Wild Camping in Spain Forums

savannah

Just wondering when it became in some peoples eyes an unofficial ''law'' to always have to use an official site whilst away camping....... freedom of choice rules in my book.......I like quiet camping areas, whether I have to pay or not is immaterial, I DO NOT like camping amongst hundreds of other ,usually noisy,people, whether it is on a site or, for example, as I have noticed at the beach sometimes at Torremolinos, and I strongly reserve the right to choose. I have motorhomed for over 25 years, have never experienced, nor caused, any trouble to anyone in that time, and hope to continue for a long time yet.
I would certainly object to being called a freeloader, and my advice Jim is to steer clear of the costas and discover inland Spain, where not many goatherders carry gas spray guns, at least not that I have noticed amongst MY neighbours ! !
Enjoy your trip, wild camp when it suits you, camp on sites when you want or need to use facilities and have a great time, always respecting the countryside and never leaving anything obnoxious behind you ! !

ScotJimland

Thanks Savannah, we look forward to finding goat herders and wolves Laughing

It will be much more than a 'trip' we are going full time this summer and will head for Spain in October hopefully to find these wonderful unspoiled places, the REAL Spain you talk of.. many thanks for the advice and reassurance ..Can't wait !
Click on my WWW button where we will eventually keep a log..

Cheers ..Jim

johnsandywhite

RobMD

Evening Lynda aka Savannah,

You appear to know and love Spain - maybe you would be able and willing to give us some ideas for touring.

At present we are in Calpe on the Costa Blanca. We hope to get around Spain a bit more in the near future, but are not really sure where to go for starters. So far we are not overly impressed with the Spanish sites, many of which are overpriced for the facilities and conditions (I have wondered if they are taking advantage of the present clamp-down on wild camping that seems to be going on).

I don´t mind using sites as and when necessary, but would also like to stop off-site (sounds nicer than "Wild Camping"!).

Any ideas as to places to see and stop would be appreciated. We have Dylan Dawg with us, so cities are out. We like the open, especially hills and mountains - provided the van can make it up them OK, and miss the green green grass of home (Wales). The hard earth of this part of Spain is a poor substitute.
Also, when not using sites, where do you dispose of Toilet Waste, and take on fresh water? Will garages let you top-up with water at the same time as fuel?

All info gratefully accepted from all!!!!!

C7KEN

Rob MD recently I met some others from UK who had been moved on by police from Calpe so they went to Guadalest and camped overnight in the car park (lower park by the lake) the little man will come round in the morning for 1.5 euros but if you are up and about he won,t know you have slept there ( this is discouraged) also there is a site just inland from Guardamar on the back road to Rojales called Rincorn Camping very clean place and costs less than some of the other sites around here, it has a little cafe bar run by a Scotsman called Wattie Dewar friendly guy Smile

also top up and get rid of waste at the motorway service areas

Nora+Neil

Going to Northern Spain in May.
Along the coast from San Sebastian to Santiago.
Would like to use Aires (like France)wild camp and mostly campsites.

Would I be able to stay near the coast, as on the return journey will go inland?

What the best route?

artona · Moderator

Over the last few years we have made 5 or 6 visits to Spain per year initially considering the purchase of a property. In the end we decided to buy another motorhome which is what we have done. During these visits we met many Brits living there, some of whom were fantastic people but a lot who were totally misable and some we considered crooks e.g. the estate agent who was trying to sell us a ruin for £140k, the locals valued at £15.

Our impression of the Spaniards were that on the whole they were lovely people who just got on with their lives and let others get on with theirs.They were dirty by British standards, if you go into a true Spanish bar the floor is littered with ciggy buts etc and joints of Ham are simply left hanging in the bar to dry out for years before becoming a tasty dish.

I suspect that its the misable Brits who are the ones doing the moaning rather than the Spaniards. At the same time if I were a business man trying to fill my hotel and I had paid to have a sea view that is now blocked out by motorhomes I might be put out.

As per the earlier posts when we get over to Spain we will head inland. We always do this when we are over there. We have discovered a couple of superb drives inland from The Costa del Sol. Heading inland just East of Nerja we drive up into the mountains past little villages and views that are superb. The cost of eating falls dramatically in the little Bars which to us Brits often look like a petrol station. We have come across Volcanic Springs where the water comes out of the rocks at Bath temperature and the smells from the fields from the fresh flowers etc are as nice as any perfume. One suggestion to the couple in Costa Blanca would be simply to follow the A340 or E5 sections around the coast of Spain upto Cadiz in Jerez and then into Portugal. Whenever they feel like driving inland do that and then meander back to the coast. They will find plenty of parking for a night or so.

whistlinggypsy · NW Rally Co-ordinator

Having "wild camped" all over Spain/Portugal for many years we are now reluctant to carry on doing so because of the high risk of a break-in with the resulting loss and damage that is caused.

The problem of going to a campsite is the greed of the campsite owners that will charge 15 to 25 euro per night in the winter months for a short stay ( 1 to 7 nights) but if you stay 30 day's+ the charge drops to only around 6 to 9 euro a night, if it was more reasonably charged for short stay we would use sites more often.

Now we thought that the reason of travelling in a m/h was having the freedom of movement, touring around seeing all the places you want sightseeing then move on somewhere else.

Yes it is nice to park up for a few days rest on a nice beach with the sea lapping around your feet but remember when the locals come down to the beach at the weekend and are confronted with row after row of gleaming GRP and unable to park their cars or enjoy the view it's no wonder they get a little angry.

We stay monday to saturday morning if on a public beach or local weekend haunt then move away until returning monday morning when the locals are back at work.

I do not consider wild camping as freeloading as we all have to eat and buy fresh fruit and veg from local markets, and we like a drink of vino, we need fuel for the m/h and butano as well, we eat out at least twice a week, use local transport for getting around which is great for meeting the locals, so we do contribute to the local community.

Emptying loo's and getting water has never posed a problem as most garages will accommodate you if you spend a few euro on fuel or buy a little something from the kiosk.

Treat the local residents with respect and you will never have a problem, respect the fact you are in their country and make friends with them instead of just parking in large groups and alienating them, and you will have a great time.

2point

My parents live in Spain over the winter, from October to May, they've done this for the last 10 years. They have integrated as much as possible and are both fluent after taking the time and effort to learn the language.

A great insight for me on how the Spanish view the rest of Europe and how much of a disgrace many of our fellow Brits are. The suggestion that the crime increase is due to Eastern Europeans is vile, many of the Brits out in Spain are there for a reason - quite often out of desperation, many wish to return home but cannot afford to. The tales of being ripped off and cheated by other Brits are rife and evidence of this is not hard to find, being ripped off by a Spaniard is much less likely.

The most disgusting bars and toilets I have used are actually in 'British Pubs' in Spain and the Canaries, the local Spanish bars are on the whole a much better prospect for food, company and cleanliness.

Frontline developments are worth a fortune out there, who doesn't want a view of the sea? There is an element of envy that these freeloaders are getting top whack locations for nothing, this cannot be underestimated. By congregating this problem just looks worse.

What exactly is the difference between wildcamping/freeloadind and being a traveller/gypsy? The amount of money you have in the bank/invested in your MH? If more demand was there for sites then surely this demand would be met with someone willing to take the pretty penny and provide the services required? Or is that the issue that the something for nothing brigade won't pay for it?

It does sound like a case of the few spoiling it for the majority, as the majority catch on the problem just gets worse.