# Bandito's Spain



## Midnight Express (Sep 11, 2008)

I read somewhere on forum here....(kanny find it again).....that the road between Barcelona and Valencia is kinda known as "Bin Laden alley......."....or bandito country........can someone please expand on these comments, as i really like the Denia area, and would like to undertake a trip down that way early next year when i retire.......Anything to avoid especially???....or is it limited to dont do overnight stops on this stretch????......All comments welcomed...........


----------



## Deleted member 207 (Sep 11, 2008)

We got numerous warnings from other wild campers to avoid the Costa Del Lots whilst travelling through Portugal. "You get robbed", "Its unsafe", "People have been gassed whilst sleeping"........etc etc. I of course ignored the advice on the grounds that we would be immune from such behaviour. Just North of Barcelona we caught a couple (or more) of guys trying to break in whilst we bought some food in a service area. They were a bit brazen and hung around in their car waiting to see what we did (got the attendant to phone the cops), which made things worse as there was a feeling that these guys would also be more than happy to hurt us.

In hindsight, we think there was a "spotter" with a mobile phone lurking in the shopping area and reporting back to his mates who was coming and going.

So I am now one the "avoid the Costa Del Lots" like the plague advisors. 

But I expect I could go back for the next 20 years and never have another problem.


----------



## hogan (Sep 11, 2008)

Cullera , Gandia , Oliva , Denia , Javea , no problems at all Try not to come July  August its crowded too hot and very expensive,
The only thing to watch for is the service stations on the motorway between Barcelona and Valencia .Rogers post is spot on re the mobile phone,if you see someone standing still on a mobile be on your guard.Never never never spend the night at a motorway service station.If you are travelling this route you only need to use the motorway to get round Barcelona Then get back on the N340.Much cheaper.
I have lived here for 6 years and have never had any problems on this route.
Good luck have a good trip just be vigilant and you will be fine.


----------



## Midnight Express (Sep 11, 2008)

*Banditos!*

How long would it take to cover the Barcelona/Valencia leg???.....Take it it would be ok during day just to fill up with diesel.....or do you reccomend filling up to carry one thro that leg??.....Ive been to Denia about 6 times...(flying).....are they quite tolerant about pitching up for a few days down near the dock/beach????.......I take it once past Valencia all is ok??......Ive driven roads from Valencia to Denia ...and Alicante to Denia.....hire cars from both airports......certainly looked ok to me at these locations...felt safe enuff driving about there................


----------



## Midnight Express (Sep 11, 2008)

*Banditos!!*

Hogan......Sorry to be a pain, but seeing as you live down that way, i hope you dont mind me askin.........can you take motorhome to Majorca from Denia?????.....I seem to remember a ferry that went to Palma......certainly Ibiza.......is it still running????....any idea of costings?????....Ta.....M E


----------



## hogan (Sep 11, 2008)

Midnight Express
Getting fuel is no problem you will only have probs overnighting or just stopping for lunch but this is very rare.If you are asked to stop by a unmarked police car do not stop but pretend to talk on your mobile they will soon drive off.  
you can do the Barcelona to Valencia trip in approx 5 hours on the motorway but dont bother.Get on the motorway around Girona then off south of Barcelona then back on at Valencia but take the ring road motorway then head for Alicante,About 20 mins past Valencia make sure you take the Alicante por interior motorway  its free,come off this and take the cv50 to Alzira,tavernes then the n334 to Alicante through Gandia,Oliva,Denia .Pm me and i can give you lots of wild camping spots around Denia Javea etc.
There is a ferry from Denia to the island do a search on google I managed to find the web page but i could not find any prices or method of booking , I just seemed to get into a loop.Typical Spanish web page.
Do not let all these horror stories put you off thousands of motorhomers come this way with no problems.


----------



## Midnight Express (Sep 11, 2008)

*Banditos*

wunder wot guards problems on the national road was......???????.......Thats great advice you gave there Hogan.......Im sure if loads of other folk kan do it with families etc......so cud i.........gulp!!!!!!!.......Just wundered if the unmarked police car mite just be one......dunno if i fancy fallin oot with the guardia civil........they might impound the rig!!!!!!!!!.......is it always marked cars that do the pulling over?????


----------



## hogan (Sep 11, 2008)

The Guardia or Traffico cars are always marked and will pull in Behind you when you stop.If you think you have been stopped by a rough and they pull up in front of you, just drive off.But you will not be stopped,you will not have any problems I can almost Guarantee it.
I have done this road hundreds of times alone and with family I have stopped in lots of the service areas for a cuppa etc I have been in UK reg and Spanish reg campers and never had any problems,but I am always on guard.
When you get to Denia you can e mail me and tell me about your bin laden alley adventures and I bet you dont have anything to tell me.


----------



## hogan (Sep 11, 2008)

***** said:


> My name is *****
> I was robbed at Nules (Casteleon) and when I returned from the Guarda Civil a R*G head was attempting to break in my truck.
> That day many many trucks were targeted in that area and I will never forget it.
> Safe area---- I think NOT, infact I KNOW NOT!!!



***** is right the problems are mainly from R**g Heads or eastern block.Keep a look out for older cars (the reg plate will start with a letter)with 3 or 4 men inside.


----------



## peppers (Sep 11, 2008)

*bandit country*

take my advice stay out of this third world corrupt money grabbing backwater where wilding is frowned upon go to france or scotland etc


----------



## hogan (Sep 11, 2008)

***** said:


> Sorry Hogan, but I have to disagree.
> The Guarda Civil do use some unmarked cars, there was a regular car between Soria and Almazan



Yes but the Guardia Civil do not bother much with cars unless you are doing something really stupid.You will normally get stopped by traffico.
If you get pulled up by the police national ,get out with your hands in the air and kiss your a*s goodbye


----------



## hogan (Sep 11, 2008)

***** said:


> They are all pussy cats compared to the Red Caps



I always seem to get on with them ok.Pity Spain is not a bit more motorhome friendly but its getting there.A long way to go to catch up with France though.


----------



## t&s (Sep 11, 2008)

***** you are going back a bit do the problems like that still happen?
 i was in the customs parking at irun when the guard house was blown up about 27 years ago. 
but i have never had any problems in the motorhome  

i would advise for novice travelers when in spain be aware and dont just park anywhere make sure one of you can remain in the motor if stoping on the autopista aries or park as close to the entrance of the facilitys as possible and keep an eye on the motor.

in over 30 years wilding and camping in all over europe we have not  had any problems ourselves although you always meet someone who has. 

in my opinion people new to motorhoming abroad seem to stand out in some way and must appear an easyr target for the bandits
 we have made friends with so many spanish locals wherever we have gone and when you meet again they make you feel so welcome home from home for us 
there is bad people wherever you go .


----------



## Deleted member 207 (Sep 12, 2008)

The warnings we got were more about illegals doing the nasty on the tourists. Up in Sweden the warnings were about the Poles, Latts, Liths and Ests (you would n't want a lisp saying that would you?). In Portugal the other wilders were warning about illegal North Africans in Spain and France doing everyone a bad deal. People were definitely not saying that it was local people who were involved. When I lived in France in the late 1970s the locals were adamant that the source of all crime was the ex legionaires and Algerians.

I really dont know if it is true that any one nationality are more or less likely to be involved in robbing tourists. But I'd be inclined to think that illegal immigrants who dont have access to social services or work are more likely to turn to crime to live - an empty stomach tends to drop the moral standard.

Personally I wish they'd just ask me to buy them a meal, rather than breaking a door lock. I was told that the Russian kids in Moscow have it worked out, they ask a few roubles for "guarding" your motorhome/car and no one gets near it. If you decline the offer its not there when you get back!!! Gotta love the Russian free market concept.


----------



## hogan (Sep 12, 2008)

Agree with roger its mainly the eastern block guys who cause the probs.Locals seem very friendly so are the police.
One night we were wild camping and the police told us not to overnight but said to follow them.A few miles down the road they stopped and showed us a much nicer wild spot overlooking the river.


----------



## Belgian (Sep 12, 2008)

Roger said:


> Up in Sweden the warnings were about the Poles, Latts, Liths and Ests (you would n't want a lisp saying that would you?). In Portugal the other wilders were warning about illegal North Africans in Spain and France doing everyone a bad deal.


Completely agree: it are not the locals who causes trouble. For more than 15 years I was nearly every year in Scandinavia. And I saw the things going worse. Nowadays the stands with honesty-boxes are disappearing, they even lock the doors now and have their bikes chained up. Last year I was parking near a church in a small village in Sweden. A local showed up and asked me where I was from. Belgium I said. I'm relieved, said the man he thought the (B) stood for Bulgaria ! He also told that people had the custom to hang out a pennant when they where at home. Wandering east Europe thieve-gangs broke in the houses without flag, for they knew nobody was home. Now the flag stays at the flagpole day and night, home or not. 
The misery started when border controls were cancelled on the continent;
it was OK when there were only west European countries in the EU; but now with the enlargement to the east they let the bad wolves in the lamb-shed


----------



## Midnight Express (Sep 12, 2008)

*Banditos*

Mixed bag of stories then..........best to do that leg early morning /midday....and keep going till Denia......i feel ok there...always have done........


----------



## Deleted member 2636 (Sep 12, 2008)

***** said:


> They are all pussy cats compared to the Red Caps



Not too sure about that: The Guardia have been very touchy since they had their wings clipped. They're not as bad as they used to be but...

To be a RedCap you do not need to have had a named Father. In fact to be a Fatherless is seen as a positive advantage

for those who are bored here's a brief history of the RMP



> Royal Military Police
> From ARRSEpedia
> 
> [edit] A Brief Non-History of the Royal Military Police
> ...


----------



## Belgian (Sep 12, 2008)

*Hey hey, we're the Monkees*

I have a slight idea you really don't like redcaps Baloo 
At least it is a magnificient epithaph for those well-beloved  LOL


----------



## Deleted member 207 (Sep 12, 2008)

"You're FUC*IN NICKED MY OLD COCKER!" 

I shall have to pass that one onto my son in law who is a copper in a sex crimes unit - seems far more appropriate than "You're under arrest and anything you say.........."


----------



## t&s (Sep 12, 2008)

Quote:
Originally Posted by *****  
They are all pussy cats compared to the Red Caps 

Not too sure about that: The Guardia have been very touchy since they had their wings clipped. They're not as bad as they used to be but...

To be a RedCap you do not need to have had a named Father. In fact to be a Fatherless is seen as a positive advantage

for those who are bored here's a brief history of the RMP

:::

sounds more like the father land to me


----------



## stevek (Sep 12, 2008)

*****, regarding your remark about the robberies, yes they still do go on.I know this topic is mainly about Spain but in Fance in August we got turned over during the night at a service station/Aire on the south side of Clement Faraud.There was 3 of us in the van and the central locking doors got popped at some stage during the night, the passenger door was opened and the glove box forced.Fortunately we lost nothing.None of us heard a thing during the night.

I,ve always kept an open mind about the gas attacks but I cant explain this one.

The only thing I remember during the night is a caravan pulling extremely close to ourselves and then pulling away quite soon after

I wasnt going to report it because we needed to push on but the local gendarmes came around the next morning checking and his english explanation was "Roman" which I took to be Romany


----------



## t&s (Sep 12, 2008)

may be we should do as the italyians do and travel in heards. 
may be they believe in safety in numbers.
god :to put up with the same crowd of people for a few weeks holliday 
what a horrible thought


----------



## Belgian (Sep 13, 2008)

stevek said:


> *****, regarding your remark about the robberies, yes they still do go on.I know this topic is mainly about Spain but in Fance in August we got turned over during the night at a service station/Aire on the south side of Clement Faraud.There was 3 of us in the van and the central locking doors got popped at some stage during the night, the passenger door was opened and the glove box forced.Fortunately we lost nothing.None of us heard a thing during the night.
> 
> I,ve always kept an open mind about the gas attacks but I cant explain this one.
> 
> ...


These where without any doubt 'Roma-gipsies'. They come out of east Europe, and they are really a pain in the **s. Even 'our' gipsies don't like them. Their trade-mark: travelling around in caravans towed by white Mercedes vans, and they are difficult to catch.


----------

