San Vicente de La Barquera

This was our final stop on our  June  2015 motor home tour of Spain and  the start of  our September 2015 tour  but more about that later.

This is an absolute gem of a town, which you see as you make the steep dramatic descent from the Comillas coast road and it is even more impressive by bike, which is how we approached the town, which appears marooned on both sides by the sea.

It also has the added advantage of the backdrop of the Picos de Europa mountains which rise magnificently behind the town, trapping it between  the mountains and the sea.

The town itself is approached across a long causeway, the Puenta de la Maza and legend has it that if you can hold your breath all the way across  the bridge then your wishes come true. Sad to say ours are still unfulfilled, as even on your bike this is seemingly an impossible task.

The town undoubtedly has its fair share of tourists but is also  a working town  with a thriving fishing port and marina and with the added advantage of its own castle, which can be reached by climbing the stairs from the main square and from which you can enjoy a panoramic view of the town.

We stayed on our first visit at the campsite at Playa de Oyambre, an ACSI site, which deservedly  deserves its accolade as a luxury site. The sanitary facilities were spotless and it has a  good sized swimming pool, shop, bar, restaurant and motor home service point. Pitches were arranged on gentle terraces and in early June there was considerable space, more than could be said about the permanently sited  caravans on the top terrace, that were packed in against each other. There certainly was no 6 metre rule here.

A gate at the back of the site leads to a 15 minute walk down to the wide expanse of sand of the Playa de Oyambre and during the week, you are likely to have the beach to yourselves. There are larger beaches in the area, such as at Laredo but the latter is rather commercialised, this is certainly not the case for the Playa de Oyambre., where there may be an ice cream van.

The site was only about an hour from Santander and the ferry home and for caravanners is certainly a better stopover than Santillana del Mar, where we commenced our tour. Additionally, at no additional charge, we were allowed to stay until 7.00pm which was ideal for catching the late ferry. Would this flexibility be shown in UK sites?!

                                                http://www.oyambre.com/

The site is only about  3 miles from San Vicente and it is a superb cycle ride along the coastal road, passing  cliffs and coves along the way but as you would expect, the ride is somewhat undulating to say the least.

When you descend  into San Vicente, you come along a beach area, where you often see motor homes parked up, though there are signs that overnight parking is prohibited. At the end of this beach area there is a campsite, El Rosal, in a wooded area, overlooking the beach area.

                                                http://www.campingelrosal.com/en/index.html

This was our first stop for our return trip to the Picos in September.

The  facilities are fine, not as good as Playa de Oyambre but the plus of this site is its location, within walking distance of the town. Also it is a bit tighter for getting in and out  and there is less room but if you get a pitch overlooking the causeway then it is sheer heaven, even if it did take about a 25 point turn to get into the pitch.

A Room With A View