Spain, is it safe to go.
Hi, I was wondering what people thought of the current situation in Spain and whether we would be better off not risking it in case things escalate. We are looking at going a week on Tuesday with the van for about a month, it will be our last opportunity as we have a three year old who will start school next September.
Thanks for any advice.
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With 1100 fatalities on the roads in Spain last year, and 3300 others in France I would say you are embarking on a very dangerous journey - but the risk of being caught up in civil war is pretty slight.
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I asked the same question on another forum a week ago as we are off tonight. The answers came back and all said go. When I thought about it I decided that they were not going to target holiday makers and as long as we kept away from any demos we would be ok. You can look at the Foreign Office website. They are only saying be wary in Barcelona.
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Don't you encounter a lot of seaweed there though?
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Thanks for the sensible replies. I think the danger has subsided a bit over the weekend. Does anyone know what time the campsite in Burgos accepts caravans until as we are hoping to be on Tuesday's Santander ferry, which would mean turning up at around 930pm.
Thanks Paragon.
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Don't know when reception at Burgos closes but I think your ETA is optimistic! It is just over 100 miles to Burgos from Santander most of which is on hilly roads so I would allow 3 hours for the trip. If your ferry arrives at 18.45 you may mot leave the port until 19.30 so ETA Burgos at best 22.45! Our ferry in Sep was 3 hours late
. Would recommend a closer site; is Cabo Major in Santander still open in early Nov? 1 -
Hi Paragon, with an evening arrival and a three year old probably wanting food and bed it might be worth checking whether Camping Virgen del Mar is open. It is only 10 km. from the Santander ferry port and would be an alternative to driving to Burgos on a dark November night. Take care.
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Agree with eurotraveller. Club O'seas book lists following sites near Santander open all year:
Camping Somo Parque (12ks east)
Camping Costa San Juan (2 ks NW)
Camping Virgen del Mar (to 10 Dec) - eurotraveller's suggestion.
Have not used any of them so cannot comment.
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Going to Bilbao in a few weeks what overnight stops for campervan are there, we going over Valencia To the coast not touching the cities.
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Eurotraveller mentions road fatalities, interestingly the UK figures are hovering around 1700 so make Spain look quite a good bet. Mind you most of their 1100 were probably on the A7 along the Costa del Sol.
Love the entry and exit slips, not!!
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Well we took the plunge and instead of the Tuesday ferry we did the Sunday night Santander which got in early Tuesday morning and managed to get to our destination in the Costa Blanca that evening. The problem now is that the van seems to be falling to pieces on us. We have a 2016 dealer special sprite and the truma boiler has stopped working on the electric, it won't heat the water or heating but doesn't show any fault codes. It is working on the gas however which has got us out of bother. I am loathed to touch it as it's still under warranty but if anyone has any ideas I would be grateful. The pipe also fell off the kitchen sink today while the Wife was doing the washing up, she was commenting how well it was draining but it was going into the cupboard below. I think I've fixed that though.
Sorry to ramble on Paragon.
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Paragon, sorry to hear about your mishaps....what a pain.
Swift (perhaps this is how quickly it happens) sink drain pipes are notorious for coming adrift (swift talk is full of similar complaints), it seems linked (but not for long....) to a waste pipe that is usually too horizontal to aid speedy draining.....perhaps they have included a solution?
regarding the Truma issue, there are two fuses and a reset button and are depicted on page 8 this Truma manual
try the reset button first, it takes a solid deep push to make it work.
if no luck, then check the fuses.
if you need more gas, you will need to het a Jumbo adaptor for a spanish bottle.....ypu may need to change your normal UK propane hose for a continental 'butane' one which will allow you to screw in the adaptor.
you can then get a Repsol or Cepsa cylinder either from the campsite or one of the many filling stations....you can give a site as an address if required.
see this other thread for some extra info on spanish bottle connections.
good luck.
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If Bolero Boys suggestions don't solve the problem, then I would ring the dealer that you bought the van from - and record the problems with them, asking them to make sure they keep a record of the date of your call and the detail of the conversation. Ask them for their opinion about DIY repairs and their suggestions - and follow their advice. If they say 'don't touch it' then don't, so you make sure you don't invalidate your warranty.
There is a registered service agent who visits Spain - http://eurocaravanengineer.com/ - but his times are limited. It may, however, be worth getting in touch with him just in case he is in your area servicing vans at the moment as I think he may have a house somewhere in Spain.
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Paragon, I am sorry to read of your troubles but if it is any consolation we are having similar. It is our first trip to Spain and so far the car has broken down and will be off the road for three weeks, this morning the heating packed up on the caravan and I bought what I thought were normal eggs and went to fry them and found I had bought hard boiled ones! Finally we are on what is a brilliant site in every way bar one which is down the road there are guard dogs that don't stop barking day or night.
But the sun hasn't stopped shining in a brilliant blue sky in nearly three weeks, the scenery is excellent and the Royal Palaces and churches we have seen have been magnificent.
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Camping Las Lomas near Granada. As I say. perfect site with a frequent bus at the entrance to Granada, reasonably well stocked shop for the time of year, and very, very helpful staff. We have a pitch with a view right down the valley.
We have done El Escorial, Cordoba and now Granada. Totally wonderful.0 -
Hi Paragon
Whereabouts are you in the Costa Blanca because if you are in the Southern Costa Blanca or heading that way and are still having problems with your Truma boiler these people are excellent. I have had a couple of things completed by them and a friend had a Truma bolier retro fitted on his Auto-trail a couple of years ago.
They are in the city of Elche just south of Alcante.
CruzCaravanas:
https://www.caravanas-cruz.com/en/
Phil
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Thanks for the info, we are at [dare I say it] Benidorm. The boiler is working ok on the gas & I think we should have enough for the rest of our stay and if we don't I will buy a fan heater at the media markt and boil the water with the kettle to do the washing up. Thanks Paragon.
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Ha, if you get fed up with Benidorm....give it 48hrs, lol......try popping a couple of km north to Altea, the difference is marked, a classy, quiet resort with a large site and a camperstop both right on the beach....
good luck.
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Just to let the posters know, the van went into the dealer last week an found the element had burned out on the boiler. They had one in stock and I had the van back just after lunch. I was really pleased with the dealer they did it under warranty so it didn't cost me anything either.
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I was lazy, and used the English spelling instead of the Spanish! 
