Temperatures rise around the pool at Mil Flores II

ANYONE who lives on an urbanization is aware that there are a certain number of community rules which must be adhered to, although there are times when both residents and visitors alike can feel that things are taken a little too far.

Lorna Pickering, age 24, from Nottingham, is trying to enjoy a holiday with her 4 year old son, Charlie, but feels that she is being bullied by a faction of German residents on Urbanization Mil Flores II, Playa Flamenca, where she is staying.

She explained that they complain about the noise every time that she takes her son to the pool, although all he is doing is trying to swim.

“Yesterday Charlie was wearing a rubber ring and armbands, which for me are merely swimming aids, but the German lady who lives opposite came running out screaming that toys are not allowed in the pool.

I tried to explain that my son needed them because he was still learning to swim, but she just scoffed at me and gave me a disapproving look as if I was some kind of trouble maker!” she said.

Several other residents from the same urbanization, who wished to remain anonymous, supported Lorna’s story, saying that they are tired of having to tip-toe around the pool with their children in case they offend the German neighbours that live there.

One British lady revealed that her 5-year old son became a victim of their complaints because he was “swimming too loudly”.

“He is learning to swim and was splashing a little because he still does doggy paddle. If he was bombing or jumping in and purposely causing chaos then I would accept the comments and chastise him accordingly, but he was merely practicing his swimming and I was appalled that people would complain about that!” she said.

The tension finally reached a peak at Mil Flores II, when Lorna and family friend, Barmaid, Joyce Newman, who lives in Eagles Nest, went to the pool with Lorna’s son and Joyce’s 3-year old Grandson.

Lorna explained that they laid their towels on a grassed area beneath the palm trees, which was the only place with any amount of shade, and went off for a dip.

Lorna said their fun was soon interrupted by the same German resident, who instructed them that they could not leave their towels on the grass.

She said that she immediately moved them onto the paved area and returned to the pool. Joyce later exited the pool, retrieving her towel and laying it out under the palms once again.

She claims that she was applying sun cream when the lady began yelling at her in German and pointing aggressively.

Joyce said that “I assumed that she was telling me to move off the grass, but I was not happy to lie on the crowded pool surround, where there was little space and zero shade, so I tried to ignore her”. She said that the lady eventually disappeared and she began to relax.

Minutes later there was more shouting and Joyce looked up to see that the first lady was in the garden of a German neighbour, aged around 65 years, who was also now yelling at her. “It was really embarrassing and they were causing quite a stir but I tried to ignore them and mind my own business” she said.

At that point she stated that the second lady marched over to her, grabbed a corner of the towel that she was lying on and attempted to drag it from beneath her. “I was quite startled, but determined that I was staying put, and my instant reaction was to grab my towel and sit right where I was!” said Joyce.

The lady eventually retreated back to her garden, and Joyce said that she thought that was the end of it, until she reappeared with a hosepipe and spayed it all over her and her belongings! “I was completely shocked and very angry at this, and have never in my life seen a grown woman behave in such a way! It was totally irrational and unwarranted!” she said.

Instinctively, Joyce said that she made a grab for the hosepipe, and the lady instantly began to back-off towards her garden. “I jumped up and pursued her, with her spraying water in my face the whole time!” said Joyce. She admits that she followed her into her garden, still attempting to grab the hosepipe, so the lady gave her a hard shove backwards, causing her to lose her balance, and Joyce fell right over the top of a hedge landing in a heap on the other side, and sustaining several scratches and bruises to her body, arms and legs.

“At that point I was absolutely furious. I launched at her, grabbed the hosepipe and turned it directly in her face!” Joyce admitted, adding that “It was all a bit of a blur, and I still cannot believe that it happened, and in front of so many onlookers! We must have looked hilarious to the holidaymakers!” She said that the lady then screamed for her husband, who had been indoors the whole time, to call the Police, and threatened to denounce Joyce.

Luckily several Brits who had witnessed the scene stepped forward and started to scream in Joyce’s defence until the lady backed down. “The entire scenario is outrageous and I still cannot believe that someone would behave in that manner simply because I had laid my towel on the grass. I was not harming anyone or causing damage to property, I just wanted to relax in the shade and watch my grandson play. It really made me question what this world is coming to!”

By Heidi Wardman
heidi@euroweeklynews.com