We departed for Palomares at the usual time of around 10:00, arriving in the afternoon around 16:00, taking some 6 hours to cover the 304 miles. Our route was predominantly along the E15 coastal route, passing Benidorm and Alicante on our way to Palomores.
During the final section, from the AP-7 to Camping Cuevas Mar, our satnav took us along the AL-8105. This road crosses a dried-up river bed and the ascent and descent at both sides of this river are steep embankments. We weren’t really sure how our outfit would handle it but in the end it was ok but I’d definitely not use this routing again. Approach Palomares from the North West, not the North East when travelling from the Alicante direction.
Another sign that this winter is very busy in Spain, we had very little choice of plots at Camping Cuevas Mar. Still we found a place to stay for a few nights before our onward travels to the Malaga area.
I like to provide a little background on the places we visit and to be honest, I’d no knowledge of Palomares or the immediate vicinity. Wikipedia tells me that the town is noted for an incident in 1966 in which a B-52 Stratofortress of the Strategic Air Command crashed after a midair collision with a KC-135 Stratotanker plane, causing radioactive contamination after its payload of four hydrogen bombs (H-bombs) was dispersed and crashed.
There were four thermonuclear weapons in the bomber. The high-explosive igniters in two of these bombs detonated on impact, spreading radioactive material, including deadly plutonium-239, over a wide area of the Spanish countryside, but safety mechanisms and electronics prevented any nuclear explosions. The third H-bomb landed via parachute into a stream, where it was relatively intact and was recovered. The fourth H-bomb landed in the Mediterranean Sea, and U.S. Navy searchers took three months to find and recover the device intact. A large amount of contaminated Spanish soil was soon removed, packed up, and shipped across the Atlantic for burial near Barnwell, South Carolina, the site of a large installation of the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission.
Wednesday was market day in Palomares and we stocked up on fruit and vegetables and enjoyed a beer or two at the market square. This site was basic when compared to Bonterra Park but the ACSI price of Eur 18 per night was inclusive of unlimited electricity. Many of the campers are long-stay and they were certainly a friendly bunch.
Thursday we drove to Bedar.
In the foothills of the Sierra de los Filabres, the whitewashed pueblo of Bedar rests on the mountainside some 400m above sea level and with stunning views across the plains to the Mediterranean sea.
The clear mountain air, breathtaking scenery, peace and tranquility and a traditional Spanish way of life are some of the reasons visitors are attracted to this village. There is a well-signed structured walk through the pueblo and on this day, we appeared to be the only tourists in town. When we eventually found a bar and somewhere to eat, all the customers were English so in some respects we didn’t sample an entirely Spanish way of life.
A selection of pictures from our walk through Bedar.
Finally after our trip around the village, we found the only retaurant open nearby and guess what, every table occupied by Brits.
Thus we enjoyed a traditional “Spanish” lunch at Bar Restaurante El Cortijo.
Friday and it was time to move on yet again. This time to Camping Valle Niza, close to the town of Torre del Mar. This was a short trip of some 170 miles which took around 4 hours to complete.
We had needed to cut short our stay at Palomares (which was a shame) but Joe needed to deal with some technical issues. More on that later.
