Are all Aires in Spain dirty & uninspiring (2 Viewers)

[RayD]

We’ve stayed at some excellent Aires in Spain..
Santilana del Mar, Palencia, Avila, Zamora to name the best that we've found.

 

[ronboyracer]

Currently in Spain working our way to Portugal and we are totally uninspired by the state and location of the Aires we have tried so far (and Spain in general).

We stayed in San Sebastian yesterday which was great but the aire was dire, did what it said on the tin for access to the town but that was it.

Moved on today and found one in lekeitio (Mrs t wanted to be near the sea) and it was awful, gippos taking up half of it and the car park it was in was full of rubbish and other crap, so we moved on and now on one at erekalde auzoa, its OK but no services and not much in the area we can find.

Before Mrs T makes us turn back to France are there better ones or have we been spoilt in France/Germany et al. I have looked at peoples travels and are aiming for something have stayed at so hoping there is better to come.

Ronboyracer: personally my experience of Spanish Aires is rather dire, if they pulled there fingers out they could create stop overs with decent facilities charge a minimum amount people are willing to pay , cut the wild camping down and provide income for the country .

 

[Gina M]

If you think these are dirty and uninspiring there's no point you being in Spain

View attachment 657877View attachment 657878View attachment 657879View attachment 657880View attachment 657881View attachment 657882
All on our present trip in Galicia.

Most of them free and with services.

Tonight's parkup is maybe a bit uninspiring on photos so I haven't included it, but we're here to ride our bikes tomorrow. It's clean, full services, including leccy! And it's totally free.

They all look good, are they available all year round?

Gina

 

[BreweryDave]

Tbh, I consider an aire is simply a legal motorhome parking place. If you get facilities and a view, it’s a nice bonus, but essentially it’s just somewhere to sleep whilst visiting an area. Once I’m in bed, I don’t care, and usually well imbibed enough to care less
Reviews and photos on the various apps should steer you right

 

[steve69]

The Spanish Aires may be bland, but two I stayed on were within a brief walk into towns - which were gorgeous! Torquemada was one, sadly can't remember the other but it was also on that route.

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[huck999]

Most sites on here have been vetted.
We have never been to a 'bad' aire shown on this web page.
A check on Park4night will show you latest reviews, so you can 'vet' them before arriving.

 

[15edward]

Torquemada was a lovely spot we stayed on. I couldn’t go back though- best example of poor howling shed locked dogs in Spain ….

 

[jumartoo]

They all look good, are they available all year round?

Gina

Two of them were private areas, both of them say they are open all year. The others are free, public areas, and have open access.

 

[bladerunner]

Monsaraz is pretty good.

 

[jumar]

Ronboyracer: personally my experience of Spanish Aires is rather dire, if they pulled there fingers out they could create stop overs with decent facilities charge a minimum amount people are willing to pay , cut the wild camping down and provide income for the country .

I therefore regard your experience as being somewhat limited, yours and others on here do not really understand how Spain ticks.
Making an Aire is costly, maintaining one too...
Someone earlier posted that on a campsite they stayed on the swimming pool was closed until the end of June...and so it should be.... maintaining a pool is expensive, it requires constant water testing, sometimes 3 or 4 times daily...all this for an odd nightly stopover..sites are geared up for the Spanish summer...July and August.
Getting back to providing an Aire..Town Halls have a budget to provide a service to its community...they do this quite well....they would need an additional budget to collect a few Euros...so as you might know, this opens the door to private Aires becoming popular...
Currently in our small region there is work in progress to build more private Aires...two will be opening shortly....
Motorhoming has taken a huge step forward everywhere....sales are great...it will take many years to provide space for everyone....
New restricted parking laws will have a great effect too...all in all, Spain is different and we all must come to realize just that... as a resident or visitor...
Perhaps someone who runs the Aire network in the UK could point us in the right direction....then we might get our fingers out and provide stopovers and earn a little for the country...

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[Rapido925M]

We liked Torquemada: just a bit of tarmac by the church with room for 6? vans. Approximately 15 spent the night there and we suffered the worst storm ever in our MH.

Surely one of the strengths of our hobby is that if you don’t like somewhere then you move on. Sometimes we have rejected 5 or 6 places in a day.

Gordon

 

[jumartoo]

We liked Torquemada: just a bit of tarmac by the church with room for 6? vans. Approximately 15 spent the night there and we suffered the worst storm ever in our MH.

Surely one of the strengths of our hobby is that if you don’t like somewhere then you move on. Sometimes we have rejected 5 or 6 places in a day.

Gordon

Exactly! We've NEVER stayed anywhere DIRE. We've looked and left if we havent liked somewhere.

 

[Chris]

Turn around Whittington....Spain is not for you...it's our adopted country...we like it, we support it as it has supported us..just entering our 9th week of our northern tour.. don't think you would like to know where we have been, equally we wouldn't want you to enjoy the real beauty of our country..
So tell me are you comparing your findings with the Aires in the UK...,,,,,

I think that is uncalled for.

He is just asking.

 

[jumar]

I think that is uncalled for.

He is just asking.

Currently in Spain working our way to Portugal and we are totally uninspired by the state and location of the Aires we have tried so far (and Spain in general).

In my opinion he was unjustly running down Spain with his very limited experience of the country....staying for just a few days gives a overall picture of what the country has to offer....I don't think so....he could leave if he felt that Spain wasn't for him...but he chose not too...

 

[Chris]

Currently in Spain working our way to Portugal and we are totally uninspired by the state and location of the Aires we have tried so far (and Spain in general).

In my opinion he was unjustly running down Spain with his very limited experience of the country....staying for just a few days gives a overall picture of what the country has to offer....I don't think so....he could leave if he felt that Spain wasn't for him...but he chose not too...

Fair enough, I was just saying.

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[MichaelT]

Might be worth keeping a watchful eye on the weather.....frontal systems are encroaching which will effect most of the North and West coast...
We left a more Northwesterly position yesterday and have put a plan into effect to avoid the worst of the rain... Autumnal conditions will prevail...The holiday season finished last weekend, you might see many signs of closing down....Galicia is totally different to the southern and eastern Costas....it has a more limited season..

OK cheers, its been misty and rainy here.

 

[JJ]

OK cheers, its been musty and rainy here.

Jeeez...

I wish it was "rainy" here...

JJ

 

[MichaelT]

Currently in Spain working our way to Portugal and we are totally uninspired by the state and location of the Aires we have tried so far (and Spain in general).

In my opinion he was unjustly running down Spain with his very limited experience of the country....staying for just a few days gives a overall picture of what the country has to offer....I don't think so....he could leave if he felt that Spain wasn't for him...but he chose not too...

We were in Spain last year but on med coast which we liked but on a site for a week. Its better today, we found a clean new one to fill up and now at the elephants .

 

[Jenowen]

If you think the aires are dirty and uninspiring wait until you visit a camp site!

This is not our experience at all. Campsites in Spain are usually fantastic, many are superb, much better in my view, than those in France and definitely in Portugal!

 

[Zakattak]

Best view Monseraz is on upper level, use 1st gear to get up, toilet emptying in village below with water from village tap almost opposite

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[simsy56]

We were in Spain last year but on med coast which we liked but on a site for a week. Its better today, we found a clean new one to fill up and now at the elephants .

You should treat yourselves to a day in the wildlife park, it's fantastic. It is worth every penny. We have been in twice with our 30ft RV, and still not covered it all. The cable cars are included in the entry price.

Craig

 

[Northernraider]

I only used aires to empty and fill ..there are literally hundreds of wild camping spots in Spain. But to be honest if I'm in an area I want to be in whether it's near a beach or to visit a town I don't care to much what the parking spot is like ..it serves a purpose and its free. If parking on and staying in one place sat in a chair watching the world go by is your thing use a campsite...its probably more suited. I certainly found it far easier to find nice spots in Spain than I ever did in Portugal. Not been in a couple of years so maybe things have changed. I'll find out in a few months when I'm back there. But can't recall staying anywhere I felt was dire.

 

[jumar]

I only used aires to empty and fill ..there are literally hundreds of wild camping spots in Spain. But to be honest if I'm in an area I want to be in whether it's near a beach or to visit a town I don't care to much what the parking spot is like ..it serves a purpose and its free. If parking on and staying in one place sat in a chair watching the world go by is your thing use a campsite...its probably more suited. I certainly found it far easier to find nice spots in Spain than I ever did in Portugal. Not been in a couple of years so maybe things have changed. I'll find out in a few months when I'm back there. But can't recall staying anywhere I felt was dire.

We will welcome you back to Spain Tam, you might notice little changes, more Aires both private and public, some restrictions on overnighting in areas that have seen abuse from overstaying and overuse.....Covid hit the small business sector...so less Brit Bars in Benidorm and some small villages...
All in all you will, with your experience, have a great time, maybe see you around our way..,,

 

[MichaelT]

I only used aires to empty and fill ..there are literally hundreds of wild camping spots in Spain. But to be honest if I'm in an area I want to be in whether it's near a beach or to visit a town I don't care to much what the parking spot is like ..it serves a purpose and its free. If parking on and staying in one place sat in a chair watching the world go by is your thing use a campsite...its probably more suited. I certainly found it far easier to find nice spots in Spain than I ever did in Portugal. Not been in a couple of years so maybe things have changed. I'll find out in a few months when I'm back there. But can't recall staying anywhere I felt was dire.

We don't sit in chairs but we don't wild camp either. My view is if you are going to provide an Aire why not make it a nice inviting place to stay so people will want to come and spend money in the town/village/area, if there's services then they should work and not be a dirty hole with no water to wash the toilet point so it stinks. If that is a cost to the local community then charge a reasonable rate.

 

[DBK]

I think this thread is about the wrong country! I've come across some very grim aires in Italy. We stayed at an ACSI campsite in preference to a commercial sosta just down the road. For a couple of euros more per night we were on grass under the shade of trees. The sosta had them packed like sardines on a dust bowl.

But we've also stayed on some cracking ones in Italy. You just have to be selective and avoid the most popular spots if you can.

I don't recognise the comments in the OP. From memory we only drove on from one aire in Spain which was in a seedy industrial area.

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[Northernraider]

We will welcome you back to Spain Tam, you might notice little changes, more Aires both private and public, some restrictions on overnighting in areas that have seen abuse from overstaying and overuse.....Covid hit the small business sector...so less Brit Bars in Benidorm and some small villages...
All in all you will, with your experience, have a great time, maybe see you around our way..,,

As long as I can still find places to park In my favourite areas I'll be happy . Benidorm not being one of them so I'll be bypassing that. I will be spending a few weeks around murcia alicante area as I'm hoping to get the dogs blood tests done around there so I can get to Morocco after new year . So we might get a chance to meet in person this trip as you were off gallivanting the last couple of times I was there.

 

[Northernraider]

I think this thread is about the wrong country! I've come across some very grim aires in Italy. We stayed at an ACSI campsite in preference to a commercial sosta just down the road. For a couple of euros more per night we were on grass under the shade of trees. The sosta had them packed like sardines on a dust bowl.

But we've also stayed on some cracking ones in Italy. You just have to be selective and avoid the most popular spots if you can.

I don't recognise the comments in the OP. From memory we only drove on from one aire in Spain which was in a seedy industrial area.

Me neither ..to be honest the dirtiest aires I found were Belgium and France where folk had emptied cassettes on to the top of the grid and not flushed it through so there were piles of shit and paper

The ones I used in Spain the facilities were good not always the prettiest parking but I rarely stayed overnight on them. I will usually look for a wild spot not far from the aire and just use the services and move on .

 

[jumar]

As long as I can still find places to park In my favourite areas I'll be happy . Benidorm not being one of them so I'll be bypassing that. I will be spending a few weeks around murcia alicante area as I'm hoping to get the dogs blood tests done around there so I can get to Morocco after new year . So we might get a chance to meet in person this trip as you were off gallivanting the last couple of times I was there.

Gallivanting....may I just say I have never in my whole 70 years ever written that word...,,

 

[Northernraider]

Gallivanting....may I just say I have never in my whole 70 years ever written that word...,,

Might be a Scottish thing

 

[nicholsong]

Gallivanting....may I just say I have never in my whole 70 years ever written that word...,,

Tam, have you ever done it?

Might be a Scottish thing

His dogs do it and they are Spanish, but I cannot imagine the Tam doing it.

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