Van Life: Living in a Caravan in Spain

If you’ve ever had the pleasure to make a road trip through basically any given part of Spain, you might have noticed there are quite a few vans out there. And if you’ve had the even bigger pleasure of actually having tried out van life, you’ll understand why. Read further to learn everything about travelling or living in a caravan in Spain. 

The Start of My Van Journey

I’d like to start off by quickly remembering my first experience of “caravaning”... After racing through my Journalism studies I packed my Nissan Vanette to drive from Amsterdam to Madrid. On my way there, I passed by Tilburg to officially collect my Diploma for Journalism. When the teachers asked my what my plans were I felt a wide grin appearing on my face. “You can look out the window to see for yourself”, I laughed. There stood the red Vanette with a canoe strapped on top. “I’m on my way to Madrid.”

Next stop was Le Verdon (France) to do a skydiving course. The following week I’d spend “living” in my tightly packed van, my favorite plant included. It was a highly improvised first experience of camping with a van (with little necessities more than just having a place to park, because there were other options for cooking and bathrooms on-site).

A Caravan Trip to Remember

I enjoyed every bit of the rest of the trip; alone in my first car, making my first big step in life. I avoided all the toll roads I possibly could (a difficult task in France) to take it nice and easy and see more of the scenery. Strange enough, I remember it was almost as if I wanted the trip to last as long as possible. Like when the days just before arriving at a destination are better than the holiday itself. Of course, it’s not like I minded when I finally arrived to my new neighbourhood in Madrid.

Anyway, a lot has changed since my first caravan-experience. I’ve had a couple of different versions of vans in the past 14 years and countless unforgettable trips in and outside Spain. I know that, for me, it’s one of the most enjoyable manners of travelling and living. And it seems a growing amount of other travelers are discovering this as well.

Living in a Caravan in Spain lets you live where you like 

The freedom of stopping wherever you feel like and to live there during a short period, is amazing. And oftentimes, these places are impossible to live that comfortably with other means: when camping out with a tent, things are far more simplified (which, don’t get me wrong, I love as well!) and when driving a mobile home around, you’re restricted to special parking lots, designed for you.

Camper vans and caravans offer the solution; they get you onto beaches, far into forests, so you can live in the most breathtaking hideouts in the mountains or have an apartment on beach for a few days. You’ll have your large 2-persons-bed (and often 2 more beds), kitchen, fridge, table, seats, shady patio, laptop, music, internet… Some “fanatics” even put solar panels onto their roofs! And then, apart from that, you’re driving around all your gear (and friends, kids or partner) to go rock climbing in Spain...or surfing, hiking, scuba diving, kayaking, cycling (lot’s of vans have a bike carrier for 2-4 bikes). Really whatever you prefer doing in your free time. 

Living in a caravan in Spain is getting more popular

A couple of months ago, a radio news report on RNE confirmed what I had been observing: the so-called “furgonetas camperizadas” are becoming more and more popular. The presumption that it’s a hippy-way of going on holidays, the motorized version of backpacking maybe… 

Well, that’s slowly but surely losing terrain to the wow-effect this way of traveling or living actually produces. And, by the way, as far as the cheap hippy-like reputation it has: a new VW or Mercedes camper van can costs anything between €35.000 and €65.000. So, unfortunately, it’s not even that cheap.

Spain is especially comfortable for road trips in “furgos”, because of the great freedom of movement found here. If, for example, you’d compare it to France nowadays, it would almost be like comparing opposites; for the normal-sized vans (anything that isn’t considered a, much larger, mobile home) you’ll be able to “camp” almost anywhere.

Of course, there are some general rules that apply when living in a caravan in Spain, but it’s a far less restrictive situation. Where nowadays it’s basically impossible to freely stop and camp in most of the attractive natural areas in France, in Spain you can basically choose your favorite spot and, respectfully, spend a couple of nights there. As long as you leave it the way you found it, or better. 

Here are some helpful links if you're considering van life:

• https://www.blacksheep-van.com/es/
• http://furgobidaiak.eus/
• https://www.furgovw.org/

Where to Go on Your Van Trip

To tie things off, I’d like to make some general suggestions for types of areas that are especially nice to visit with a camper van. Personally, I always prefer the natural sceneries where you normally wouldn’t be able to spend time that comfortably and where you can actually enjoy the surroundings. 

Luckily, Spain is filled with those areas: 

• For amazing coastlines, try the north of Spain
• For mountains, choose Guadarrama, the Pyrenees, or the Picos de Europa
• For beautiful forests, go to Irati or Albarracín

But, seriously, the list of suggestions could just go on and on. And I haven’t even begun to consider the destinations for the more culinary/gastronomically oriented traveler. All I can really say is TRY IT! I guarantee you’ll love van life in Spain.