BEACH bars on the Costa del Sol are in danger of being wiped out as owners face mounting cost issues and a lack of supplies, including fresh fish and even beer.

No less than 600 bars risk closing while 60 “chiringuitos” popular with tourists have already closed.

The Association of Beach Entrepreneurs said the problems were caused after ten days of strike action by transporters in Spain and the dropping of tools by Malaga’s fishing fleet which is asking for more help with fuel costs.

And group chairman Manuel Villafaina warns that most of the other 540 beach bars will suffer the same fate if nothing is resolved within three to four days.

“It’s just the tip of the iceberg,” he said.

Mr Villafaina said beach restaurants were already suffering due to the transporters’ strike, leaving them without vital supplies and essential ingredients for dishes and on top of that electricity prices hit an all time high.

Now the problems have been compounded by the fishermen’s strike which has left boats moored in the harbour, with the beach bar association demanding urgent solutions.

“There are already beach bars that have closed,” Villafaina told Spanish newspaper Sur.es.

“They are the ones who have just opened and who have not had time to organize themselves, so they preferred to close and postpone their start.

“But I’m afraid the others have to go the same way. Fruits, vegetables, sardines even the Italian ones are through the roof.

“Businesses are starting to lose money. So next week we’ll start to see a lot of closures.”

Javier Frutos, president of the MAHOS Hoteliers Association, said the transport strike was an issue they were very worried about: “There is an urgent need to find a solution to this conflict”.

A fish restaurant in Malaga has decided to close its doors three days a week as a direct result of the fishermen’s strike.

A sign on the door warning of the closure read, “We’ll be back with the best quality as soon as our boats resume fishing.”

Mr Villafaina said they had never been in such a dire situation and did not want to see tourists suffer and feared holidaymakers would avoid the Costa del Sol and go elsewhere.

Fresh fish, meat, fruit and vegetables are in short supply and at least one major brewery, Cruzcampo, said it would have problems delivering beer if the strike continued.

“We understand the demands of the carriers because these are problems that affect us too but we also ask the government to find a solution,” said a spokesperson.

“We have gone through two years of a pandemic and we are at a time when the economy must be reactivated as soon as possible and that does not help.

This is not the only problem tourists face if they go on holiday to Spain this year.

Some hotels may be forced to cancel guest bookings due to strikes, as lorry drivers protest high fuel prices and poor working conditions on the Costa del Sol and Costa Blanca.

Despite this, hotel prices have also risen in response to increased demand for holidays in Spain, with Britons avoiding trips to Eastern Europe over Easter due to the war in Ukraine.

And Britons heading to Mallorca have been warned they face higher bills at restaurants and pubs due to soaring overheads for landlords.

There is good news for Spanish holidaymakers, with the Canary Islands lifting all Covid restrictions from today.

And Spain has changed its entry requirements to allow unvaccinated Britons who have recently recovered from Covid to enter.

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