Calpe

We don’t report too often on places that leave a negative impression on us, but Calpe was one ;-(  

On the surface Calpe seems wonderful.  We call it ‘mini Gibraltar’ – there is a large rock outcrop which is a national park and then a lovely seaside town around it.  It’s Costa Blanca, so there are a few high rise apartments and hotels, but that’s fine. Calpe is obviously very popular – there are a few campsites and motorhome stopovers and all were full.  A couple did have one (literally one) space each but they were a little too small for us although we did try and fit 😉 No, it was the people that were horrible.

Perhaps because Calpe is so nice maybe it has had a problem with Campervans lining the streets or littering or something.  Anyway, whatever – as soon as we parked up to go and check the first campsite, some twat on the fifth story of an ugly tower block nearby shouted down at us that there was no parking.  We checked for signs and there was nothing so we waved thankyou at him and ignored him whence 🙂 Thirty seconds later a dog walker (german we think) screamed ‘no parking’ at us from across the street.  Nice. We checked the first campsite and on finding it full bar one space we could not fit into, moved to the next. We parked in a pretty empty street with four or five other campervans (No houses, flats or buildings).  Again no room at the inn although T did make an effort to persuade the penny to fit the slot to no avail!

We did meet a lovely couple in the street outside the van, a pair of brits, full time motorhomers for the last 15 years!  This was their second time at Calpe and they told us that in Spain, sleeping in your van on the street is not a crime so there must be a local law regarding overnight stops in campervans at Calpe. Their motorhome was a full two meters longer than us, so they had given up with the campsites and were heading to the hills to find a stopover.  

The various apps and websites that we use all had reports of the police moving on motorhomes after 8pm, so alas, we could not stay and never got to see the national park.

So, because the people and bylaws of Calpe were so unwelcoming, we’re not posting any pictures and can’t recommend calpe to any motorhomers. Instead we drove a few km along the coast to the wonderful town of Moraira – the polar opposite of Calpe.

Murcia-San Javier Airport

The stop here was primarily to plane-spot at the local airport – it’s a military airport and the Spanish equivalent of the Red Arrows – the Patrulla Águila or eagle patrol are based here.  Our primary campsite right next to the airport was tumbleweed – shut until the middle of February it turns out – so we retired to a motorhome stopover only a few hundred meters away in Los Narajos and in line with the runway.  A wonderful walk around the Mar Menor bay in the evening and dinner in the van. We spotted one military jet from a long way off approaching the airport, not a great photo op, but that was it for the first day.

Next morning we were awoken by the sound of fast jets going overhead and three fast jet trainers were making low passes over the airfield.  Awesome! T got in a few passable photos of those plus some prop planes flying in formation and we set off for the next town.