We rushed across France and northern Spain. We went through insane heavy rain and hail. Northern Spain was even worse. So we kept moving everyday until we crossed the border to Portugal. We continued to the seaside, south of Lisbon. Finally we had some sunshine, if not much warmth.
Not sure if the weather down there is typical but it was still cold. So we continued down all the way until the Algarve. It got warmer, but then we read in the news that Portugal was asking for CPR tests to get in. We were not too far from the Spanish border and thought that Spain would soon ask the same. To avoid yet more costly stuff and tests, we decided to sneak through the border.
Portugal was ok but the coastal towns were deserted. The campsite near Lagos was busy, mainly germans and their feral kids, left to run havoc without supervision across the full camp. German kids don’t seem to go to school ever!?
We saw very few Brits. The town itself was very quiet. I wonder if this was like that pre pandemic?
From Portugal we went to spend few days to my mother’s village near Cordoba, see how she has been for the last 2 years.
After that, we decided to get back south west for a bit. Alistair wanted to see Gibraltar. Online, the British government had pages and pages about COVID requirements to enter Gibraltar, so we did not expect to get in. We found a camping few kilometres south and we walked to the border in the morning. As we suspected, nothing was asked. After all, people on both sides work each way and people need to get in and out everyday.
So we walked up to the border and asked about requirements. None other than a the passport. So we had a small walk around the Rock. It is compact! Everything is expensive. Having a look at the estates agents confirmed it is mostly a fiscal paradise for the rich. A 3 or 4 bed flat with terrace might be yours for the small sum of 1m to 1.5 millions pounds! Or much more if you fancy a view!
After having a look at the overprices pubs and restaurants we walked back to La Linea de La Conception, the Spanish border town, and had an excellent Menu of the day for a fraction of what was on offer on the other side!
The Spanish town, like all borders towns, looks very run down and well….. like a border town. A car with a bullet mark through the door and lots of suspicious looking men hanging around gave it the flavour of a frontier town.
In the next few days our aim is to find a nice place to stay for 10 days between Xmas and new year. Campsites on the south coast might be really full ( of germans and their feral s kids) and big. Not ideal, so we will see what we can find in the next few days. First, tomorrow we are off inland once again, to see Ronda. A lovely white town in the hills north of Marbella.