pitching up t'other side of Santander

Only a brief tale - we spent 2 months in Benicassim Sept/Oct this year.  As our ferry arrived in Santander at around 6.30ish Spanish time we had decided to take a brief stop over at a site along the motorway, as we like to travel across via the Rioja valley, Zaragoza, then down past Teurel, then Sagunt and back along coast to Benicassim.

We took a punt on an ACSI site along the coast ' Castro Urdiales'.  Oh, dear the narrow streets in the town were quite interesting, then onto a rough winding steep track like road up to the site (tangerine coloured building viewed from a distance).  Once hubby had called into reception, leaving me locked in van, looking out at some very sour faced people I remembered the film 'Deliverance' - he jumped back into the van quoting the very unhelpful reception lady stated they WERE NOT part of the ACSI system, although they are in the BOOK.  She had waved at some very rough uneven grass pitches off the rough track, facing some static vans as being the only places available.  DID WE STAY, not on your life, a quick 3 point turn and we set off again.  Within half an hour it was dark, and my husband just said LET'S DO IT, and we drove all night to reach Benicassim at 4.00 am - we did stop off for fuel, hot drinks and a bite to eat enroute, then parked up on the Lidl carpark just up the road from Bonterra Park.  We did have an enjoyable stay meeting lots of friendly people, from the UK, old friends from prior holidays, and new friends from France and Germany.  Several others had 'strange' experiences at the Castro site.

We also met on site a younger German couple in a small motorhome, who had pulled over in an Aire on the journey down, and woke up groggy the next morning to discover cash had been removed from their van, and the van door tampered with.  An addendum he said never again to stop on an Aire and they were lucky to keep all their credit cards etc in a hidden place - and they were both tall, strong atheletic people.

There was also an incident on the Bonterra Park site which does have security guard and locked gates, but someone been seen 'apparently mending the roof of a small building adjacent to the park wall' - but it was later suspected this was just a ploy, as a newly arrived RV motorhome couple had their van robbed.  They were parked in the vicinity with their access door facing the wall and away from the inner roadway, and tired from their journey both set off to the shower block - leaving the motorhome door open.  The lady's bag with cash and cards was taken and the handbag discovered empty later on the other side of the perimeter wall.  So BE AWARE!