Yzabelle Bostyn
A BLACK man has claimed he was refused entry to a beach club on Spain’s Costa del Sol due to the colour of his skin, igniting a racism row.
One of Malaga’s most popular beaches, Los Alamos, Torremolinos was generally considered a great place to enjoy the sun and relax.
That was until a group of friends went to Playa Santa beach club last Saturday, May 25.
A Google Reviewer named Carlos Montaño has blasted the venue for racism after he was not allowed entry ‘because he was black.’
Photo: Google Reviews
The man, who has Colombian and Italian nationality, was reportedly denied entry because he ‘violated the dress code.’
However, he claims this was just an ‘excuse.’
He wrote: “The worst I have ever seen and experienced. They didn’t let me in BECAUSE I AM BLACK!
“It is the third time I have been and they have not let me in using the excuse that only those with reservations could come in and that I violated the dress code.”
According to Andalucia Informa, the group had gone out for lunch and decided to spend the rest of the afternoon at the beach club.
One of the party went ahead of the group and was told they could not enter without a reservation.
However, they saw other customers in the queue being allowed in without one so they decided to queue up too.
Photo: Google Reviews
When they got to the front, they were told they could not come in because they had no reservation and they ‘violated the dress code’, signalling to Carlos and a friend.
He believes ‘they only pointed at my friend so that they didn’t highlight just me.’
After the rest of their party arrived, they tried to reason with the security team, but found it ‘impossible’.
They were told they could not enter because of their shirts, despite images on the beach club’s social media showing a similar style.
Reportedly the incident ended when a security guard said: “I’m sick of that smug morenito [dark one]. If I say no, it means no.”
According to Carlos: “They were intimidating. From the moment I tried to speak to them face to face I realised my clothes were the least of the problems, there were people inside that were dressed exactly the same as me.”
Finally, the group decided to go to Playa Aruba, where it only took three minutes to get into another famous beach club.
It was the third time Carlos had tried to enter Playa Santa beach club.
Each time, he was told his clothing was not appropriate.
He claims a friend of his, who is also black, has also been denied entry from the club with the same excuse.
“It’s racism, we need to make that clear,” he said.
Although there are positive comments on Google Reviews, some reveal similarly prejudiced attitudes.
Camilia F wrote: “All of a sudden, the doorman said: ‘ah, they’re all Argentinian’ and stopped us from coming in.”
READ MORE: Spain’s post office sells skin-tone postal stamps in ‘disaster’ anti-racism campaign
