Whats happening in Spain. (1 Viewer)

Snowbird

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I have never seen Benidorm campsites so busy as they are now. I was thinking it was something to do with a not so good winter further South until this morning whilst talking to an old friend from Norway. He has just travelled up from down south and said most of the campsites are the same, almost full to capacity. Whats going on, it can't all be Brits taking advantage of the strong £. He is Norwegian and said the Norwegian Krone is down against the Euro. There are more Scandinavians here than ever before, so its not a financial thing. For the first time ever it looks like am going to have to book a pitch for next winter as they are turning them away here now.
 
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More and more baby boomers from throughout Europe retiring with nice lump sums and good pensions joining the earlier bulge who retired early with nice payoffs.

What will happen in a few years time when the baby boomer generation has passed, retirement ages are being extended, pensions tightened. Surely there is going to be a demographic gap that will cause severe problems to the 'over wintering' economies that have developed around Spain & Portugal over the last few years.

Also Spain is busy because everybody knows that it always rains in Portugal. :roflmto::roflmto:

Guess where I am.:Smile:

Stopped raining now ::bigsmile:
 

ShiftZZ

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More and more baby boomers from throughout Europe retiring with nice lump sums and good pensions joining the earlier bulge who retired early with nice payoffs.

[HI]What will happen in a few years time when the baby boomer generation has passed,[/HI] retirement ages are being extended, pensions tightened. Surely there is going to be a demographic gap that will cause severe problems to the 'over wintering' economies that have developed around Spain & Portugal over the last few years.

Also Spain is busy because everybody knows that it always rains in Portugal. :roflmto::roflmto:

Guess where I am.:Smile:

Stopped raining now ::bigsmile:


The Baby Boomer children will inherit the estate, they are the biggest winners, not the Baby Boomers, who worked for what they have....

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Nettie

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Nor mine, the Spanish have had mine over the last 14 years :ROFLMAO:

Not mine either. Trying VERY hard to spend every penny.... :ROFLMAO:

Unless you have earn't it, you can never truly appreciate it.

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Feb 22, 2008
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Last week we tried LaManga and LaMarina both were full and of course Marjal Guardarmar also :Eeek:
 
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The Baby Boomer children will inherit the estate, they are the biggest winners, not the Baby Boomers, who worked for what they have....

Not at this house.....BUSBY:roflmto:
 
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Snowbird

Snowbird

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Last week we tried LaManga and LaMarina both were full and of course Marjal Guardarmar also :Eeek:

You are an old hand Spanish traveller Larry. Do you ever remember it like this ?.

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SMB

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I had similar problems at Cartagena a few days ago, couldn't find a pitch at all. I had been to La Manga before and with it being such a large site I gave it a try, fortunately I got a pitch. I'm putting it down to the rubbish weather elsewhere.
 

mariner

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The huge increase in Scandinavian visitors over the last few years is IMHO a major factor. I also have noticed that over the last 2 or 3 years, more and more French have been traveling south.

Some are traveling from down here, to up there, but that is fairly normal for this time of the year, as the Euro Snowbirds start to wend their way slowly back north towards home.

:Cool:

There are some 40 vans Free camping on the fair ground (recinto ferial) at La Calla De Mijas at the moment. I have been coming here for a few years now and have never normally seen more than 4 or 5 at any one time.
 
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DogShowDiva

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Never seen so many motorhomes !!!! when I go out to either Sotogrande or Gibraltar see at least 20 a day .. and yes mainly French :Smile:

Drove past La Bella Vista .. PACKED !!! never sen it that full before ::bigsmile:

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JJ

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Obviously the news that you and Smudger are there has got out...

Or... have some people left recently thus raising the tone? :ROFLMAO:


JJ :Cool:

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chrissyvine

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It is very busy on the Costa Blanca at present. I'm in Denia but was in Benidorm last week in a hire car and saw many vans trying to find places on sites. I believe from contacts on Facebook that other areas including the Algarve in Portugal are the same. As we go into March many of the Scandinavians, Dutch, German and French who are here will be leaving for home as will many Brits. Weather conditions in the UK and Northern Europe has meant more people heading for the milder climate in Iberia and Morocco.



I have never seen Benidorm campsites so busy as they are now. I was thinking it was something to do with a not so good winter further South until this morning whilst talking to an old friend from Norway. He has just travelled up from down south and said most of the campsites are the same, almost full to capacity. Whats going on, it can't all be Brits taking advantage of the strong £. He is Norwegian and said the Norwegian Krone is down against the Euro. There are more Scandinavians here than ever before, so its not a financial thing. For the first time ever it looks like am going to have to book a pitch for next winter as they are turning them away here now.
 
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Snowbird

Snowbird

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Obviously the news that you and Smudger are there has got out...

Or... have some people left recently thus raising the tone? :ROFLMAO:


JJ :Cool:

That being the case JJ I would have thought all the more reason for the place to be empty :RollEyes:.
Seriously though, I know there are more and more Scandinavians coming down for the winter, but there also seems more Brits here than normal. Even pitches that are normally not occupied ie, shaded summer pitches are now taken. Is it a sign of the economy picking up ?. Lets hope so, for everyone's sake :thumb:.
 

SMB

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Just been speaking to an experienced motorhomer at la manga who says the spanish police have been stopping a lot of the wildcamping, moving them on at midnight etc. They have also been entering their details on a computer and warned them that if they wildcamp again they will be fined. This has come from some of his friends who have been out a few months, it would explain a lot.
 
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Is it a sign of the economy picking up ?. Lets hope so, for everyone's sake :thumb:.

Agree...but wouldn't the majority of Brits down there in February be retired, so not really reflecting the current state of the economy? And the rest, if employed, down there due to a lack of work and crap weather back here at the moment?

Matamoros could have a point - maybe one of the last waves of final salary pensions being spent? Won't be many of those in the future the way things are going.
 
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Snowbird

Snowbird

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Agree...but wouldn't the majority of Brits down there in February be retired, so not really reflecting the current state of the economy? And the rest, if employed, down there due to a lack of work and crap weather back here at the moment?

Matamoros could have a point - maybe one of the last waves of final salary pensions being spent? Won't be many of those in the future the way things are going.

To a degree I can agree Neil, but people have been retiring for years, so its not just the recently retired that are down here. I remember years ago when the mines and steel works closed. People were pensioned off with huge lump sums and good pensions. Spain was not as busy then as it is now.

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welshgary

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Hi Guys,
Very interested to read these posts. We are on our first trip down to Spain and currently in El Naranjal in Javea. Been there for several days, lots of Brits plus some from Netherlands & Germany. Just a few spare pitches. We were thinking of moving further south to Murcia in the next few days, but after reading this having second thoughts. Any comments, including recommendations would be gratefully received.
 

Dave and Ginny

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Hi all

These posts are making interesting if not a little worrying reading. So what's changed since last year? We had our first trip during mid March through to May and with the exception of the Easter week just about everywhere seemed quiet to us. Only full site we came across then was Bontera Park, but that had a C&CC Rally in full swing.

Is this a trend during the these early months of the year? We're heading down mid March is it likely to be much the same?

Dave
 

Steveboy

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been here in Spain since early Jan. wilding and well away from that overcrowded coastal strip. No problem and have not seen another motorhome for a week now. Alpujarras at present. Beautiful.

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Just been speaking to an experienced motorhomer at la manga who says the spanish police have been stopping a lot of the wildcamping, moving them on at midnight etc. They have also been entering their details on a computer and warned them that if they wildcamp again they will be fined. This has come from some of his friends who have been out a few months, it would explain a lot.

IMO that's my take on it too. Never been moved on by police as much ever, twice in one day, Benalmadena and San Pedro :Eeek:
Maybe it's time to write on mass to the Spanish minister for tourism that they provide camper stops or French type aires for the thousand or so motorhomers that travel the spanish coast in winter and spend at the local outlets. It's not as if they don't have the land/space to do it. They're missing a big opportunity. I also understand there are big elections in Spain next year and the sitting mayors are cleaning up their act. From someone in Tarifa looking forward to the rally at La Bella Vista in March.:thumb:
 

ronita

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Anyone know if theres any room at the campsite in fuengirola

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DogShowDiva

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I used to live near Torre Del Mar and in the winter about 50 plus motorhome's used to park in a local carpark which was fine but when the locals started complaining that they could not park near there flats and houses the local town hall then started to clamp down on it, a lot of other town halls have followed .

They have said there are plenty of campsite to choose from !!
They allow you to stop up until 9am then you have to move to a site .....

A lot of the time if I have ever driven abroad I just pull into a well lit petrol station, just go in and ask if its Ok to park up... 99.9% say yes, even had them let me have hook up ::bigsmile:

I have heard of upto 200 euro fines if you are caught persistently stopping off anywhere apart form a campsites !!!!
 
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grasscutter

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About two weeks ago all the motorhomes that were parked on the Calle de Moscu near the park in the Rincon area of Benidorm had stickers put on the windscreens informing them they were parked illegally.
 
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Snowbird

Snowbird

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So the general consensus is the Spanish are trying to stamp out wild camping. What happens now that all the campsites are full. Do they stop campers at La Jonquera and turn them back to France, or build new campsites instead of roundabouts :winky:.

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