With temperatures rising above 17 degrees in parts of the country, the sunny spring weather this weekend has brought a huge influx of holidaymakers.
Beaches, nature reserves and city parks were flooded by thousands of people enjoying the first real days of spring. This led not only to overcrowded parking lots and long traffic jams, but also to chaotic scenes and some incidents.
Along the North Sea coast, it was already busy early in the day. In popular seaside resorts such as Scheveningen, Zandvoort and Noordwijk, cars were waiting in long lines for a parking spot, and those who had found a spot often had to walk a long way to the beach. In Scheveningen, the municipality deployed extra enforcement officers to keep traffic moving smoothly, but that could not prevent many visitors from parking their cars in unauthorized places. This led to dozens of fines and even a few vehicles being towed away.
Trains to the coast were packed. The NS saw a sharp increase in the number of passengers to Zandvoort and Hoek van Holland. On platforms, people sometimes had to wait for the next train because the first one was already full. “It feels like a summer day in July,” an NS employee remarked. On the beach itself, it was crowded, with beach bars that immediately profited from the crowds. A catering entrepreneur in Zandvoort was visibly pleased: “We really didn't expect this so early in the season. It's packed.”
Not only the beaches were popular. Nature reserves such as the Veluwe, the Biesbosch and the Amsterdamse Bos also saw a huge influx of visitors. Staatsbosbeheer called on holidaymakers to spread out and not all come at the same time. Nevertheless, parking lots had to be temporarily closed in some areas because the crowds were getting out of hand. Hikers and cyclists shared their experiences on social media, with some complaining about the crowds and the lack of peace in nature.
The ANWB reported heavy traffic on Saturday and Sunday. Long traffic jams formed on roads towards the coast, especially on the A4, A12 and A27. On the A1 towards Amersfoort, the delay was up to an hour. According to an ANWB spokesperson, the crowds were no surprise: "This is typically the first big spring day when everyone wants to go outside en masse. We see it every year, but this time the turnout was really big."
However, the weekend was not without problems everywhere. In Rotterdam, the police warned of pickpockets who were active on busy terraces. "These kinds of days are ideal for criminals, because people are distracted and lose sight of their belongings for a moment," according to a police spokesperson. There were also incidents in nature reserves: a mountain biker on the Veluwe had to be rushed to hospital after a collision with a hiker, and in the Biesbosch a canoeist was injured when his boat capsized.
