Doc on tour, France, Spain, Morroco.

Mr porky · Thursday at 6:44 AM

jumartoo said:
Unfortunately, we get a certain type of motorhomer in southern Spain at this time of year. The long stayers in one spot, who don't abide by the rules. You can't really only blame them, the authorities have passed rules but don't enforce them. The coast is already getting rammed, I hate to think what it'll be like after Christmas. We stay well away. Unfortunately (again) the inland spots are also now being sought out and they're filling up as well.

This is why I have filled up our January with pre booked spots.

Peavy · Thursday at 7:02 AM

One of the problems in my country as a society is the failure to enforce the laws that already exist.
I always complain about the behaviour of some "guiris", but sometimes people do what they see the locals do. And we are known to be very relaxed with laws, etc. right? Actually, common sense is internacional, with different cultural nuances, so we try to observe the rules when we are abroad. It makes me sad when others don't do the same here.

Pugsy · Thursday at 8:12 AM

Northernraider said:
Left mazarron and headed up to the IKEA aire at Murcia as I thought it was the best place to do multiplied things but jeeso that's turned out to be a crap idea.

I was lucky enough to get right in to a service bay to empty and fill which was lucky as there's more vans here than ever , I really don't understand the apeal of longstaying here but the usual suspects do , tables chairs and bikes galore , it is a bit of a ghetto looking place. Well over 250 vans here today, many I recognise from previous trips , some very big rigs.

I wanted the big Chinese bazzarre....its closed down
Wanted the laundrette ....can't get parked near the bloody thing
Wanted mercadonna.... can't get parked anywhere near it either and I've too much to get to be hauling it half a mile back to the van.
Can't get parked at lidl either

So I'm back up at the shitty aire parked I'm aldi carpark and they're going to get my custom today as the only carpark that doesn't have height barriers etc.

I love mercadonna and was always my supermarket of choice in Spain but on this trip I've managed to get parked at only one so far so lidl has been getting my custom.

They're missing a trick because I think a lot of motorhomes want parked near the shop .

So a pretty unsuccessful day all in

Oh and I've got a feckin leaking cold water hose to my shower which I need to sort too. Only leaks when the boiler is on...must be a pressure thing

Off tae aldi

Just catching up, that's a bit of a trip the wrong way from mazzaron to Murcia Tam .I have just arrived bat Los Alcazares and yo drove right pass here to get to Murcia,washing machines,fill up , Mercado ,Lidl ,Aldi, 3 big Chinese shops all within 500m of one another and you can park right outside all , maybe next time

.
Cheers Cris

Northernraider · Thursday at 8:25 AM

Pugsy said:
Just catching up, that's a bit of a trip the wrong way from mazzaron to Murcia Tam .I have just arrived bat Los Alcazares and yo drove right pass here to get to Murcia,washing machines,fill up , Mercado ,Lidl ,Aldi, 3 big Chinese shops all within 500m of one another and you can park right outside all , maybe next time .
Cheers Cris

Aye it wasn't the best move

waste of diesel and time.

Northernraider · Thursday at 12:02 PM

Wanders from Glos said:
I had a similar problem at the black waste in Italy. A German grabbed the hose while I was emptying and managed to soak my feet. I asked what he thought he was doing. He laughed, in hindsight I think because I’d made him nervous. Couldn’t help myself I shouted at him and squirted him with the hose. Unusual for me to react like that but it just happened. Anyway he wandered off and didn’t seem to hold a grudge. All very strange.

Yes they do seem to have no idea of personal space ... I've had them come tip their cassette in to the drain at the same time I've been using it. Or stand so close you can hardly turn around. I had one guy have a fit of coughing behind me once and utter a pheww type comment because it stank lol. I mean if you're gonna stand so close to waste yer gonna smell waste , especially as I use no chemicals whatsoever.

But the ones filling up all the water bottles are the ones parked there for weeks and scared to move their van in case they lose their space so they ferry gallons of water to their vans. The service area there is incredibly busy as a result

Northernraider · Thursday at 12:04 PM

jumartoo said:
Unfortunately, we get a certain type of motorhomer in southern Spain at this time of year. The long stayers in one spot, who don't abide by the rules. You can't really only blame them, the authorities have passed rules but don't enforce them. The coast is already getting rammed, I hate to think what it'll be like after Christmas. We stay well away. Unfortunately (again) the inland spots are also now being sought out and they're filling up as well.

Yes it's unfortunate and the reason I much prefer Greece nowadays. I've just drove along from aguilas and I think there's more vans than ever along the beaches.

Northernraider · Thursday at 12:09 PM

Peavy said:
One of the problems in my country as a society is the failure to enforce the laws that already exist.
I always complain about the behaviour of some "guiris", but sometimes people do what they see the locals do. And we are known to be very relaxed with laws, etc. right? Actually, common sense is internacional, with different cultural nuances, so we try to observe the rules when we are abroad. It makes me sad when others don't do the same here.

That said there is an ever increasing number of Spanish motorhomes also doing the same.

I think the reason they don't enforce it is because they know that it definable does bring money in to the area even if its only by way of fuel and supermarkets. And the beaches are otherwise mostly deserted in winter so in the grand scheme of things it isn't doing much harm.

Well in some places it isn't, others are like a shit hole.

I still always prefer parking away from the crowds of other motorhomes, not always possible though. And in some places the police will actually move the odd stray van and send them to park with the herd

gus-lopez · Thursday at 12:45 PM

Paulypaul said:
€90 for appointment, injection and filling in Los Alcazares..

50€ for filling here

Northernraider said:
So €270 for today which I've no idea if it's good or not b

That is a brillaiant price as root canal alone used to start fro 175€ here & that was at least 10years back

Northernraider said:
I might pop past and visit @gus-lopez if you're around Richard..

You can always park at the Parque Almenara up the top of the road out in th open '

Northernraider said:
if I could find a yard that breaks scooters and mopeds I'd maybe be able to pick a rack up..

Most car scrap yards do bikes as well ,just tucked away

Northernraider said:
here's loads of other parking spots around that's better if you want to visit the city . Many a lot closer than that aire too.

At Murcia you can always yo the other side of the A7 autovia in to the 'Nueva Condiminia' next to the Real Murcia football stadium as there is open parking for 00's of vehicle out in the open & rarely will you ever see any vehicles parked there except trucks overnighting.
You can only access from the next junction towards Alicante signed as "Torres de Castillas" if my memory is working,then you come back down the service road road, loads of roundabouts to get to the Nueva Condiminia. The tram starts from the Nueva Condiminia then goes over the autovia to the Thader Centre.
Unless it has changed you can't drive from Thader to Nueva Condiminia over a bridge as there isn't/wasn't one .Only for the tram

pelican · Thursday at 2:51 PM

Northernraider said:
It is bleeding awful . I decided to park on the roadside by the launderette and the dog park where at least I'm the only camper. It's quieter too. The aire is handy for the services but that can be frustrating too as I had to tell one German to go away when I was filling my tank as he walked over with 6 x 8 litre bottles to fill up and expected to disconnect my hose in order to do it. There's meant to be a 72 hour time limit on the aire but there's vans there that stay for months. Hence there being another 100 or so vans spilled out on to the rest of the carpark.

There's loads of other parking spots around that's better if you want to visit the city . Many a lot closer than that aire too.

Cloudy overcast day today and there were dozens of vans with folk say outside on chairs in what's essentially a car park surrounded by shops lol. Solar panels out etc. Its worse everytime I've been to it.

Hard to imagine, Any photos of all the vans please.

jumartoo · Thursday at 3:23 PM

The IKEA camperstop Murcia

This is an interesting video that asks a few questions on Motor-homing and Motorhome use.

www.motorhomefun.co.uk

2023 but you get the gist.

Northernraider · Thursday at 4:46 PM

jumartoo said:
The IKEA camperstop Murcia

This is an interesting video that asks a few questions on Motor-homing and Motorhome use.

www.motorhomefun.co.uk

2023 but you get the gist.

And the punchline was he too stayed 4 nights and 5 days

1 night and 2 days would be more than enough to do and see everything you'd want to there.

Murcia itself is a lovely city BUT there is nicer parking nearer to it. Most of those there never actually go in to the shops around other than the supermarket. I was surprised to find the Chinese bazarr shop closed. I remember buying all my supplies there when I first got jade , over £100 worth of doggy stuff.

Really not a place you want to stay more than a day or 2 , I did notice lots of vans grouped together by Nationality this time ... where I stopped to do aldi and eat lunch I was surrounded in Swedish vans ...more arrived while I was there and they all seemed to know each other.

jumartoo · Thursday at 4:54 PM

We only stayed one night when I'd broken my wrist and had it assessed at the hospital in Murcia. I had to be at a private hospital in Molina de Segura at 8 am the next day for an op. We'd been on a short trip in the motorhome so it made sense to stay there. Never again by choice.

Paulypaul · Thursday at 10:26 PM

Northernraider said:
Yes it's unfortunate and the reason I much prefer Greece nowadays. I've just drove along from aguilas and I think there's more vans than ever along the beaches.

Are there vans parking on the beach at Aguilas?. Last year the numbers were diminishing with regular visits by the old bill moving people on

Northernraider · Thursday at 11:04 PM

Paulypaul said:
Are there vans parking on the beach at Aguilas?. Last year the numbers were diminishing with regular visits by the old bill moving people on

Along from aguilas at caraleona, cocedores etc there are a good few hundred. There seems to be more this year than there were 2 years ago when I was here I drove past and it just looked like a itinerant camp. I'm in san Juan de los terreros. There's 5 other vans near me .

jumartoo · 2024-12-13T05:37:27+0000

Northernraider said:
Along from aguilas at caraleona, cocedores etc there are a good few hundred. There seems to be more this year than there were 2 years ago when I was here I drove past and it just looked like a itinerant camp. I'm in san Juan de los terreros. There's 5 other vans near me .

It was reported by the Spanish organisation, Areas AC, back in the spring that height barriers were going to be installed at Calarreona and Cocedores. As usual, nothing has happened.

JockandRita · 2024-12-13T07:42:39+0000

Re the IKEA parking area at Murcia, we had to stay 3 - 4 days earlier this year, as I was quite ill upon arrival due to a dodgy Seafood Paella scoffed in Finestrat.

There were 2 x rows of Dutch, French, and Germans and had set up the space between them like a street party.......................until along came Spanish Plod. He made them all pack up and put away all their tables, chairs, and BBQs, etc.

TBH, they were all taking the pi@@ big time.

Cheers,

Jock.

MitchandJenny · 2024-12-13T08:33:52+0000

Northernraider said:
Visited the monestary this morning its changed a bit since I was last here .
View attachment 985901 View attachment 985902 View attachment 985903 View attachment 985904 View attachment 985905 View attachment 985906 View attachment 985907 View attachment 985908 View attachment 985909 View attachment 985910 View attachment 985911 View attachment 985912 View attachment 985913 View attachment 985914 View attachment 985915 View attachment 985916 View attachment 985917 View attachment 985918 View attachment 985919 View attachment 985920 View attachment 985921 View attachment 985922 View attachment 985923 View attachment 985924

And then I headed back to the coast after a quick stop to lidl and decathlon , now in gandia by the beach for the night.

Nice photos.
Have you seen fewer vans than usual ?
We have, very quiet
Mitch

daveclare · 2024-12-13T08:38:26+0000

We were in Los Terreros last January where we experienced the dirty stinking sneaky local police. We were on a small beach 1km away from the refugee camp looking normal stop. There were just two of us in a nice quiet place away from civilisation. 4.5km away from the town. It was so nice and peaceful we stayed a few days.

They came to tell us to move on the first day. It appeared we were too close to the edge of the beach and they had had a recent storm surge. So we moved back from the edge by a couple of meters which they agreed with. They were all nice and friendly and checked our documents.

Off they went with a wave. Four months later, our neighbours and us received two fines. Never did they mention any fine, or that we should not park there at all. When they were talking to us.

Northernraider · 2024-12-13T09:13:45+0000

MitchandJenny said:
Nice photos.
Have you seen fewer vans than usual ?
We have, very quiet
Mitch

Not once you get south of la manga , there seems to be more than last time

Northernraider · 2024-12-13T09:15:03+0000

daveclare said:
We were in Los Terreros last January where we experienced the dirty stinking sneaky local police. We were on a small beach 1km away from the refugee camp looking normal stop. There were just two of us in a nice quiet place away from civilisation. 4.5km away from the town. It was so nice and peaceful we stayed a few days.

They came to tell us to move on the first day. It appeared we were too close to the edge of the beach and they had had a recent storm surge. So we moved back from the edge by a couple of meters which they agreed with. They were all nice and friendly and checked our documents.

Off they went with a wave. Four months later, our neighbours and us received two fines. Never did they mention any fine, or that we should not park there at all. When they were talking to us.

File it in the bin .

daveclare · 2024-12-13T09:36:28+0000

I don't want to tempt fate for this January's trip. But last year, everyone was saying Spain was rammed, with vans everywhere. But we always found somewhere to stop for free. Out of 90 nights, 6 were on a site.

I know, we're weak! We'll try better next time

Northernraider · 2024-12-13T09:55:34+0000

daveclare said:
I don't want to tempt fate for this January's trip. But last year, everyone was saying Spain was rammed, with vans everywhere. But we always found somewhere to stop for free. Out of 90 nights, 6 were on a site.

I know, we're weak! We'll try better next time

There's loads of places only some are crowded as they seem to love herding . I've just passed some beautiful spots between Los terreros and playa Vera that were empty or only had 1 or 2 vans. Nothing around them but beaches and old ruins . The type of places I love . I never fail to find free parkups I just try to avoid the ones full of vans unless there's something in particular I want to see around there. If the ones that want to stay weeks n months would park on the remote places there would be less problems I think. Especially as most of them have bikes ,scooters, motorcycles, quads or cars with them anyway.

daveclare · 2024-12-13T10:05:05+0000

I agree. We tend to stay away from the herds. Unless going somewhere like Nerja. Where you can park right in the centre of town.

gus-lopez · 2024-12-13T11:10:09+0000

Paulypaul said:
Are there vans parking on the beach at Aguilas?. Last year the numbers were diminishing with regular visits by the old bill moving people on

I was surprised last year on christmas day to find no vans whatsoever on the beach opposite Bella Vista?

MitchandJenny said:
Nice photos.
Have you seen fewer vans than usual ?
We have, very quiet
Mitch

Knee deep in them here.

Northernraider · 2024-12-13T13:59:51+0000

Now in roquetas de Mar, a brief stop in Almeria for lunch ...the parking at the auditorium had about 50 campers . Roquetas the official spots are as usual full of longstayers so impossible to get in them so I'm on a roadside parking at the north end , still around 15/20 vans along this road. I haven't been along the far end yet but I expect it will be the same there.

CaptainPaul · 2024-12-13T16:20:42+0000

Your plates & surround are here Tam, do you want to see them opened to check they're the right things?

Northernraider · 2024-12-13T16:35:43+0000

CaptainPaul said:
Your plates & surround are here Tam, do you want to see them opened to check they're the right things?View attachment 989076

Aye best to make sure eh . Wouldn't be the first time they've got numbers roond the wrang wiy

CaptainPaul · 2024-12-13T16:50:45+0000

CaptainPaul · 2024-12-13T16:51:11+0000

CaptainPaul · 2024-12-13T16:52:15+0000

That 2nd pic is the wee surrounds with them but they're different from my set as I can't see how the plates fit in I'll leave that to you lol

Doc on tour, France, Spain, Morroco.

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