The Webbs Introduction to Spain

Cynthia Webb
January 2011

The following notes were written to Maureen and Les Johnson who were planning a motorhome tour of Spain.

We are currently in Spain, just east of Cartagena where we are staying for 2 months. We have had several forays into the Iberian Peninsula, our first a 3 month exploration with a view to finding places to stop for longer in future years.

Firstly, you have to decide whether to "leg it down on the autoroutes" or meander slowly and see something of the countryside. When we were working we did the former, now we do the latter. If you do use autoroutes, be aware that they are expensive (Class 2 for motorhomes) and DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES be tempted to stop overnight on any of the service stations. Security is a very serious matter nowadays and, without trying to spook you, you should be sensible and park either in campsites or official Aires. In Aires, make sure that there are other vans near you and that you secure your vehicle before bedding down for the night - ie strap door handles, set alarm if you have one, secure windows.

A good camp site guide is the Caravan Club book (Vol 1: France, Spain and Portugal); a good Aires guide is "All the Aires in (Spain, France etc) - both available from www.vicariousbooks.co.uk.

Now, clothes - how long is a length of string??? Similarly, what to bring? Take it as about 10 degrees warmer than UK in any season. We are experiencing near zero temperatures at night, up to 18 during the day, which is warm IF the sun is shining. You will still need your winter duvet/sleeping bag in winter in Spain and at this time of year (January) come prepared with warm and summer clothes. 

Explore websites, as there are many blogs and accounts of journeys. You started in the best place – www.magbaztravels.com – so explore their website for a start. Also, good general information is available on www.gomotorhoming.co.uk.

You should be aware that UK gas bottles are not refillable on the Continent. There are several solutions. We have installed Gaslow which gives flexibility as we can refill in fuel stations but is expensive to install; you can buy a bottle in each country to exchange if you are there for long enough; you can use Campingaz (available everywhere but an expensive option); or you can be frugal with your existing supply. Again, no right or wrong answer - each person you meet will tell you that their solution is the best one. You must find which suits YOU.

Basically, you will have a lovely time, you will meet lots of like-minded people and, as you progress in your journey, you will gain in confidence and start telling others of YOUR experiences and exploits. You may just travel (how true the quote "the travelling is often better than the arriving") or you may find a particular spot that suits you. We have several, particularly Caravaning La Manga, where we are currently, because we like walking and cycling from the campsite and there is lots of that here. Others prefer city access or a good beach.

Most popular with the British on the coast of Spain seem to be Vilanova just south of Barcelona, Peniscola and Benicasim, both north of Valencia, and Caravaning La Manga just east of Cartagena. If you are a member of the Camping and Caravanning Club (recommended for UK travel anyway) they have super "Rallies" and "Recommended Sites" - get their books on the subject of both winter and summer continental sites.

Well, I should think by now you will be packing the van and booking your ferry - all I can add is have fun, be aware of security, and ENJOY.

Following their 3-month tour in the spring of 2011, Maureen and Les Johnson wrote the following:

MOTORHOMING IN SPAIN

Internet  We did not take our computer, having not used internet on the continent - we have had many visits to France with our campervan - as somewhere we had read we would not be able to use it (though afterwards found a good many people had theirs with them). We asked at the appropriate places about using a dongle but were advised we would be better off purchasing a Spanish one. All this put us off.
 
Route  We had a good time, although it was quite a new experience. We did go to Spain camping with our 3 children 38 years ago but have to say either it is all very different to then or we had forgotten - nothing seemed very familiar. This time we took the channel tunnel route, another new experience. We stopped at Guines and then 3 more sites on our way to Spain and one more site in Spain before arriving at our main destination at that stage, Amalfra, where we stayed for 30 nights. There was a rally on at the time but we did not seem to get very involved. We chose rally sites especially, hoping that by chatting to other English people, we would be able to get help and advice, which turned out to be the case. On our way we chose to stay 2 nights at each campsite as the journey was so long, so in the end spent 10 days getting to Amalfra. With hindsight we feel this was too long and would choose, if we did it again, to stay only one night.
 
In Spain  There is a lot I could tell you regarding our stay but do not wish to make this any longer than I can help so will not go into too much detail. After Amalfra we moved on to La Manga for one night, Cabo de Gata, Almeria a couple of nights. It was here things didn't quite turn out as we hoped. We hadn't had very good weather (talk about sunny Spain!) - cold, some rain and a lot of wind most of our trip so far - and at this stage we were planning on a visit to Gibraltar. Les had been there when he was doing his National Service and I thought it would be nice to see what it was like. We booked a couple of nights at Cabopino, Mijas which was the nearest we could get to Gibraltar and set off. Unfortunately Les had developed a nasty cold by this time with an awful cough, the weather was blowing a gale, and once we turned the corner along the south coast the road became a single carriageway A-road with very steep sides. All in all this put us off. Les said he did not want to go any further (we were probably about 100 miles from Marbella) so we turned round and returned to Cabopino and then on to La Manga for 16 nights. We were both disappointed but never mind. We had a lovely time at La Manga and the rally there was very well run.

Also the weather had improved a great deal by this time. We then headed for Bonterra Park at Benicassim, stopping at Kiko Park, Oliva on the way (1 night). We stayed at Bonterra Park for 2 weeks. There was a rally on there but, as it was fully booked, we booked directly with the site.
 
Our next move was to La Natura at Penicasim, where we had stayed on our way down (you may have guessed by now, we were making our way home) and Les had liked very much. A bit of a mistake this visit, but not one I will go into. We stayed for 5 nights then started our journey home in earnest, across to Zaragoza, Larrouleta, Urrugne and then up to Beausoleil, Gradignan (Bordeaux). We wanted to try this way as so many people had recommended it - a nice ride except perhaps when approaching the Spanish/French border, a bit hair-raising!! Neither of us are ones for heights! We had travelled down into Spain via Bordeaux across to La Bacares, a bit north of Perpignan and down the east coast.
 
Next Time  Apart from booking La Bien Assise at Guines, as we had our dog with us and they arranged for her to see the vet there, we tried using the Aires in France, another new experience for us. Not too bad although we did find we had to go quite a way out of our way sometimes to find one or they didn't fit in with the distances we wanted to travel. And they do vary a bit but I think we probably would use them in the future sometimes at least.
 
We think if we want to go again to Spain we may go straight from France down through the centre of Spain directly to the south coast and then work our way back up the east coast. The only thing that puts me off this idea is that I think it might be quite mountainous in some places.
 
We did use the Autoroutes (motorways) really all the way and it did cost us a considerable amount of money but we wanted to get to Spain as quickly as possible. On the journey home we didn't have much time to get to Calais. No regrets. We didn't stay overnight on any as we knew about the problems but did have a nasty experience near Alicante when we stopped for a break. Someone tried to get into our van, though I think I must have frightened them off by shouting at them. It was a lesson learned! We were very lucky.
 
Clothes  I just had to guess. The only thing I would say is that we really didn't take enough winter clothes. We managed but could have done with more as it as very cold travelling through France and quite chilly even into Spain, really. The only thing is, we only have a panel-van (an Adria Twin by the way, silver in colour) so do not have a lot of space.
 
Gas  We have 1 bottle Gaslow plus 1 bottle Propane, which works quite well. Wanting to use mainly the LPG, to keep the Propane for emergencies, we did have a problem locating suppliers of the liquid gas. As you suggested, we had purchased 'All the Aires, Spain & Portugal', in the back of which was a list of garages that supplied LPG but they were few and far between. We found one near Alicante and at any time we were in the area we kept ourselves topped up, even on our way home, although once in France we had no problem. So in the end we didn't need to use the Propane at all, another bit of luck!
 
Booking Ahead  We do belong to the Camping & Caravanning Club and could not have managed without them. Carefree International Travel arranged all our travel throughout, apart from La Manga and the Aires on the way home in France. (We didn't try any Aires in Spain, by the way, as we were not too sure about these and, of course, would have had problems with locating them, we think.) We do also belong to The Caravan Club and might try them another time if we decide to go.