not require holidaymakers to wear face masks on the beach anymore and wearing them inside will be lifted from April 20.

Authorities left Brits confused last week after claiming that unvaccinated Brits could enter the country with a test, but they later backtracked the next day.

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.

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