January driving Santander to Murcia road/weather conditions & stops?

[royandsharont]

Hi. Despite being frequent travellers to Spain by car and Motorhome we have never done the Portsmouth to Santander ferry and never travelled south in January via Madrid. I recall one November heading south and in the mountains we saw huge car parking areas adjacent the motorway for when it got closed and also saw the army of snow ploughs in readiness should they be needed.

We are considering travelling this route mid January 2022 and from the ferry times arriving early morning would likely stop over at Aranjuez, about half way, but if anyone who has done this route at this time of year could advise of likely road/snow conditions and recommended places they have stopped it would be appreciated.

Coming back end of February early March where do people often stop, the campsites we have visited around Santander will not yet be open & we always like to spend the last night close to the port just in case of last minute hiccups. The Covid19 requirements & testing at the time will obviously dictate our plans & a direct ferry may be preferable to driving from the tunnel/Holland.

Any help will be very much appreciated, regards Roy

 

[Mikeco]

We have done that route many times but mainly in October when the weather is okay. You may be lucky and not have any snow but you should be prepared for it just in case. If you arrive early morning then you could make it to Aranjeuz and the town is worth a couple of days stopover to visit the Royal Palaces.
There are campsites open North of Madrid at Riaza and Pico as well.
For the trip home we stopped at Burgos which is around 2 hours from either Santander or Bilbao. We did travel down in January a few times but took the tunnel and entered Spain on the Med side and went down the coast, this rules out travelling through snow in Spain but you could still get it in central France.

 

[Jim]

Driven over the Burgos mountains in winter a few times, often with 5ft of snow on either side of the road, but the road has always been good, they are very quick with the ploughs

 

[royandsharont]

Thanks Mikeco & Jim. We love Aranjuez, have done all the sights but could easily do them again & easy fast train access to Madrid which is worth the journey. The huge car parks we saw was near Burgos & then we saw the ploughs so guessed it was for snow closures. Never seen so many ploughs all in readiness so that was reassuring & made it stick in my mind. It was the fake Police around Madrid trying to stop us twice in the car which made us generally go via Zaragoza in the end. Luckily I am acutely alert for such things, or was 12 years ago . Prior to those incidents we had robbers try to take the sports car off us on the motorway at Barcelona so we are very aware when travelling on the motorway in Spain, unfortunately.

 

[Clarky]

was the fake Police around Madrid trying to stop us twice in the car which made us generally go via Zaragoza in the end. Luckily I am acutely alert for such things, or was 12 years ago . Prior to those incidents we had robbers try to take the sports car off us on the motorway at Barcelona so we are very aware when travelling on the motorway in Spain, unfortunately.

Sound like a good reason not to go to Spain.
Think I’ll stick to France…………..perhaps they have a better class of robbers there.

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[EuroTrotters]

Thanks Mikeco & Jim. We love Aranjuez, have done all the sights but could easily do them again & easy fast train access to Madrid which is worth the journey. The huge car parks we saw was near Burgos & then we saw the ploughs so guessed it was for snow closures. Never seen so many ploughs all in readiness so that was reassuring & made it stick in my mind. It was the fake Police around Madrid trying to stop us twice in the car which made us generally go via Zaragoza in the end. Luckily I am acutely alert for such things, or was 12 years ago . Prior to those incidents we had robbers try to take the sports car off us on the motorway at Barcelona so we are very aware when travelling on the motorway in Spain, unfortunately.

yes, the robbers tried it on with us a few times.

 

[wanderer]

We always stop at the aire in Somo (next to the campsite) ten minutes to the ferry . It has a manned barrier, loos and electric and plenty of room for all sizes

 

[philann]

Another vote for Aranjuez and Burgos. A couple of years ago we did it at the end of October from Cadiz area where it was 20C, got to Cordoba to see friends and it was -2c at night, Aranjuez was -3C in the day and from Madrid to Burgos it was snowing with snow all the way until you started dropping down off the plateau. Watching TV in the bar at Burgos that night it showed them taking cars off the motorway because of the snow. They had the main roads cleared by the morning though!

 

[jongood]

We avoid the central bit at that time of year, but then again we also avoid the Santander ferry because its so often cancelled or the weather is just atrocious. Would rather trundle down through France, plenty of aires to stop at although you need to carry a bit more water because thats not always available in the winter.

If we were going to Murcia in January we would either go through Somport or via Toulouse and cut the corner off onto AP7 via A66, it is a bit weather dependant although as previously stated the Spanish are pretty quick with the snowploughs.

 

[Hagstrom]

We've been to Spain the last 20 winters and although we've had snow on a handful of occasions, it doesn't put us off driving. The main roads are cleared fast.
Cabarceno Aire, 30 mins south of Santander, the Riaza campsite was a good stop for us, as was Aranjuez.
However, we much prefer the route via Tudela, Teruel and Valencia, down to Murcia. The stops on that route are well documented on Fun.

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[Mr porky]

we are travelling from Santander to Benidorm on the 28th/29th December.
Last time we overnight stopped this time of year at Zaragoza and boy was it cold but no snow.
There is not much difference in travel time going ever Madrid way or Zaragoza way, I wonder which would be best.
Landing in Santander at 2.30pm.
sorry op for jumping on your thread for my own use

 

[In a Pickle]

Hope for the best and prepare for the worse. We were in the Picos a couple of weeks ago and it dropped to almost freezing overnight and that was the middle of August!

 

[royandsharont]

We always stop at the aire in Somo (next to the campsite) ten minutes to the ferry . It has a manned barrier, loos and electric and plenty of room for all sizes

wanderer Thanks for this info. I’ve had a look and cannot find the aire on park4night and there are a couple of campsites, which one is the aire next to please. Regards Roy

 

[royandsharont]

Sound like a good reason not to go to Spain.
Think I’ll stick to France…………..perhaps they have a better class of robbers there.

After the event Clarky we discovered it was quite common on the motorway between France Barcelona and Zaragoza with the offenders, not Spanish I might add, taking the cars back into France for onward sale. Whilst living there we saw in the news that the Guardia had arrested a gang of 10 foreigners for the Madrid incidents. No doubt others will replace them

 

[Mikeco]

we are travelling from Santander to Benidorm on the 28th/29th December.
Last time we overnight stopped this time of year at Zaragoza and boy was it cold but no snow.
There is not much difference in travel time going ever Madrid way or Zaragoza way, I wonder which would be best.
Landing in Santander at 2.30pm.
sorry op for jumping on your thread for my own use

On that ferry as well and heading 6 mile South of Benidorm to Villajoyosa but undecided which way to go.

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[Mr porky]

On that ferry as well and heading 6 mile South of Benidorm to Villajoyosa but undecided which way to go.

it will be decided after checking the weather. I have done both routes a few times but only the Zaragoza route in the winter.

 

[alanalmoff]

Hi. Despite being frequent travellers to Spain by car and Motorhome we have never done the Portsmouth to Santander ferry and never travelled south in January via Madrid. I recall one November heading south and in the mountains we saw huge car parking areas adjacent the motorway for when it got closed and also saw the army of snow ploughs in readiness should they be needed.

We are considering travelling this route mid January 2022 and from the ferry times arriving early morning would likely stop over at Aranjuez, about half way, but if anyone who has done this route at this time of year could advise of likely road/snow conditions and recommended places they have stopped it would be appreciated.

Coming back end of February early March where do people often stop, the campsites we have visited around Santander will not yet be open & we always like to spend the last night close to the port just in case of last minute hiccups. The Covid19 requirements & testing at the time will obviously dictate our plans & a direct ferry may be preferable to driving from the tunnel/Holland.

Any help will be very much appreciated, regards Roy

Carinena is a good place to overnight, an aire at the top of the Village, or Hotel Carinena has good parking and good 12euro meals, it's a bit South East of Zaragosa

 

[Rapido925M]

We landed in Bilbao on 5 January after crossing the Bay of Biscay which was like a millpond. Climbing out of the coastal area the temperature was -3deg and frost filled the edges of the road. Snow ploughs stood at every alternate junction. We drove 450 miles past Madrid to Jaen without any problem. A week later Madrid airport was closed because of snow and the transport minister had to resign.

A few years later we were enjoying 30deg temperatures in central Spain in late April only to hear that traffic near the coast was stuck in heavy snow!

Be prepared!

Gordon