The Homewoods Winter Motorhome Tour in Spain
January/February 2014
Helen and David Homewood
Introduction
We were looking for some sun - Central
France where we live may not have been as wild and wet as England, but it's
pretty chilly and wet, and colder in winter than England anyway.
A friend suggested the Ebro delta,
S of Barcelona, as being not too far and pleasantly uncommercialised.
Catalonia was pleasant, relaxed, affluent even. I am sure the high
unemployment statistics are correct, but we saw none of it. Spain is a big
country, there is plenty of space to park a camper or a lorry - a change from
Portugal, which we love but where we can't find anywhere to pull off the road
to make coffee, let alone park up for the night.
I was interested to see, in a big Consum supermarket in Burriana, near
Castellon de la Plana, beautifully packaged chicken feet, chicken carcasses and
other "offal", on sale in the refrigerated shelves, something we
don't see in France . . . an indication of a peasant economy, which makes use of
everything. I always find that refreshing.
We used http://www.furgovw.org/mapa_furgoperfecto/ for most of the overnight
spots. A shame we don't speak Spanish, but Google Translate was useful. Hardly anyone spoke English, or
even French, but all the signs were in both Spanish and Catalan.
We asked a chap the way on the seafront in Benicarlo and said
"Catalonia!" "Catalonia merde!" was his dismissive reply
(he did speak French). " Who is going to give us jobs if Catalonia breaks
away?"
From France into Spain at La
Jonquera
On 10 January 2014 we set off, as
usual at midday ( by the time we had drained the water, packed the van etc) and
lunched in the spacious car park of a Casino supermarket in town (that way we
can nip back for anything we have forgotten, in this case David's trainers ).
We made Carcassonne in 3.5 hrs,
where we usually park close to the Canal du Midi at nearby Trebes, a nice
little town with a useful Super U for fuel and essential supplies. The Tom-tom
got rather lost though: N 43.20859 E
2.44431
At La Jonquera at the Spanish
border there is an Outlet duty-free shopping centre, where David made a killing
on the way back on some snazzy mustard-coloured trousers, and I stocked up on 4
different whiskies, a litre of gin, armagnac, and some very nice mulberry
liqueur. Very cheap good saucisson too. No co-ordinates, but can't miss it from
the Motorway.
Figueres
Our first requirement in a foreign
country is usually a 3G Sim, or renewal of same. I had phoned the really
helpful Tourist Office in Figueres, who suggested we park on some rough ground
for lorries, close to the Esclat supermarket on Carrer Emporda in Figueres, and
walk a few 100 yards into the centre, where we found the Vodafone office. I
asked if this was a safe place to park and got a very definite reply of
"no problem". No Co-ordinates, but just drive down Carrer Emporda
away from where it begins in the centre, where the Tourist Information is, and
you can't miss the parking.
It cost us 20 Euros for the Sim
and 1 gig for a month, which I thought was a bit steep in fact. Some English we
met later said you can now get a much better deal buying for a mobile phone
rather than a tablet. This is beyond us, but might be worth following up? The
Sim is quite invaluable though, you are your own Internet hotspot wherever you
go, so well worth the outlay. Later we topped up in a tobacconist's, as you
would for a mobile phone.
The Dali museum in Figueres is
whacky and fun, he designed the building too.
Castello d'Empuries
From Figueres we headed East to
Castello d'Empuries and a peaceful overnight pitch at: N 42.258522 3 E 078499
This is a lovely village with a
massive basilica on a hill, a mediaeval Jewish quarter, and a museum in a flour
mill.
For reasons best known to
ourselves (i.e. grandchildren), I then flew back to England from Girona
airport, leaving David to his own devices for a week.
Girona
We found a sheltered overnight in
a municipal campervan site with free facilities at the Girona suburb of Quart,
SE of the town. The Tom-tom got lost again: N 41.93954 E 2.83926
Girona itself we explored on our
way home.
Very pleasant old town, cathedral,
old churches, a mediaeval Arab bathhouse. We tried the furgovw car park for an
overnight but it was full, so we parked in another nearby car park on the way
to a Tuesday morning market where I made a killing on lemons for marmalade, €0.50
per kg! It's an easy walk from the centre, at: N 41.98932 E 2.81709
Suria
We gave Barcelona and Tarragona a
miss this time, but explored a bit of the hinterland away from the coast.
From Girona we drove West to Vic
and Manresa, and parked overnight on waste ground in the little town of Suria.
Dramatic views from the NW of the
serrated peaks of Montserrat, as well as a lovely run through wooded country
along the winding C37.
Pinell de Bray
One pleasant overnight
"area" was a converted railway station in a cutting at Pinell de Bray
(just S of Mora d'Ebre) at: N 40.99875 E
0.47133
Ebro Delta
The Ebro delta is a bit like the
Camargue minus the bulls and horses: water all around you reflecting the sky,
and with good viewing platforms to watch water birds such as herons and egrets.
Bikes would be useful here.
Overnights included a lovely beach
under Eucalyptus trees beyond Els Montells at: N 40.65567 E 0.78245 and the restaurant Casa di Fusto, NE
of Sant Carles de la Rapita at: N 40.65939 E 0.67500 – we found this one after the police
said we could not park in the marina car park.
Sant Carles de la Rapita was a
nice little town for essential shopping and we had good tapas in a scruffy
small taverna on the main street.
Les Cases de l'Alcanar
South of the delta we fell in love
with Les Cases de l'Alcanar, the tiny fishing port of the inland small town of
Alcanar. It has 2 campsites, a supermarket, pharmacy, small shops and plenty of
seafood restaurants, which is all you need in January, and all open because of
the boats coming in at 4.30 pm and the subsequent fish auction in a shed on the
quay.
This was our entertainment most
days, watching the octopus climbing out of the fish boxes too! The weather was
sunny mostly, sometimes windy, but nothing compared to what you all were
getting back in Blighty.
We lurked here for 2 weeks, partly
because we had flu, and parked up in the seafront car park next to a No
Campervans sign at: N 40.54985 E 0.52846
The police drove past us most
afternoons. In summer you might be better off at the other end of the car park,
next to a bar, especially if you went and had a drink there - no "No
Campervans" sign at that end.
We also used the town centre car
park at N 40.55314 E 0.52971
Camping Estanyet is a very nice
site but with no sea view and costing €20 per day at: N 40.54054 E 0.52005. We stayed there to tank up, do washing,
or when we were ill.
Vinaros, Alcossebre and Benicassim
We made a foray further south and
found the following overnight in the car park in Vinaros, a pleasant town and
working port, at: N 40.45497 E 0.46151.
We also used a tiny hillside car park
on an unmade road, in a Natural Park, north of Alcossebre at: N 40.26474 E 0.29932.
We lunched on a Sunday in this car
park on the bustling seafront at the mainly Spanish resort of Benicassim: N
40.03585 E 0.04948
Burriana
The beachfront at Burriana had
several vans at: N 39.86436 W 0.06752. Burriana is just south of Castellon de
la Plana, and was a bit of a pilgrimage for us. We have an old book on Spain,
"Iberia" by an American journalist, James Michener, who came to
Burriana on a tramp steamer from Dundee in 1932, when there was no harbour. Lighters
(flat-bottomed barges) of oranges in steel barrels were towed out to sea by
oxen, specially bred by the Romans to work swimming in the sea. Apparently the
oranges were cut in half and the barrels filled up with sea water!
There is a harbour there now, and
from our pitch beside some palm trees we saw a cruise ship in dry dock. When we
woke up next morning (Sunday), it was gone.
Nice shops at the roundabout just
back from the port behind us, including a "Hamburgeria" which was
also a butcher's. A jolly girl and her Mum sold me plain and spicy sausages and
some wonderful pork meatballs with mint and pine nuts in the seasoning, and a
frozen block of saffron soup to serve them in. They either fry rice,
paella-style, or a short pasta called "fideua" to serve with it,
making a great local take on fast food!
Les Cases de Xilxes and Segorbe
Les Cases de Xilxes, seafront
parking (from furgovw) at: N 39.77053 E 0.15313
was by a lovely beach, in front of deserted holiday flats. There was a stiff
breeze overnight but we were well sheltered.
We then drove inland via the
scenic and well-signposted Vall d'Uixo to the railway station at Segorbe (a
furgovw camper stop) but the water was turned off. Good WCs in the station, and
a cosy bar selling lunch.
Montanejos, then back to Burriana
Then to the Spa town of
Montanejos, a fabulous drive on well-maintained winding roads through majestic
scenery. Sadly the hot baths were closed for the month of February, a shame as
I was looking forward to a prolonged dip. So instead we returned to Burriana
for the night where lots of kids were windsurfing - very watchable.
From Spain into France via La Jonquera and Souillac
Then we turned for home, via
Girona and La Jonquera. We did find the Autoroute via Toulouse extremely
expensive. Although we are only a Class 2 vehicle, it cost €57 from the Spanish
border to the exit at Souillac. Another year we would use the A75 (south from
Clermont Ferrand).
We had an overnight on the way
through France: anyone could use this one in winter, by the river Dordogne in
Souillac at: N 44.88673 E 1.48221
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