After Sopalmo

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The night before we left Sopalmo, we had a party and invited everyone we could find on the campsite.

The weather was chilly, so we were delighted that everyone came and most stayed until it really was too cold to sit outside (even wrapped in rugs!).

We were given a great send off in the morning and promised to return – hopefully next winter. Bernie played the harmonica whilst Doris flourished her white handkerchief and everyone else waved.

We felt quite sad to leave but wanted to explore the coast further north for a few days before going to Madrid. However, the coast did not look too appealing and it started to rain very heavily so we turned inland and ended up miles away in the hills north of Murcia at Moratalla.

Moratalla is an attractive hillside town overlooking a huge fertile plain. The town is busy and prosperous as well as unspoilt and not too dependent on tourism. This is a view from the castle:

Camping La Puerta, a few kilometers north of Moratalla, is a large campsite (with very good facilities) in the middle of pine woods at the entrance to an amazing gorge which cuts steeply through the surrounding limestone hills.

The river feeds a reservoir and then rushes down a weir and along the side of the campsite.

There were few other campers when we arrived but many Spanish families came for the weekend when the weather had improved. We ate our last Spanish Sunday 'menu del dia' in the campsite restaurant.

We spent a few days here, exploring Moratalla and walking in the hills and then headed for Madrid.