Aires & Places

After we left Zarautz we kept to the coastal road. This part of Spain is beautiful, this area includes trails of the Camino del Norte and we have crossed many paths with the famous Camino sign. I have only just found out that there is not just one Camino de Santiago but several but what they all amount to is that they symbolise personal effort, adventure, a connection to nature and our European heritage and all lead to the tomb of the Apostle Santiago. I’m looking forward to visiting the site of where all the Camino de Santiago trails lead to in a few days but until then we are enjoying the countryside that they pass through. 

One such place was our next stop, an Aire in a typically Spanish village called Cobreces. From the very smart, clean Aire we walked down to the white sand and popular surfing beach Luanca and then took side roads back up firstly through a forest which consisted of eucalyptus trees and pampas grass and then around the village. It felt like a step back in time, walking the little streets, passing mountain houses, the neo–gothic Abbey of Santa Maria of Viaceli and the Church of San Pedro Advincula (that annoyingly chimed on the hour every hour of the day and night). 

We tried to utilise the villages amenities – I practised my Spanish by ordering fruit and milk from the small alimentary and that night we ate in the only open Bar in town ordering a very typical fish n chips (darne of hake). Although the bar was empty when we arrived, it soon filled up with locals and had a lively atmosphere.

On my coastal walk the following morning I found the panaderia – typically they only open for a few hours in the morning and only seem to sell one type of white bread in two shapes, round or baguette. 

As mentioned before this Aire was scrupulously clean and organised, they charged us 12 Euros and 4 Euros for electric. This included hot showers, toilets, washing machine & dryer (extra cost) washing up area, refill water and emptying grey water and chemical toilet. The owner was very friendly and had maps and local information to hand out as well as info boards in English and other languages. This is a 5-star Aire! 

The following 3 nights we stayed at free Aires; the first one was an en-route stop and was pretty forgettable but easily accessible and well used; the next one was on the outskirts of the city of Lugo – a large car park next to a sports centre. It was extremely popular and filled up with about fifteen or more vans overnight. You felt safe in numbers, but it was noisy at night; The last Aire was in a forest, it had places for only four vans. It was situated next to a river with a weir running along another part of the Camino and we would have felt isolated here had there not been two other vans overnight. It was noticeably quiet and very very dark! 

All the Aires had services to empty grey water and the onboard toilet and filling up with fresh water. When you are self-sufficient this is all you need. There are hundreds of these dotted all over the place – you can find them via an app ‘Park4thenight’ or in a book that you can buy in the UK or sometimes they show up on google maps. They are often sign posted in towns with the Moho logo. Some of them charge and some are free and I expect some of them, due to their close proximity to the beach or a city are very popular especially high season. None of them can be pre-booked so it is pot luck although at this time of year everything is pretty quiet. If it is full there is usually something else not so far away.

What I don’t understand is why the UK is not doing the same. Motorhomes are everywhere -if you have a motorhome you need to eat, refuel, refill and are often visiting cultural areas – basically you are spending money. This is a great revenue stream for local economies and the UK needs to get their act together and provide more facilities for Motorhomers in towns and city centres by providing free parking and safe service areas where Motorhomes can park up without come back from local residents.