# Clampdown on "wild-parking" along Costa Blanca coast



## TheNomad (Aug 12, 2013)

As reported today by one of the local English language newspapers on the Costa Blanca.......a clampdown on wild-parking along Costa Blanca south beach areas.

http://www.roundtownnews.com/news/costa-blanca-south/56357/camper-clampdown


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## nicholsong (May 26, 2009)

Excuse us all for being a bit sceptical today:wink2:


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## TheNomad (Aug 12, 2013)

nicholsong said:


> Excuse us all for being a bit sceptical today:wink2:


Unfortunately the day for jokes here in Spain "Dia de los Inocentes" is 28th December, not the UK's 1st of April.


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## McGeemobile (Jun 10, 2010)

Don't know about the Costa Blanca, but we're at a beach on the Costa Calida that we've used for years for the odd overnight. We've never seen more than 2 vans there but this week there are probably 60 and they appear to be long term. As yet no problem with police even though they drive past regularly but I feel distinctly uncomfortable about dominating the place, although the local bars are not complaining. It's mainly French vans. Never seen so many in Spain. They must all be avoiding Morroco


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## 113016 (Jun 5, 2008)

McGeemobile said:


> Don't know about the Costa Blanca, but we're at a beach on the Costa Calida that we've used for years for the odd overnight. We've never seen more than 2 vans there but this week there are probably 60 and they appear to be long term. As yet no problem with police even though they drive past regularly but I feel distinctly uncomfortable about dominating the place, although the local bars are not complaining. It's mainly French vans. Never seen so many in Spain. They must all be avoiding Morroco


Not good, maybe this is not the year to go to Spain, just as we are about to head that way:frown2:


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## Jamsieboy (Jan 14, 2011)

The answer is simple- use campsites.

Using sites puts money into the local economy, helps with employment in areas that are suffering high youth unemployment.
It also prevents the unsightly picture of a large number of motorhomes all camped together along the coast.

We spent ten weeks in Spain during January/February and early March. We stayed two weeks at La Bella Vista near Estepona. A small village nearby - La Duquesa - had several wild campers in a car park next to the beach. These vans blocked parking spaces and some used the beach to dump waste!!! No wonder we get a bad name.

I think if we want to retain the support of locals to our winter sorties we should use campsites and put hard needed cash into the local economy and leave the views as nature intended.

I appreciate that a number on this forum are keen wild campers but surely to god that does not mean camping together in large numbers in areas of beauty?


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## nicholsong (May 26, 2009)

Jamsieboy said:


> I appreciate that a number on this forum are keen wild campers but surely to god that does not mean camping together in large numbers in areas of beauty?


I do not want to be in large numbers - neither when wildcamping - nor on a campsite.

So please do not suggest that campsites are the solution - they are not for me.

Geoff


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## wug (May 19, 2011)

"Wild Camping" is the most over-used and inaccurate term for what is basically "parking". "Wild Camping" is when you sling a pack on your back and head to the hills on foot and pitch your tent, bivouac or whatever in a remote glen and then move off again in a day or two leaving no trace. I occasionally park up at home in Scotland somewhere in the wilds for a day's walking or mountain-biking and always try to visit the local shops, even if it's just for a coffee and cake, and often buy something nice from the village butcher.

I agree with Jamsieboy, we should try to use local facilities, including campsites and small local shops as much as possible. Spain is not a rich country, compared to the UK, and I am often astonished at how cheap food and eating out is (often with a bottle of wine thrown in) and wonder how they make a living. Same with campsites. We never go near the large busy sites down at the coast, but many of the small ones in rural areas must struggle over the winter to make a profit. €15 a night, with discounts on top - less than €10 (that's £8) if you stay 4 weeks, is an absolute bargain. And you don't leave a mess when you need to empty.

I wonder how many of the "Wild Campers" would like 50 or more vans turning up at a beauty spot round the corner from where they live?


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## Penquin (Oct 15, 2007)

Spain has a network of "aires" too, why not use those?

We did when we took the MH down to Malaga and back and only paid for one night and that was with EHU and WiFi on a private aire. It cost us a whole 8€......

Use the local shops and restaurants for lunch - the food is good and plentiful and a typical set meal costs less than 10€ including wine (usually served with a full 1.5l bottle of lemonade too). It would be stupid NOT to do that IMO.

The busiest aire we stayed on had two other MH and was about 1Ha in size......

Dave


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## Jamsieboy (Jan 14, 2011)

nicholsong said:


> I do not want to be in large numbers - neither when wildcamping - nor on a campsite.
> 
> So please do not suggest that campsites are the solution - they are not for me.
> 
> Geoff


Geoff (and erneboy) Campsites and Aires are most certainly part of the solution. I accept that you and Erneboy are dedicated "wild campers". I also consider both of you highly responsible people based on my experience of you posting here on MHF. I would put The Nomad and Barry into the same category. I appreciate that you guys camp sensibly, clear up any mess and frequent local restaurants and bars and shops, but clearly there are large numbers of so called wild campers that simply want to free load and don't give a flying pig for the impact on the local environment or economy. When in Spain recently we passed a bay near Gibraltar and there must have been 30 motorhomes pitched out like a circus. It looked like a "travellers" convention. 
My main point was that we should camp sensibly, use local facilities and respect the local environment and economy. My view is that using campsites or Aires do that best. Clearly the post that The Nomad put up indicates that the actions of some wild campers is really starting to hack off the powers that be and that could lead to us all being treated with contempt.


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## BrianJP (Sep 17, 2010)

Bans such as this have been in place to the East and west of Malaga for several years because as usual free parking was being abused by a minority. One notable example was in Torre del Mar where Germans and some Brits would set up home for the winter on a piece of ground on the seafront 200metres ftom the entrance to an excellent all year round site. You can't really blame the council for stopping this .Surely you have to be discreet .


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## barryd (May 9, 2008)

Jamsieboy said:


> Geoff (and erneboy) Campsites and Aires are most certainly part of the solution. I accept that you and Erneboy are dedicated "wild campers". I also consider both of you highly responsible people based on my experience of you posting here on MHF. I would put The Nomad and Barry into the same category. I appreciate that you guys camp sensibly, clear up any mess and frequent local restaurants and bars and shops, but clearly there are large numbers of so called wild campers that simply want to free load and don't give a flying pig for the impact on the local environment or economy. When in Spain recently we passed a bay near Gibraltar and there must have been 30 motorhomes pitched out like a circus. It looked like a "travellers" convention.
> My main point was that we should camp sensibly, use local facilities and respect the local environment and economy. My view is that using campsites or Aires do that best. Clearly the post that The Nomad put up indicates that the actions of some wild campers is really starting to hack off the powers that be and that could lead to us all being treated with contempt.


As a seasoned wild camper and Aire user it saddens me to say that I think you have a valid point. It was these large gatherings of motorhomes in Spain on waste land and well know wild spots by the sea that was one of the reasons I didnt venture further into Spain than Catalonia and the the Costa Brava last Autumn. The main reason was time and distance but reading between the lines I didnt fancy being packed along with 100 vans anywhere. Our first and only experience of this was at Sant Feliu de Guíxols. This was October and the actual aire was packed and at least 50 vans (including us) ended up on the overflow car park, luckily we got on an end but pleasant it was not. There was a sign saying no motorhomes but clearly it was ignored. We didnt stop long and with Alans help and CC Infos found some great places away from the coast and even had a few nights on our own. We found one or two private aires that were empty also and very reasonable.

My short experience of Spain did make me think they could do with more Aires really. We never stayed on any sites as we didnt need to but I would avoid places like the first one like the plague in the future and wouldnt be averse to using sites if they were firstly inexpensive and secondly not just a replication of the freeloaders car park at Sant Feliu de Guíxols.

All I require really is somewhere to park, I dont always require water or even emptying as I generally move around with a full tank of water and an empty loo so you a kind of see why I would for example not want to pay more than a few euros for a site.

Happy to spend money locally though and always do.


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## nicholsong (May 26, 2009)

Jamsieboy said:


> Geoff (and erneboy) Campsites and Aires are most certainly part of the solution. I accept that you and Erneboy are dedicated "wild campers". I also consider both of you highly responsible people based on my experience of you posting here on MHF. I would put The Nomad and Barry into the same category. I appreciate that you guys camp sensibly, clear up any mess and frequent local restaurants and bars and shops, but clearly there are large numbers of so called wild campers that simply want to free load and don't give a flying pig for the impact on the local environment or economy. When in Spain recently we passed a bay near Gibraltar and there must have been 30 motorhomes pitched out like a circus. It looked like a "travellers" convention.
> My main point was that we should camp sensibly, use local facilities and respect the local environment and economy. My view is that using campsites or Aires do that best. Clearly the post that The Nomad put up indicates that the actions of some wild campers is really starting to hack off the powers that be and that could lead to us all being treated with contempt.


Jamsie

Just to comment on a couple of points:

'clear up any mess' - don't make any mess

'frequent local restaurants and bars and shops' - quite easily done in France etc., but difficult in England to stop near local shops with a 7m MH, because of parking restrictions/ bay sizes, so S/markets get most of the custom.

'wild campers is really starting to hack off the powers that be' - I cannot see what we individual wildcampers can do about that - unless we decide to add MH No 31 and spend the evening railing against them? - not I.

I am relying on the fact that most of the places that we wildcamp are just big enough for 1/2 MHs and so remote that the authorities would not bother to get laws passed and a sign put up to dicourage the odd visitor.

Geoff


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## McGeemobile (Jun 10, 2010)

We do not like using campsites. The large ones e.g. Bolnuevo swamp a little village. Added to that it's often difficult to get a decent sized plot for a large vehicle. We prefer to wild camp responsibly, or use aires or small camperparks.
The problem as I see it is that people outstay their welcome and park up for months at a time. 
We've just returned to mainland Spain from the Canaries where most of the official aires allow you 72 hours and the police enforce it.


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## ned32 (Jun 10, 2015)

Hi,
Just back from 3 months in Spain and the problem is only going to get worse for the locals in Spain. The nub is that the countries coastal campsites are becoming completely full up by January as more snowbirds move down from the Northern European countries. This year there has been a marked increase in the large number of french MHs using Spain when they normally go to Morroco. Touring pitches are now snapped up. These used to be used by itinerant MHs moving from place to place. Now they have to wild camp because there is nowhere to go! Portugal has started to toughen up an so will Spain. It's coming to a point where you have to plan carefully and book your plot well in advance. Supply and demand. Shortly the prices of pitches will go up when there is a high demand for long term space.when the French go back to Morroco then the dynamics will start to change.

Cheers...... Ned


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## blondel (Jun 12, 2005)

bit worried now!! Off to Spain for the 3rd time in a few weeks. On other occasions no need to book sites so should we be planning ahead this year? Ferry is booked so destination won't change.


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## erneboy (Feb 8, 2007)

I don't want to be with 30 other vans, we'd much rather be on our own. I think those who are afraid, and many are, should go and find security in a camp site rather than accumulate in large numbers. A nice spot near a pub or restaurant will suit us fine and we'll go in and spend a few bob there, and maybe a week if we get on with the people, which we always have.


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## barryd (May 9, 2008)

What would tempt me back to Spain is a list of Aires, wild spots and small sites AWAY from the coast and the throng. Looking on CC Infos they are very thin on the ground.


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## 113016 (Jun 5, 2008)

Barry, just get away from the Costa's, and go to little villages. It is a different world!
The real Spanish as I call them, are very nice people:smile2:


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## erneboy (Feb 8, 2007)

Not thin on the ground at all Baz, you're just against Spain because of the image the coast has.

I've said it numerous times before, come here and you'll have endless things to do and see.


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## barryd (May 9, 2008)

erneboy said:


> Not thin on the ground at all Baz,* you're just against Spain because of the image the coast has.*
> 
> I've said it numerous times before, come here and you'll have endless things to do and see.


Not totally. As said the places we found away from the coast on the Costa Brava and Catalonia were great. Would have done more but time and the weather were against us.

I think we will go back but probably in summer and see a bit more of the mountains and areas away from the coast.

The southern Costas have no appeal to me whatsoever.

To be honest if I decide to over winter somewhere ever Ill do what Geriatric Backpacker (Terry) does and go to India.


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## BrianJP (Sep 17, 2010)

barryd said:


> What would tempt me back to Spain is a list of Aires, wild spots and small sites AWAY from the coast and the throng. Looking on CC Infos they are very thin on the ground.


As someone who not only has a house in Spain but wildcamps/parks in Spain just remember most of the people there are very friendly and generous and if struggling to find somewhere to park up for the night you will often find Restaurants and bars will be more than happy to let you stay on their premises especially if you have been spending money there.


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## nicholsong (May 26, 2009)

erneboy said:


> Not thin on the ground at all Baz, you're just against Spain because of the image the coast has.
> 
> I've said it numerous times before, come here and* you'll have endless things to do and see.[*/QUOTE]
> 
> Including buying Alan lots of beers in his bar - if the two of you can find it - and back:wink2::laugh:


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## ned32 (Jun 10, 2015)

Hi blondel, 
No need to worry much as the Dutch and Germans all have to be back to register in their country as it effects their winter payments and various other benefits. Also by the end of the month the Norwegians and swedes also star making their way home. As so on as the weather improves the French will also evaporate. There will now be a short 2 month window of spaces on campsites before the summer influx.
Cheers and have a good time........ Ned


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