A new campsite and superb cycling from Cambrils to Salou

So we made it to Spain and our new campsite is Camping

In El Pla De Les Serenes 

La Llosa at Cambrils. It's a good site by Spanish standards although I admit to being disappointed on arrival because of the close-packed gravel pitches and leafless trees. A bit bleak after Camping Casteillets, but the sun was shining, the skies were very blue and we were able to sit outside soaking up the warmth until well past 6pm - so I soon cheered up! Pitches here are actually pretty generously sized and marked by hedges which helps create an impression of privacy. Narrow lanes make manoeuvring interesting though and significant kerbs meant we almost couldn't get onto a pitch at all. For some as-yet-unknown reason, our leisure battery had completely flattened itself en route from France so we had had no motor movers. Plus our good friends next-door had surreptitiously buggered off. We managed to use the car to get Bailey out of the lane and basically just parked up - at a nice jaunty angle - until said friends returned and helped push! Fortunately we had no trouble with the mains electric and the kettle worked just fine while we waited!

Our new pitch 

Pricewise, Camping Llosa is €17 a night, but if we stay 15 nights we only need pay for 12. There's a remarkably new sanitary block with huge shower cubicles and very hot water. Wifi is €10 for 15 days with a good signal. And we have a keycard on a lanyard which gives us quick pedestrian access to the beach. We can just about see the sea from our pitch!

We haven't walked there yet. Instead we dusted off our bikes this afternoon and took advantage of the fantastic cycle path which runs along the beachfront promenade from Cambrils to nearby Salou and beyond. It's only about 7km each way, practically flat and almost entirely traffic free. The Spanish do wide promenades so well and I wish we had similar facilities in British seafront towns! Most of the route has cafes and restaurants on the land side. They were mostly closed today, but Chris said they had all been open and packed at the weekend. It is February here after all!

We both loved the massive In El Pla De Les Serenes which

In El Pla De Les Serenes 

was created by David Callau Gene and unveiled in 2011. The colours show better in the first photo at the top of this post and that is how we initially saw the sculpture. It's actually the back view. Commemorating the centenary of 'a year of misfortune' in 1911, the figural group comprises of two giant mermaids at the back with three fishermen in front of them. At the very front, and facing back to the others, is a child seated on a pedestal. The mermaids symbolise goodness and storm, sweetness and tranquillity, and the Sun and the Moon. The child represents the present and the future. We also spotted Torre de Port, a tall seventeenth tower which used to be a lookout post. I hope we might get to see it closer up at a later date.

Torre de l'Esquirol 

Another tower we passed was this Torre de l'Esquirol. Nothing to do with squirrels(!), it is a nineteenth communications tower constructed for the optical telegraph. Apparently it is one of the best conserved towers in the Spanish State and comes under the care of the Cambrils History Museum. We plan to walk into the old part of town tomorrow to look around more of the historical sights and maybe even visit the weekly market.