Plymouth to Santander and Sopuerta (Spain)
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Plymouth ferry to Santander and drive to Sopuerta, Spain
Motorhome Journey from Plymouth to Sopuerta
Mr C. gets up and brings coffee back to our cabin. Later showers and breakfast in the cafeteria, still feeling full of the meal last night we have a light breakfast!
We spend the morning reading and writing journals and, after a smooth and event-free crossing we arrive at Santander at midday. Walking back to the very rear of the ferry the crew-lady tells us that our section (motorhomes & motor bikes) will be last off, so to be patient and wait. Hymer is parked on the lowest vehicle deck that is accessed via a ramp, that can’t be lowered until the deck above has been cleared. We are… both patient and last off.
At customs we needed to be fingerprint-checked in the booth, now part of EU entry, and then on our way at about 1.00 pm. Santander is very busy (as always) driving on the right instead of the left and on unfamiliar roads. It feels hard work but Mr C. makes a calm job of it.
We call first to fill with diesel at Petroprix (cheapest anywhere around) and then to Mercadona across the road. Here we do a medium-sized shop, filling with the fridge with essentials: milk, cheese, meats, bread, fruit and veg. Spain, unlike the UK, has cut VAT on fuel so our fill of diesel costs a lot less than it would in England.
Finally, around 3.30pm and feeling exhausted, we are on our way. We seem to have a lot of trouble getting onto the correct road out of Santander. After a couple of false starts we are on our way on Highway S-10 south and then east on A-8 following the coast past Laredo and Oriñón. Turning south at Lusa on C-250 towards the Cantabrian mountains, we leave the motorway standard road at the massive quarry works at Calera Santullán and climb steadily through the mountains on CA-250. The climb is steep, the views are spectacular and there are some tight hairpin bends as we climb past Otañes with more hairpin bends to the summit at 410m/1345ft. Then a steady descent to the village of Las Muñecas (pronounced Mun-yecca) which Mr C. tells me is the Spanish for doll (I liked that idea). Turning onto the smaller BI-3601, there are more hairpin bends descending down and down to the little village of Sopuerta Abentura and the campsite.
Here we find the Camping Carpark* site without much difficulty, seeing the familiar barrier and some parked motorhomes. We enter the site using the App, passing a large and well laid out servicing area with water and disposal facilities and toilet/shower block. There are 14 well-marked pitches, we park up on Pitch 2 facing the trees and finally stop!
It is 5.30pm, we stretch our legs and have a little wander around, there are about 8 mohos already here, plenty of space for each with a strip of woodland along one side and a children’s playground at the far end. It is quiet, sunny (but not too hot) and a very welcome stop. We open wine and have a starter of hummus and baguette. Later, gammon stirfry sitting out until the evening darkens (8.30pm-ish). Then exhaustion takes over; our first night in Spain.
* CampingCar-Park is a French company that has taken over the management of hundreds of former municipal campsites and aires in France and some in other countries. Their business model is great, we could really use an organisation like them in England to provide facilities for motorhomes. Take a look at the photos – toilets and showers in a separate building, level large hardstanding pitches, really good disposal facilities and electricity all for €10.50 a night. At the current exchange rate that’s less than £9 a night. CampingCar-Park has a lifetime membership fee of €5.
Compare that to anything in the UK where you would be lucky to get a grass pitch on a field with no facilities for much more. I did a quick compare with a typical UK site operated by one of the membership organisations that charges £56.95 a year to be a member. For a similar pitch with electric their price is £26.92 a night for members over 60 years and £40.45 for non-members.
We are very happy with our environment here at Sopuerta and decide to stay, it is a warm sunny day, about 24°C so very pleasant for us north Europeans and we have a slow morning. Taking a walk around the village of Sopuerta, the information boards tell us it is called the Iron Mountain [Hierro Montanes] because of its industrial past as an iron-mining town.
Sopuerta it is small mountain community (population around 2,890) and part of the Basque Country. It is built on a series of steep hills (elevation 86m/282ft), walking down is just as difficult as walking up! It was once a busy industrial iron mining area, with the remains of single-track railways and tunnels still evident. Now there is little signs of industry, the population having fallen drastically since 1910. (See photos)
There is still evidence of the narrow-gauge rail tracks once used to carry the full trucks downhill and bring the empty ones back uphill – logical plan! The campsite sits next to one of these trails, the old railway now tarmacked over and used for walking/cycling. After lunch we rest, journal and read. Mr C. tries some sketching, but nothing stands out that he wants to draw. The afternoon is comfortably warm (although the direct sun is hot) and we wander along these old mining tracks, most of them in the shade of vertical rocky cliffs. It is quiet and relaxing, our neighbours similarly occupied. We open wine and sit in the shade, no starter as we forgot to buy olives at Mercadona. Later we have stirfry with smoked pork, quick and easy with everything to hand in the fridge. As the evening darkens to dusk around 9.00pm we move inside to play Skyjo. Later about 4 or 5 mohos arrive (it is Friday evening) parking on the opposite side to us, there are about 10 of us on the 14 pitches, night 2 in Sopuerta.
Next morning is another warm and sunny day, we spend the morning reading/journaling and planning what to do next. As it is Saturday (of a holiday weekend) we spend a quiet morning on the site. At lunchtime we walk down into the village with the intention of having lunch somewhere. There is nowhere! There is one shop and a small bar which sells sandwiches and rolls, unfortunately not Gluten Free (GF) so we wander back through the village to the campsite. Lunch a-la-Hymer, cheese, crackers/baguette and fruit.
After a short rest we cross the campsite to the old rail line (the well-marked cycling track and footpath) and follow it through the rock cutting. The rock towers above us on both sides making deep shade, the smell under the trees is not vegetal but slightly acrid, reminiscent of coal smoke which I suppose it is still lingering from all those years ago! It is easy to be transported back 100 or more years, when the narrow-gauge railway with its little steam driven engine, brought iron ore out of the mountain and this little track would be in constant use.
The afternoon is hot, about 28°C so we sit in the shade of the trees and read or journal for the rest of the afternoon. By later afternoon there are only 5 of us left on the campsite, the others having left and, surprisingly as it is Saturday, no more people have arrived. We open wine and sit outside enjoying the late afternoon as it begins to cool, Later, we have the rest of the smoked pork with potato cubes and tomatoes for tea and sit late into the evening playing cards, night 3 in Sopuerta.