It’s the turn of Nerja to crack down on camper-van tourism; the Town Hall has put up warnings at the entrances to town telling them they’re not welcome.
These signs tell camper-van and caravan users that it is strictly forbidden to park or camp on public roads or on spaces next to them, anywhere in the municipality.
This prohibition is included in article 21 in the Municipal bylaws.
But it’s not just a case of warning signs because in large parking areas, like the one next to Hotel Marinas de Nerja, they have put crossbars over the entrance to limit high-vehicles access; camper-vans might weigh less that 3,500 kilos but they are around two metres high.
The Town Council has taken this measure because of the complaints received from campsites, business owners and locals in general.
The Chairman of the Spanish camper-van association (Plataforma de Autocaravanistas Autónomos de España) considers that the restrictions are completely illegal and that any fine levied against a vehicle owner can be appealed against and thrown out.
He considers that town halls don’t understand, or better said, don’t want to understand, that camper-vans are vans; i.e., just like any other type of van, and you can’t fine them for parking in parking areas.
He says they can be fined if they start dragging chairs and a table out, but not for simply parking. In fact, if a normal family car parks and then the occupants get folding tables and chairs out for a picnic, they can be fined, too.
According to the association’s records, there are 40,000 camper-van users in Spain and a further 250,000 such vehicles that come over from abroad each year. The average expenditure of a camper-van tourist is 70 euros a day.
Editorial comment: this attitude towards camper-van tourism is so short sighted – they’re not taking your tourism away; they’re increasing it. They spend money just like everybody else, even if they don’t stay in hotels or campsites. Towns should welcome every visitor that is willing to enjoy what the town has to offer and spend their hard-earned cash in your shops, bars and restaurants.
(News: Nerja, Axarquia, Costa del Sol, Malaga, Andalucia)
I don’t mind campers. My objection is when they park across 3 or 4 spaces, such as Marina Playa car park most weekends. That goes for all the idiots who do it, cars and campers alike.
Out of high season, it has been normal for campervans to overnight on the roadside for generations. However the sheer volume has become a problem, not only for the parking spaces but more importantly the likelihood of them depositing their “waste” in street drainage systems and causing pollution. Rather than an overall ban on parking which isn`t legal, they are privately registered vehicles – notices should be introduced making it illegal for overnight camping. This could be very easily invoked by the police waking up those who are sleeping in their vans and giving them a one off warning. Those who repeat the offence should be prosecuted.
I have to agree with the people complaining about the mobile homes situation. Not just around Nerja, but all along the coast, we see an enormous increase in this type of tourism. Every parking or open space, along the coast look like campings at the moment. No space for the locals to park at all! The discussion about them parking is irrelevant, because they don’t park, but created, illegal camping sites, without paying for it? Where is this 70 euro per day based on. It does not end up in the pockets of the small local businesses, but rather in the pockets of the big supermarket chains? The costs on the environment these diesel monsters create is apparently also not important in this discussion nor the amount of trash these literally hundreds of mobile homes create. They take up so much space, look at Playazo playa, where locals enjoying their weekends, hardly have the space to park and unpack their water sport gear anymore?
Signs clearly forbid camping, so what is the problem to enforce the law and send them of to official campings, benefitting the camping owners. The illegal camping sites also atrackted drifters making it their home? Even in the natural park behind Maro, Small communities of drifters appeared, because the law is not enforced. Let the communities come together and create solutions, paid camping sites with facilities rather than allowing whole villages of mobile homes to appear. Locals including us foreigners who made their home here, clearly do not see any benefits of this mobile home invasion.