Peniscola – 9 to 14 January

Peniscola was once just a tiny coastal village at the base of perhaps the most stunning fortified castle in Spain, situated on a promontory overlooking what is now a total holiday town. The long northern seafront is a never ending line of apartments and hotels lining a narrow sandy beach, deserted of course at this time of year. To the south of the castle, adjoining the port, is a smaller sandy bay which is somewhat more attractive than the high-rises.

Looking south from the castle

One day we walked along the promenade for 20 minutes into the town with Jamie and found it mostly closed up, just the odd shop optimistically hoping for some trade plus a few cafes – and a bank whose machine refused to accept any card we offered it! There is a small fishing port, which was servicing a couple of boats, but the main attraction is the castle.

 

 

We wandered up the narrow streets and around the seaward walls, basking in glorious winter sunshine and imagining what it would be like in the holiday season! The castle was open for viewing but did not accept dogs so we thought €5 a head was not worth what we could access. There is a lot made of the fact that Pope Benedict XIII, known as Papa Luna, lived here for 6 years after being deposed from the papacy in the 15^th century. There is an attractive small public garden which we passed on the way down, returning to the campsite.

Looking north

Behind the site there is a large coastal marsh area with footpaths winding through it, making for good strolling and taking the dog for walks. Being out of season the swimming pool was closed (well it was empty) as was the restaurant, although the terrace bar appeared to be open but poorly patronised. There are two camping areas, the south being the original and somewhat more shaded than our preferred north area. Both were almost full and we noted the huge majority were long stay German units, both motorhomes and caravans, just two or three of other nationalities.

We had to position the van diagonally across our pitch to get it to fit in between the hedges and trees. However this meant we got full sunshine for most of the day and we spent most of the daytime hours enjoying it, when not catching up on the usual chores or walking Jamie. However, as to be expected in January, once the sun disappeared behind a hill the temperature dropped quickly and everyone retreated to their satellite TVs!

Originally planning to stay 5 nights we extended for another as we would have left on a Sunday and we needed to do some shopping – the Mercadonna seemed to be the only place open and was too far to walk and carry shopping bags!

If you're after total peace and quiet we can thoroughly recommend Peniscola at this time of year.

"Papa Luna"