Here I am back in Spain! The weather is beautiful and sunny by day but by night, the temperatures drop to a little above freezing. Since we are essentially in a metal box on wheels, the nights are cold but before you feel too sorry for me (!) I hasten to add that the van is insulated and we do have very efficient diesel heating so it’s lovely and snug.
I’m actually writing this under a blanket on a campsite in Alicante, glass of Rioja to hand, with the sound of……the occasional dog barking! What is it with Spanish dogs? Do they have an extra bark gene?!

My adventures with Spanish livestock continued when I arrived back in Malaga last Saturday. While drinking my first cup of tea back in the van, I became aware of a cracking sound and went to investigate outside. There, swinging by one leg from the branch of a tree above the van, was a parrot cheerfully cracking berries and scattering the husks all over the roof. I turned my back on the beadily winking parrot and went for a stroll around the campsite to reacquaint myself with life on a Spanish campsite. First thing I noticed was the restaurant menu offering me tasty delicacies such as tripe and chickpea stew or some sort of pork marinaded and then fried in lard. I thought I could wait for these treats and decided to make do with the ready cooked chicken I’d bought on the way home.
I don’t know what it is about me and Malaga, it’s a lethal combination, as it poured and poured the next day. The rain in Spain may fall on the plain but it does pretty darn well in Malaga when I’m around! We managed to scoot out for a short damp walk but it really was an incredibly wet day.
After getting Lottie the Land Rover serviced the next day, we decided to head eastwards round the coast towards Valencia and then on to Barcelona perhaps, before turning inland to Santander and the ferry home. Before we left the area we had an afternoon in Torre del Mar, which was surprisingly nice, she said in a snobbish way. It had wide promenades and beach walks, the menu del dia was amazingly only €8 but I made do with a huge ice cream. I’m still trying to work out what merengado was, it was slightly nutmeggy…..
So back we went towards Almeria and Tomatoland as I call it. The polytunnels grew in number as the landscape got drier and drier as we headed east. It really is quite barren, other than for artificially encouraged vegetables that is..
We did several nights of wild camping. Now before you get excited and wonder what we get up to, all it means is finding an unobtrusive spot, parking the van and settling down for the night ie one is not paying to park and is not cheek by jowl with other vans. The Spanish don’t seem to have a problem with it and at one place we waved to the police who waved back very cordially.
So providing you don’t look too obvious, keep quiet, don’t make a mess etc it’s all fine. We had three nights by various beaches with the crashing of the sea sending us to sleep. Fantastic.
Some of the coast is remarkably lovely and unspoilt, probably because it’s too mountainous to build. We had a pleasant time in Mojacar which has a huge length of beach, the playa and a small white town perched up the hill, the pueblo. It is January however and it was very much a seaside town out of season with most shops and businesses closed. There were a few people, probably Northern Europeans, gamely trying to persuade themselves it was warm, eating their lunches outside, zipped up to their noses but we beat a retreat and retired to the van for the usual meal of bread, cheese and jamon.
On Thursday, we popped into Cartagena, a rather dull town, disappointing if you think of it as Hannibal’s response to Carthage but not without its surprises: I think a mains water supply must have burst as the road was awash with several inches of water. Lottie loved it and ploughed through the water with gay abandon, sending a plume of water up on either side much to the huge enjoyment of watching Spanish schoolchildren who clapped and waved and took photos on their phones. So I smiled regally and waved graciously, as one does…. now I know what it feels like to be the queen!
We continued on and the coast became quite ugly with ribbon development along the main road and loads of signs in English advertising kitchens, furniture, legal services etc. but amidst all the grot you can find odd little coves and beaches where you can park up with no great difficulty. We were really lucky to happen upon a small beach down a dead end road with one semi derelict house, complete with washing right on the beach but very little else. A perfect over night stop.
So slowly and surely we have made our way as far as Alicante. I think I was rather expecting a town full of little donkeys made out of raffia, maybe I was traumatised as a child but the reality is a very pleasant sunny, dry city, highly recommended for winter sunshine…
On which note I will leave you.