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The summer months are finally here, and the tent is itching to get out. Camping, in my case, with four children, is the only viable option for an affordable, “fun” holiday. Camping in Spain and England have much in common. Firstly, there is the trauma of packing the car, leaving just about enough room for any passengers and, if you’re lucky, somewhere to put your legs |
The summer months are finally here, and the tent is itching to get out. Camping, in my case, with four children, is the only viable option for an affordable, “fun” holiday.
Camping in Spain and England have much in common. Firstly, there is the trauma of packing the car, leaving just about enough room for any passengers and, if you’re lucky, somewhere to put your legs. Secondly, there is the trauma of arriving and soon realising you’ve forgotten some essential item; clothes, swimming costumes, washing up bowl, mallet … as yet we haven’t left the tent behind. The biggest trauma must be putting up the tent, more so if it is one you haven’t put up before. There has to be the customary argument and, if you have any children, they simply have to be shouted at. “Put that down!” “Get out of my way!” “Stupid instructions!” are common utterances at this point. Once the tent is up, there is normally a sudden urge for a nice cup of tea made upon the camp stove, which in reality tastes awful. The fun just goes on and on…Spanish camping does have its upsides though. There is little risk of rain, nothing gets damp and there is no need for sleeping bags that protect you from temperatures down to –10 degrees. In my experience, campsites in Spain are well equipped, clean and friendly.
Our first camping holiday was to Tarifa on the Costa de la Luz (Paloma Campsite, Tel: 956684203). It took about two and a half hours from Cómpeta. With four children we happen to have the mother of all tents. It is so big that people came from around the campsite to stand and stare at it open mouthed. Fortunately pine trees shaded all the plots. The first trip to the beach was breathtaking, at last immense golden sandy beaches, dunes and the Atlantic Ocean. It also happens to be Europe’s prime windsurfing spot, ‘wind’ being the operative word. I shall just leave you with the word ‘sandblasted’. Apparently Tarifa has an abnormally high suicide rate due the unremitting winds! A cheap day out was to the Roman ruins of Baelo Claudia and better still it was free to get in (EU passport required). There is also another fantastic, sandy beach just a stones throw away from the ruins. Tarifa itself is a lively town worth a visit and it reminded me of Newquay in a funny sort of way.
Our second trip was two and a half hours in the opposite direction, Almeria (La Garrofa campsite, Tel: 950253770). We stayed just outside the city itself. The campsite was on a pebbly beach so didn’t have a pool. The facilities were clean but plot sizes were a bit small for our humungous tent (it didn’t fit!) and it was very, very dusty. Driving to Almeria was a very different experience to driving to Tarifa. Eroute to Tarifa there are great views of Gibraltar and Morocco. Conversely on the way to Almeria there is plastic greenhouse after plastic greenhouse. I’ve read that the suicide rate for plastic greenhouse workers is abnormally high too! We found loads to do here. For some strange reason my favourite film is Once upon a Time in the West, so we had to visit Texas Hollywood, the movie set for this film and many other spaghetti westerns. The desert landscape here is stunning, and the kids had a fantastic day out (me too!). Cabo de Gata is a complete contrast. There are spectacular sandy beaches yet again, especially good for snorkelling. Opposite the beach is the Laguna de Rosa, home of migrating flamingos, which you can watch from hides around the lake. Finally we visited the Alcazaba in Almeria city (free with EU passport). Apparently it is the best example of Moorish military fortifications, and I agree, it is tremendous. As for this year’s camping exploits, who knows? Carry on camping!
