Wintering in Spain - Advice

philmarks

philmarks

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I'm thinking of wintering in Spain next year. Im 15.6 m oa, 2.75m draft. Any tips?
- ideally within 100km of an airport
- I will need to leave the vessel unattended for several weeks where's best?
- Are there any taxation issues if vessel in Spain for >6mths (say Canaries in summer then back to mainland for the winter?)
- can you reserve space in advance?
- what are charges like?

All advice appreciated. Thanks in advance.
 
Have a look at the thread 'Spain - Winter lay-up' posted on this board on 11/11. Just type Spain into the search box and hit enter and it will appear like magic.
 
As long as you don't claim the boat to be your permanent home then there are no taxation charges.

HOWEVER, getting a berth is your first job and at your size you are going to be quite lucky. As of this week even, I have friends who have found spaces in just a couple of marina's and thats just for while the berth holder is on the hard and you'll find that they won't let you stay on the hard for long either. You may get a chance of doing it like that but to be honest 15mtrs plus in Spain these days is almost a no-no. Sorry to be so pessamistic, but you can blame your fellow Brits, of course the Germans and now the Spanish themselves who have the fastes/largest growing leisure fleet in Europe and a ban on marina building in most places; some have been started and then stopped halfway through and even one of these in Mallorca with no water or electric on the pontoon wants over £25 a night!

Go further East to Bosnia etc.. Must be cheap as ALL the German boats from Valencia moved there this summer.

Phil
 
Barcelona, Marina Port vell, essential to book, fine place, secure and very interesting I´m there now, cheapish aswell, Barcelona is a fabulous place, cheap flights, Gaudi buildings, gothic quarter, fabulous markets, english community if you want it, even an english shop in Sitges a train ride away. I would strongly reccomend it.
 
I'd try the following:

Chipiona - airport Jerez
Gelves - near Sevilla up the Guadalquivir
Almerimar - Malaga

You may try and book but you'll have little joy - all the above are ones I've been to in the winter, are reasonably cheap and, being a fair size, usually have some room.
Unlike one other poster I wouldn't really rate barcelona for cost or security - though the city is fun it's nothing like as good fun as Sevilla.
 
Why not try Gibraltar, Spain in all but name. Marina Bay is usually able to accomodate. Problems: quite exposed, but not unpleasant. Tax Free????
I winter in Benalmadena, and Summer in Gib. Sail in winter, dive in Summer, a great compromise. Good luck.....
 
Almerimar - airport Almeria - large marina bit beaten up but relatively cheap.
Aguadulce ap Almeria mid-sized but friendly
Torrevieja ap Alicante small but interesting. We paid 1000 euros for a 6-month 10m berth afloat.

All have thriving live-aboard communities to keep an eye on your boat.. First two can overwinter on hardstanding.

Forget Gibraltar unless you are 1) Braindead or
2) Can't be bothered to learn some simple Spanish.

Disregard the doom and gloom merchants - if you get there before end of September you should be OK. In mid-October 2002 we could have had places for our 10m in all the above. Your size will cost you but all the above had boats that size and bigger in them. Many are suspicious of advance booking as often people book two or three and don't show up...

Good luck with your passage down - if you would like my pilotage and passage notes for our journey from La Rochelle to Torrevieja please contact me.

When you get to Spain, buy "The Yachtsman's Guide to Spain and Portugal". It's in Spanish and English and gives very good info about marinas with prices facilities up-to-date phone/fax/e-mails etc. It's 10 euros.

"The Straits handbook" is stuffed full of useful info about navigating the Straits and ports on either side. Queensway Marina in Gib is the best of a bad bunch...
 
Re: River Flooding

The Spainish rivers are I believe prone to some massive flooding with the water levels rising alarmingly. Are these river localtions (like Seville) safe over winter, or are these floods very rare?
 
Costa del Sol?

We're sort of contemplating the idea of buying an apartment down on the Costa del Sol (Gib to Almeria), renting it out profitably to beach and golfies from April to October, (when we would be cruising the Med in the boat) which would pay for us to live free during the winter, and keep the boat . . where?
There seem to be a number of harbours between Gib and Almeria - Cabopino, Fuengirola, Benalmadena, Malaga - are they all horrendously expensive and/or impossible to get a berth in? . . . during the winter months. Last week when I was there, Fuengirola looked not at all full, in or out the wet stuff.

PS (the edit)
Have also now looked at the earlier November-December thread, so any thoughts beyond that from those many distinguished and wise contributors much appreciated. Flattery!

<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1>Edited by Grehan on 13/01/2003 22:28 (server time).</FONT></P>
 
Re: Costa del Sol?

Thanks everyone, I'm a bit more optimistic now! Because I have to get back to work from time to time, I was worried about being stuck down there unable to find a secure berth. I plan to do Canaries in summer and then back to Spain for winter (although it's likely to be hard work that way around). And, you ask, why not reverse that? Well we plan to cruise in to the Med in 2004, and Spain's easier to fly to in winter fro weekends. Thanks again
 
Re: Costa del Sol?

I secured a 12m berth on the Costa Lotta Del Sol in September 2002

"Your chance to own a Crown is now"
 
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