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Winter in South of France / South Spain


Guest Julia Marshall

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Guest Julia Marshall
Does anyone have any hints or tips for us please. We (and our 2 collies) plan to go to South France and on down to Spain in a couple of weeks or so. I have some concerns about the number of "hold ups" in Spain - i.e. pretending there is something wrong with your 'van and also am told there are large numbers of stray dogs roaming. We do not plan to wild camp at all but would appreciate others experiences.
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Guest audrey
Many "Brits" are taking their dogs abroad with them now. As long as one keeps ones own dogs under control things should go O.K. for you. My husband uses a walking stick but has never had to fend off another dog with it, yet! As for the other worry, don`t stop until it is safe to do so.
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Speaking from actual experience, follow our golden rules; 1. If you are approached by strangers for any reason whilst temporarily parked, be very weary. 2. Do not overnight at autoroute service stations, however well lit and even in company. 3. Be extra vigilent if travelling the E15 route between Montpellier and to the south of Barcelona, a known bad area. Remember that these toe-rags are after your goods and will rarely do you any physical harm. Also remember that if you are carrying dogs you already have the best alarm signal available. Just enjoy your trip, the odds against this sort of trouble are very high if you stay alert.
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I have done this trip twice now, and booked again to go in Feb. We went last year to the C&CC rally in La Manga, and are going again. Didn't hear that anyone had had a bad experience, but the route has apparently been dubbed "bandit alley". I am not sure how much this is down to rumour and third and fourth hand stories, but an urban myth is certainly building about "gas attacks" etc. As in any country, you have to be alert to the risks, and take sensible precautions. Lock doors and windows when stopped in services. Keep passports, credit cards and money on you, perhaps in a bum bag, NOT in a ladylike handbag in the living area whilst you are tucked up in bed etc. As someone else said, thieves seem to be opportunist, looking for easy pickings. Pickpockets rather than muggers if you like. Stories are usually about distraction burglaries. The dogs should help you be on guard too! We take our dog too, no problems at all yet with stray dogs. We did see a pack of dogs roaming near a traveller camp in an aire in France, so we just drove through and stopped at the next parking area. Find out about processional caterpillars though, and look out for them. They are bad news for dogs, and humans too. We were told by another camper, and had never heard of them.
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Its strange how the winter weather improves once you cross into Spain.Us Brits tend to keep going South but the wether in the Northern coastal region is much the same as in the south. I wish people wouldn't refer to crime and gas attacks as an urban legend.I was a broken into last year,south of Barcelona,and my neighbours a German family were gassed but I wasn't for some reason.Don't go without an ether alarm.Its the top selling accessory in Germany. Once in Spain go to a vet and buy a plastic collar to protect against leshmenisis(sorry about spelling).Its a fatal mosi borne disease.Having said al that have a great time
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Been going to south of Spain for years without problems. Urban legend or not, the ACTUAL number of such attacks seems to be tiny in proportion to the number of travellers. Keep your 'van locked when you're inside it (perimeter alarm on when parked) and locked and alarmed when you're outside it, do a walk-round check that all tyres are OK before you get in (you should do this anyway) and you will be fine. And weather wise, once you get beyond October and up to March, there is no doubt that Almeria has the most sunshine hours and is generally much warmer than further north - the statistics prove it. The south coast (Costa del Sol) is also good, but has more cloud.
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