Spain and Portugal – Zamora to Sanabria

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Zamora to Sanabria

We are camped on the aire, or area de servicio para autocaravanas here in Zamora, and awake to another clear blue-sky day, the old town of Zamora bathed orange in the early morning light. We breakfast and service the camper but our departure is delayed by another camper (a Brit who has lived in Spain for 15 years) who came to talk to us and ask us if we wanted local information about where to stay. We chat for about half an hour but formulate a slightly different plan of where to go next. She suggests the old town of Puebla de Sanabria and an Aire by the river, one of her favourites and one of the twenty best old towns in Spain.

We leave about midday and call at Mercadona to replenish our food and wine supplies. We take the A-66 north to the Embalse de Ricobayo which we cross at La Encomienda onto the N-631. As we cross the Tabara plain we note there has been a devastating forest fire between Moreuela and Ferraras a distance of about ten miles, in places there is nothing left but charred tree trunks. We cross the river at Embalse de Valparaiso and join the N-525 to Puebla de Sanabria (pronounced sanna-bria), a journey of about 50mls/80km. It is hot, about 30°C as we approach the town and see the castle and old town on top of a high cliff. We follow the river, Rio Tera down a narrow road to a flat concrete area next to the river.

There are already about a dozen motorhomes here camping at Sanabria,  but plenty of space remains for us, but no shade from the intense heat. We park up at the end of the concreted area and have lunch. Exploring we find a large grassy recreation area along the river bank down a short slope in front of our parking space. There are plenty of trees and shade so we take our chairs down here and sit and relax by the river with about twenty others. We drink Cava and have our tea of langoustines and salad and watch in amazement as we see campers and motorhomes arrive in a constant stream until about 9.30pm when it is quite dark.

We soon discover that tonight is the last night of the Fiesta de las Vitorias (celebrated all night with the bull firecrackers and music) and they have come for fiesta! We decide to go to bed and indeed music does continue all night but we are far enough away not to be too bothered by it.

Next morning, still at the aire in Sanabria, we are awoken at dawn (7.20am, it is still dark) by fireworks firing off one every other second: fizz… pause… flash… bang! Twelve consecutive bangs then it stops, we presume it is the end of the festivities but then another twelve…and another twelve…and a fourth twelve. For us there is nothing to see (except the flash in the darkness) as the castle is behind a bank of trees. The music does indeed stop and we get up and make coffee. It is deliciously cool, about 16°C and we make the most of it.

After breakfast we walk up to the old bridge and cross to the foot of the castle. Climbing the 213 steps takes us to the entrance to the old town which has been well maintained and restored. First stop is the castle which costs €2 each for a tour which takes us about two hours. Every part of the castle has been restored, walls, floors, windows, stairs and roofs, not just restored but habitable with its history for the past 600 years explained (in Spanish, although we do have an English translation).

The remains of the firework displays and the frame for launching the twelve rockets are still there and we enjoy seeing what would have been quite a spectacle. We look for a place to eat lunch but everywhere is closed except the bars who are only selling alcohol and coffee. Back at the camper we have lunch and rest by the river in the shade of another hot afternoon (29°C) and catch up with our journals and plan the next phase of our trip to Portugal.

Gallery Zamora to Sanabria

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