We were coming for the sun, but that’s not what we got!

Disembarking the ferry at sunrise we flew through passport control but were stopped by customs. Fortunately they didn’t want to search Agy and necessitate Lexi disembarking (phew!) and after a few simple questions we were on our way.

Leaving the port of Santander was much simpler than in Calais (or it felt so to me) and we were soon heading north up the A8 towards Bilbao before heading west towards Zaragoza on the AP68. As expected, the scenery was fabulous and the roads clear. Arriving on a Sunday morning probably helped, but our experience has usually been positive on Spanish major roads. We could have chosen a slower, non- Toll road, but we just wanted to get the miles covered, so took the toll road for ease.

We were expecting some snow capped mountains looking towards the Pyrenees, but what we weren’t expecting was snow on our route. We knew it could snow, of course we did, we have our all terrain winter rated tyres, but the weather forecast hadn’t indicated we might have some. Our plan was to drive to Zaragoza, stay overnight, then continue our journey the next day, meaning we drove for about 4-5 hrs each day.   

When you are at 3300m and it’s 1pm, -1 outside and the sun is shining, you know it’s going to be a cold night. We just weren’t sure that’s what we wanted. After a patch of fog and wet roads, we decided to press on. The roads cleared, the sunshine returned. Definitely the right decision, who knows how the roads would have been the next morning.

Skirting round Zaragosa Ian pointed Agy south on the A23 Autovia Mudéjar, which as well as bringing warmer temperatures also entertained us with more Spanish highway artwork. As we drove we saw lots of these black stars either at the side of the roads or suspended from the bridges. We’ve seen the black bulls left over from the previous advertising of Osborne brandy on our previous journeys, but never come across these before.

Apparently they are just for the sake of art and are in the Mudéjar style, which is art influenced by the Moorish Islamic style, often produced by Christian artists. I love these little touches that make journeys more enjoyable in Spain. 

Pressing on we discussed looking for somewhere to stop as we got further south, but eventually Ian said, lets just go all the way - it’s still light and then we can just relax tomorrow before heading into the campsite.

Arriving in Benidorm at about 6.30pm (when it was still light), we knew there was a big car park close to the campsite where motorhomes are welcome to park up for free, so we went straight there. Pulling in, we saw plenty of other vans and were even guided back by another van owner as we reversed into our spot. We’ve arrived, it’s warmer, and it feels a little bit like a home from home.