My best tip if you are in bigger City's where they don't want Caravans: Stay somewhere over the day (Parking spaces, Supermarket parking or parks or where ever). When you want to sleep: Drive around and find a nice parking lot or whatever that feels comfortable and legal and park there just for the night. First thing in the morning: Get the heck out of there. And you'll be fine. Most of the time people only become suspicious if you seem to start living there. Understandable though. If I would not be Vanlifing and don't know about Vanlife I would definitely be skatched out about people who start to live right in front of my house in a vehicle. Keep in mind: People who life in a van are wired for many people. And people don't know that you are not a threat to they're kids and family.
This is so true. We just started vanlife 2 months ago and we learned after getting a €400 fine that the best thing to do is arrive at the parking spot relatively late (after 9pm) and leave early before the parking wardens or police start work (leave no later than 8am). Also, get a heavy duty small safe installed in your van for cameras, jewellery and watches. One night whilst we were sleeping we were woken up at about 3-4am to someone trying to break in to our van. Luckily my partner thought fast and jumped out bed quick and started bellowing at the thieves in a loud deep scary voice. They got spooked and we heard them run away. Guessing they were young teens. We’ve learned since not to park in super remote parking lots. Always park near other campers, even if it’s bright and noisier. Since we’ve done this we haven’t had any issues.
You might get away with it 😝 but be aware if you have anything outside the van no matter where you are they will consider it as "Camping" and then tell you to move on
My biggest tip would be to get rid of the grey water tank. And route it to a spout outside the van. If you're not in the nature then put a wee bucket under it dispose after. It's only sink water and if you're using natural soap, there's nothing to worry about. Been all over Europe and Spain for many months and never had an issue. Esp in a t25, you need all the space you can and a wastewater tank is not necessary in my opinion. In our t25 we have the 43L fresh water tank just inside the rear door, and under the sink Is free for all food storage. The bucket for collecting greywater can double up for many other jobs also. Love the channel . Ye are doing a great job. We going towards South of Spain next week in our 84 t25 from galway via Cork - Roscoff
Thanks Brian!! We actually said this yesterday that we should change the grey water tank to under the van. One of our biggest regrets. How long are you going to be in Spain for? We are on the French border heading towards Barcelona. Give us a shout if you want to meet up
@@ShaneandAneVanLife possibly we could met. Thanks for offer. We will be in Spain in about a month or 3 weeks after driving through France. En route to andalucia. Will ye be long in spain?
These are very reasonable regulations. My build is a small commercial looking cargo van with no windows (custom and amble ventilation on the roof under a flat solar panel) for stealth, privacy and easy parking (by design). I have a security camera and I try to park right in front residential windows or stores fronts that have more security cameras. Park in the sun and hike out to a nice shaded park with your chair and supplies and live outside for the afternoon .. maybe spend a few hours during lunch under AC. An EV van that can run AC for 4 hours during the day would come in very handy for stealth van life in Spain! Side note that Vigo Spain is where Stallantis makes all those EV Cargo vans so one crazy idea would be to build an EV van right out of the assembly line and just move to Spain. :)
Yeah Spain is generally relaxed. Its more so if you camp your small stealth van in a big camper spot taking up space is when they will get annoyed. Or vice a versa. Yeah that would be a cool van to build off the assembly line for sure!
Thank you. Very informative. Good to know there is rubbish containers there. We heading to Spain tomorrow from Sardinia. Here was nightmare to find any container.
Thanks for watching:) we have travelled Ireland in our van and it was the same, no containers or places to empty waste water. Here in Spain is brilliant!! Where will you go in Spain?
Do you put your solar panels in your windshield? If so, have you noticed any difference in its effectiveness vs laying on top of the van? Nice video! Thank you for the tips. 😊🚚
Times when the police were being strict we put them in the window but wasn't as effective as putting them on the roof. We started putting it on the roof when we were parked on the street etc. Definitely get more use out of it on the roof. Sometimes when we knew we would be away for a few hours at beach or something we would leave it in the window. Better than nothing :))
I love these videos guys! There is a lot of information! But then you can’t park on a normal car spot in a city or in a village? Where are you allowed to do camping then? Can you do it in the nature or only in camping areas? I can’t wait for your next video!! ❤️❤️
Thanks!🥰 We are glad you liked it! ☺️ You can park in a normal car park (if there are no height restrictions) and if you van fits. Our van isn't longer than many cars so we fit, but vans that are longer and overhang can get a fine... 😕 Technically camping is forbidden in Spain so only in camping areas, but if you are in the middle of nature and you take your table out it's fine! 😄
So if your v5 doesn't say its a camper you can't use camper spots and have to use normal spaces?? so would they invalidate your camper insurance if again your v5 didn't agree with that?? 1 more thing, i'm disabled so are there any disabled spaces?
We have seen them going knocking on vans asking if it's a campervan or not. They never asked us. I'm not sure if it's because our van is Irish reg they never bothered. Yes, almost all places have disabled spots. I'm not 100% sure on the rules and regulations for parking a campervan in them. I'd say you should be good tho
Barcelona is hard for vanlife, especially with emission zones to look out for. We actually stayed in a hostel outside that had onside parking and also we just slept in the van.. worked out cheaper than paying for parking closer to the city 😁😁
@@ShaneandAneVanLife can you remember where the hotel was? There’s a couple of camping parks to the north of Barcelona, bit pricey and booking a pitch could be a gamble, so wondering about a plan b, ie park4night.
First thing to know, 1,Go stealth= so you can park anywhere! A campervan is too much of a giveaway. 2, you can only go for 90days! I’ve just spoke to a couple who have rented an apartment beachside for €1200 for 3months in Spain. It would cost more than that to get a camper across the water and down to southern Spain.
Hey👋 Stealth van are definitely the best way to go. Less hassle with everything. In terms of 90 days. I don't know if your talking about insurance or due to Brexit Most insurnaces allow you to go for more than 90 days. We are Spanish and Irish so we can spend as long as we want in Europe. 1200 for an apartment is really good. That would be a great holiday. We like having the camper so we can move around and not tied to the one area. But of course getting a van over will almost cost 1200.
That's always a option! We have been on the road for a year so if we had to pay a campsite every nought that would get very expensive haha. We haven't stayed at one yet
I was just about to comment the same. It's still not fixed and to be fair, as a Portuguese, incredibly offensive and disrespectful. Great channel tho, but please fix that
My best tip if you are in bigger City's where they don't want Caravans: Stay somewhere over the day (Parking spaces, Supermarket parking or parks or where ever). When you want to sleep: Drive around and find a nice parking lot or whatever that feels comfortable and legal and park there just for the night. First thing in the morning: Get the heck out of there. And you'll be fine. Most of the time people only become suspicious if you seem to start living there. Understandable though. If I would not be Vanlifing and don't know about Vanlife I would definitely be skatched out about people who start to live right in front of my house in a vehicle. Keep in mind: People who life in a van are wired for many people. And people don't know that you are not a threat to they're kids and family.
Very true! Great comment hopefullypeople can reaf this and it helps them too. Thank you:)
This is so true. We just started vanlife 2 months ago and we learned after getting a €400 fine that the best thing to do is arrive at the parking spot relatively late (after 9pm) and leave early before the parking wardens or police start work (leave no later than 8am). Also, get a heavy duty small safe installed in your van for cameras, jewellery and watches. One night whilst we were sleeping we were woken up at about 3-4am to someone trying to break in to our van. Luckily my partner thought fast and jumped out bed quick and started bellowing at the thieves in a loud deep scary voice. They got spooked and we heard them run away. Guessing they were young teens. We’ve learned since not to park in super remote parking lots. Always park near other campers, even if it’s bright and noisier. Since we’ve done this we haven’t had any issues.
I'm thinking of doing it in a normal looking Ford transit van.. I might get it handyer 😅
You might get away with it 😝 but be aware if you have anything outside the van no matter where you are they will consider it as "Camping" and then tell you to move on
My biggest tip would be to get rid of the grey water tank. And route it to a spout outside the van. If you're not in the nature then put a wee bucket under it dispose after. It's only sink water and if you're using natural soap, there's nothing to worry about. Been all over Europe and Spain for many months and never had an issue. Esp in a t25, you need all the space you can and a wastewater tank is not necessary in my opinion. In our t25 we have the 43L fresh water tank just inside the rear door, and under the sink Is free for all food storage. The bucket for collecting greywater can double up for many other jobs also. Love the channel . Ye are doing a great job. We going towards South of Spain next week in our 84 t25 from galway via Cork - Roscoff
Thanks Brian!! We actually said this yesterday that we should change the grey water tank to under the van. One of our biggest regrets. How long are you going to be in Spain for? We are on the French border heading towards Barcelona. Give us a shout if you want to meet up
@@ShaneandAneVanLife possibly we could met. Thanks for offer. We will be in Spain in about a month or 3 weeks after driving through France. En route to andalucia. Will ye be long in spain?
We have return ticket for mid October but might stay longer:)
Great video keep them comming
Thank you 😊😊
Thanks for the information, I'm 61 retired thinking about leaving on the road in Europe
Definitely do it!!
Great video guys keep it up.
😊😊
These are very reasonable regulations. My build is a small commercial looking cargo van with no windows (custom and amble ventilation on the roof under a flat solar panel) for stealth, privacy and easy parking (by design). I have a security camera and I try to park right in front residential windows or stores fronts that have more security cameras. Park in the sun and hike out to a nice shaded park with your chair and supplies and live outside for the afternoon .. maybe spend a few hours during lunch under AC. An EV van that can run AC for 4 hours during the day would come in very handy for stealth van life in Spain!
Side note that Vigo Spain is where Stallantis makes all those EV Cargo vans so one crazy idea would be to build an EV van right out of the assembly line and just move to Spain. :)
Yeah Spain is generally relaxed. Its more so if you camp your small stealth van in a big camper spot taking up space is when they will get annoyed. Or vice a versa.
Yeah that would be a cool van to build off the assembly line for sure!
thank you for the information
Thank you for watching ❤️
Wicked video guys! Thanks for this! We’re scouring UA-cam to find a great channel for tips and planning our adventure in winter and have subscribed!🎉
Awesome thank you 😊😊 where are you planning on going this winter?
I always thought about van life across seas! All good to know! ❤️❤️❤️
Vanlife is honestly incredible!! The best decision we ever made 😁😁☘️
Thanks
❤️
Thank you. Very informative. Good to know there is rubbish containers there. We heading to Spain tomorrow from Sardinia. Here was nightmare to find any container.
Thanks for watching:) we have travelled Ireland in our van and it was the same, no containers or places to empty waste water. Here in Spain is brilliant!! Where will you go in Spain?
Very helpful we are in Spain end of next month
Amazing. What part are you going?
Do you put your solar panels in your windshield? If so, have you noticed any difference in its effectiveness vs laying on top of the van? Nice video! Thank you for the tips. 😊🚚
Times when the police were being strict we put them in the window but wasn't as effective as putting them on the roof. We started putting it on the roof when we were parked on the street etc. Definitely get more use out of it on the roof.
Sometimes when we knew we would be away for a few hours at beach or something we would leave it in the window. Better than nothing :))
You guys are good citizens, congrats!
Thanks! 😂😋
I love these videos guys! There is a lot of information! But then you can’t park on a normal car spot in a city or in a village? Where are you allowed to do camping then? Can you do it in the nature or only in camping areas?
I can’t wait for your next video!! ❤️❤️
Thanks!🥰 We are glad you liked it! ☺️ You can park in a normal car park (if there are no height restrictions) and if you van fits. Our van isn't longer than many cars so we fit, but vans that are longer and overhang can get a fine... 😕 Technically camping is forbidden in Spain so only in camping areas, but if you are in the middle of nature and you take your table out it's fine! 😄
Very interesting 👌👌🏁🍀🍀🏁😎😎👍🏼👌
Thanks! Glad you found it useful! ✨🥰
Ane y Shane un saludo desde Castro Urdiales de vuestras amigas de Mos's....ya os seguimos la pista jajaja 😂
Jajaja un saludo 😂😘
So if your v5 doesn't say its a camper you can't use camper spots and have to use normal spaces?? so would they invalidate your camper insurance if again your v5 didn't agree with that?? 1 more thing, i'm disabled so are there any disabled spaces?
We have seen them going knocking on vans asking if it's a campervan or not. They never asked us. I'm not sure if it's because our van is Irish reg they never bothered.
Yes, almost all places have disabled spots. I'm not 100% sure on the rules and regulations for parking a campervan in them. I'd say you should be good tho
Anyone got advice on camping in or near Barcelona. I have a T25 high roof, so no stealth camping for me.
Barcelona is hard for vanlife, especially with emission zones to look out for.
We actually stayed in a hostel outside that had onside parking and also we just slept in the van.. worked out cheaper than paying for parking closer to the city 😁😁
@@ShaneandAneVanLife can you remember where the hotel was? There’s a couple of camping parks to the north of Barcelona, bit pricey and booking a pitch could be a gamble, so wondering about a plan b, ie park4night.
First thing to know,
1,Go stealth= so you can park anywhere! A campervan is too much of a giveaway.
2, you can only go for 90days!
I’ve just spoke to a couple who have rented an apartment beachside for €1200 for 3months in Spain.
It would cost more than that to get a camper across the water and down to southern Spain.
Hey👋
Stealth van are definitely the best way to go. Less hassle with everything.
In terms of 90 days. I don't know if your talking about insurance or due to Brexit
Most insurnaces allow you to go for more than 90 days.
We are Spanish and Irish so we can spend as long as we want in Europe.
1200 for an apartment is really good. That would be a great holiday. We like having the camper so we can move around and not tied to the one area. But of course getting a van over will almost cost 1200.
❤
💕😊
If it wasn't for the tourist traffic, including vanlife, the whole of Spain would have nothing to eat....
It's a pity that the Spanish economy relies so much on tourism. When covid hit, it had such a big impact on Spain...
So a pop up roof is fine?
Yes as long as you dint have tables and chairs and awnings out they dint say anything
Or u could just book a spot in a camping ground.
That's always a option! We have been on the road for a year so if we had to pay a campsite every nought that would get very expensive haha. We haven't stayed at one yet
For all of those who are homeless. Just buy a house
When did Portugal become part of Spain?😆😅
Ups! I hadn't noticed that. Thanks for pointing it out. I'll fix it 😂😂
I was just about to comment the same. It's still not fixed and to be fair, as a Portuguese, incredibly offensive and disrespectful. Great channel tho, but please fix that
Classic Spanish government, bring a chair out? €60 fine, break into a van and steal people stuff? Carry on
That's it!! Makes no sense 🙈🙈