Versión en Español
The ‘caravanning’ boom shatters all preconceptions in Spain.
They are synonymous with freedom and alternative tourism. Caravans and motorhomes are a different way to travel. The caravanning sector in Spain has grown above the European average in the past years.
Up until recently Spain had been one of the biggest beneficiaries of the caravanning fashion in Europe. For decades, German, French, Dutch and British tourists have been making the most of the big advantages of this itinerant form of tourism, which offers the widest range of possibilities: from initiating a journey without having to worry about reserving accommodation beforehand, to the flexibility of being able to adapt one’s travel plans along the way.
The Caravanning Trade Association of Catalonia (Gremcar) estimates that every year more than 200,000 caravans and motorhomes from very diverse parts of Europe cross our borders in search of the mythical Spanish sun. In practice, this means the arrival of nearly half a million tourists –in 75% of the cases, a motorhome is occupied by a couple. This flow is vital to the Spanish economy, which in 2007 earned more than 280 million Euros from this type of alternative travellers. The crisis has slightly curbed the caravanning boom, but the sector has already become an essential part of the tourism industry.
Caravanning was hardly regulated in Spain until a few years ago, as opposed to other European countries where travelling in caravans is deeply entrenched in society. The United Kingdom, Germany and France are the biggest markets of the sector. Together, they represent 60% of the annual sales of caravans and motorhomes, according the latest data supplied by the European Caravan Federation (ECF). Spain only makes up 4% of the annual sales.
New service areas
Gremcar affirms that, in spite of everything, the Spanish fleet of caravans and motorhomes is already close to 145,000 units. Many businesspersons and politicians are realising that the sector is becoming increasingly important and, for example, many towns are beginning to turn their attention to caravanning. In the last five years, many specialised service areas have been created, offering motorhome tourists a place where to adequately dispose of rubbish, etc. Thus, for the first time, Spain now has more than one hundred of these service areas spread across the country, although it continues to be a ridiculous number compared with the more than 6,000 in France.
In 2007, the ECF commissioned a report on the impact of caravanning on the European economy, the first one prepared on a large scale. The results were astonishing: the sector generates sales of approx. 27,000 million Euros per year, which includes the business volume of campsites as well as caravan and motorhome sales.
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Published in Cars, Ships and Aviation by Marco O. Brik on 25/05/2010
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