Turning point

Yesterday was the halfway point in this winter's trip. Geographically too we are at a turning point. The coastline from Cabo de Gata to Cartegena runs directly north eastwards - and northwards means homewards, though it's a relative term; we not expecting to unpack the woollies just yet. Despite our northern orientation we are still south of Tunis and the only other bit of mainland Europe to share these latitudes is the southern tip of the Peloponnese.

We are staying in a brand new motorhome camping at Agua Amarga, a pleasant coastal village on eastern boundary of the Cabo de Gata national park. The camping is very well designed, set-up perfectly for motorhomes with plenty of space to manoeuvre, flat pitches and a well designed service point. The price of €12 per night is well below the average cost of an ACSI campsite, but ehu and showers are extra, so probably in the end the two are roughly comparable. 

Of course compared to a free beach camping spot even this modest price seems extortionate. When we headed here two years ago our somewhat out of date 'Spain all the Aires" book listed a free beach parking at Agua Amarga. It was long gone, the height barrier to the beach side parking was a tad rusty, clearly it had been erected for a year or two. Instead motorhomers had purloined a bit of spare ground opposite as a place to overnight. Now this has been superseded by the commercial motorhome camping. There were one or two vans parked in the original place, but by the time we had sorted ourselves out and taken a stroll down to the beach in the late afternoon all the motorhomes had gone. We suspected a sweep by the local police had moved them on.

On Spain's Mediterranean coast and the Algarve I wonder if this is the future? Growing intolerance of wild camping spawning a growth in commercial camping facilities specifically designed for motorhomes. I can understand this, there must be tens of thousands of motorhomes from northern climes mooching about the Costas in the winter months. Such a huge influx will have to be regulated at some point. Perhaps we have reached it.

As for Agua Amarga itself, it's a pleasant seaside place, though in winter the outskirts are as as zombiefied as anywhere else, the centre of the village has a bit of life about it, and the tiled public seating area is delightful.

The village has a sheltered half kilometre wide beach overlooked by two headlands. The one to the north is capped by a ruined castle, the southern rocky outcropis covered in ancient terracing. With whitewashed cuboid cottages opening straight onto the beach you have to conclude the place must have Moorish roots.

The landscape inland is interesting too, quite different from the intensely plasticised farming to the south, here the rolling rocky garrigue is dotted with orchards. Yesterday we passed patches of fruit trees, right now covered in pink blossom; cherries we guessed. By the side of the road the almond trees are just coming into blossom too. I love their spectacular white flowers.

Our walks take longer too, as Gill pauses to take photos of wayside flowers she is unfamiliar with - she will look them up in 'Majorie' later. There is no doubt about it, by mid-February spring is in full swing down here. We will follow her northwards over the next few weeks, but catch up with winter once more when we reach the Auvergne and the Massif Central .