# We made it to Catalunya, but what a journey



## zx10r-Al (Apr 8, 2013)

We eventually left the UK on the 31st January at 0230 and set off to Spain with two LWB vans, one towing a large trailer (5m x 2m x 2.7m high), carrying some of our belongings. Due to being unable to get our 2 dogs and 2 oversize vans on the ferries to Spain, we had to drive through the snow from Warwick to Dover and cross into Calais. The drive from Calais to Boulogne was uneventful, but after Boulogne it started snowing again and did all the way to Le Mans. After Le Mans, the snow turned to rain until we reached Bordeaux for our overnight stop at a dog friendly B&B around 2100. 17.5hrs driving just to travel from Warwick to Bordeaux, a journey which would normally take 12-13hrs.
After a good nights sleep, we set off for Spain at 1030, heading for Irun. Just south of Bordeaux, it started raining hale stones, often covering the motorway with sheets of ice. The weather improved as we crossed the border, and the snow chain signs were all turned around giving us the green light to cross from San Sebastian to Pamplona. Just a few minutes into the first climb, we were overtaken by 5 snow ploughs and a short time after that we were in a blizzard, just following tyre tracks in the snow. As I was towing the trailer, I soon lost traction and became stuck in the snow. After a while, a couple more ploughs came past and I managed to get going again, but the snow was coming down so fast that within 20 seconds of a car passing, you couldn't see its tyre tracks. So many people were stuck or crashed, we were very lucky to get through. In total, I or we were stuck for around 2hrs. The Spanish are usually good at giving advanced warning of needing snow chains for the mountain passes, but this storm really caught them off-guard. Once we passed Pamplona, it was uneventful all the way to the Ebro valley, but it was still a long day, taking almost 12hrs to travel just 475 miles.

It cost around €100 in tolls for the van and trailer from Calais to Mora D'Ebre, and €75 for the van without a trailer. (I know other people are considering a similar journey)

We got our NIE's in Reus, got a letter from the Notary in Mora D'Ebre explaining why we needed them on the Thursday, submitted our application in Reus on Friday, collected our NIE's on the Monday, which is quicker and less painful than a lot of people make you believe.

We're now chilling out in a caravan, writing a book about our 3 year journey of finding and buying the perfect property in Spain, and waiting for a date when all parties can meet at the notary so we can buy the farm. Once we've got the keys, we need to get the utilities reconnected, move our belongings in and make it feel like home. Then I need to return to the UK alone with just an empty van (can't get on the direct ferry until the end of March, but people are approaching me asking if I can take things back for them if they cover part of the cost of the journey, including towing back someone elses trailer which will also be carrying another persons car!), collect our other (larger) trailer (7m x 2m x 2.7m high), load the van and trailer with the rest of our stuff and head back to Spain. We have found people interested in buying both vans and trailers over here, two ex-pat couples who are moving back to the UK, and one may want to part-exchange a Spanish registered car which is a real bonus for us.

The reason for this post was to not just tell our story, but also to give hope to people who are put off by the expense of moving (we were quoted £5500 to move our stuff here), that it is possible to move yourselves over here without it costing a fortune (cost us £700 to get 2 vans, 1 trailer, 2 adults and 2 dogs here), to warn that the unexpected can and probably will happen at some point, but its all part of the adventure.


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## extranjero (Nov 16, 2012)

I think a lot of people are put off travelling by road due to the horrific reports of robbers stopping motorists using a variety of nasty methods, and leaving them on the side of the road having been robbed of money, important documents etc.
I know the majority of people are not affected, but it is becoming more common, and enough to make people avoid this method of travel, as they most certainly do not regard it as part of the adventure; in fact, some have gone straight back to the UK, too traumatised to start their new life in Spain.


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## zx10r-Al (Apr 8, 2013)

There have been 'stories' of robberies for years, but I've only ever known of one person to be robbed. He was a fellow truck driver, went off route to find a brothel, was gassed in his truck whilst he slept and woke up to find everything taken. If people stick to the main routes, theres enough traffic passing to stop any of these rumours ever becoming reality.


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## tonymar (Jan 29, 2015)

Well done glad you made it here !

Years ago I brought my transit open back builders truck over with a make shift frame and tarpaulin , it was well loaded and extra heavy , remember climbing up a mountain in first gear , temp gauge in the red in August , the engine made some strange noises Id never heard before !,
lucky we made it ( had no breakdown cover I stupidly asked the AA if I would be covered for a one way journey , due to going to live in Spain , if I were only on holiday it would have been fine but they would not cover me for emigration ! )

Any way we made it , But never again !!!!

Tony Agost Alicante


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

Well done! We were fortunate in that we made our move at the beginning of November and therefore didn't meet that much bad weather. I had a phone call, from the Pensions Agency, as we were driving through the Pyrenees and they were quite amazed to hear that it was snowing where we were (in Spain??).


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