From the Ebre Delta to Xábia
Costa del Azahar is the name of the Valencian coast from Alcanar to Oliva and translates to ‚Orange Blossom Coast‘. It's also one of the most populated areas in Spain and you can't miss the orange-tree plantations on your way along the coastal region. This coast has many great beaches and inland you'll find some really beautiful mountainous natural reserves. Here are the highlights we discovered with our new campervan:
In the far north lies the Ebre Delta, one of the largest river deltas that flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The birdlife here is diverse and there are also some of the longest beaches in Spain. A large part of this delta is protected land and therefore there aren't any huge holiday developments that are seen in many other parts of Spain.
Over thousands of years, the river has transported sediments from the surrounding mountains, creating the delta, which is ideal for rice production. It's definately a good place to try a typical seafood paella 😊. Our main reason to visit was to see the flamingos 🦩. In one place we saw hundreds of them, some more pink and others more black and white, their colouring depending on their recent source of nutrition. The flamingo colony in the delta reached an all-time high in 2020 with over 4,000 pairs breeding!
Here are some facts about these beautiful birds:
The bill gradually curves downward as the flamingo matures
The parents identify their chick by its voice
Flamingos were highly popular in ancient Roman cuisine
'Greater' was an 83-year old flamingo, and thought to be the oldest in the world, who lived at the Adelaide Zoo!
We stayed at a lovely campground called Estanyet right next to the ocean. The manager was super friendly and gave us lots of tips for visits in the region. We managed to book a large lot closest to the sea. From here we could just walk through the gate onto this lovely promenade which takes you to the local village of Les Cases d'Alcanar. One evening the sunrise turned everything pink which we found pretty amazing.
The village, which is the most southern one of Catalunya, wasn't that spectacular as such but we liked the local atmosphere and the location was great for our excursions. We especially enjoyed the moments when the sun rose above the sea, its rays shining into our cabin ☀️. It was our first trip with our new mobile home in Europe, and this place was the first time we successfully and proudly detached the cabin from our pick-up vehicle and set it up on its metal stilts.
A highlight was our excursion to Peníscola, with its historic town that was used as a filming location for Games of Thrones. There's also a great beach and the sea was awesome with many different shades of blue. As a consequence, this place is overrun by tourists in high- season. We were there off-season and had a great time enjoying the good vibes around the castle with its many restaurants and bars in the old town.
At the top of the small peninsula lies the Castell del Papa Luna with a gorgeous view over the 5 km long beach - one of the longest beaches in Spain. The castle was converted from an Arab fortress by the Knights Templar between 1294 and 1307. Then from 1415 to 1423 it was the home of antipope Benedict XII (Pedro Luna). Antipope, because Luna was only recognised as pope by the Kingdom of Aragon but not by the Catholic Church in Rome.
Between Peníscola and Alcossebre there's a protected area of 12,000 hectares called Serra d'Irta Natural Park. In this semi-arid zone you can see pine trees, Mediterranean dwarf palms, and rosemary bushes. Untouched by construction, there‘s just a dirt road that you can use to explore the park. It's also a great place for hikers and bikers and there are lots of places to stop and take in the scenery.
There are 2 watchtowers that were built by the Arabs: Ebri and Badum. From the latter, there's a beautiful view of the cliffs and Peniscola in the background. Further south, there are some small beaches and bays.
Further inland and at the top of a hill is the Xivert Castle. Originally built by the Arabs in the late 11th century, it was conquered by Christian forces and, like Peníscola, put under the command of the Knights Templar. It underwent modifications that can still be seen today, such as the separation of the castle and the town by a wall, and the twin circular towers.
Further south, nature again was forced to make space for tourism. It seems that next to every sizeable beach there are so many highrise apartment blocks. One excellent place to get a view of such a typical tourist hotspot, was from the coastal road between Orpesa and Benicàssim.
From here we skipped the more industrial region around Valencia and only saw the old castle of Sagunto from the highway. 65 km south of Valencia, we stopped in Gandia where again, we found some lovely beaches. During the holiday season Gandia grows to a population of over 200,000. In the historic centre there's a small but interesting ducal palace which belonged to the Borgias. This family had a huge influence in the 15th and 16th centuries, producing two popes and a TV series 😉. The room called Capella Neogotica is an especially photogenic one.
We stayed at the Camping Kikopark which is at the end of Bruguera Beach in Oliva. The town itself is en route between Gandia and Denia and isn't very pretty. But the great part of Oliva is the beautiful long beach where we spent a few hours walking with our dog. The location of the campsite is perfect - at night we could fall asleep to the sound of the rolling waves!
From Oliva, it's a short drive to Denia which actually has some old history dating back to the Romans. An old castle still exists from that period. Nowadays, this place is a tourism hotspot with a pedestrian zone for shopping and a huge harbour. There are hundreds of sailing boats and yachts and it's very popular, being the closest harbour to the Balearic Islands. From here, you can also take a car ferry to the islands.
Once again, our main focus was on nature, which we found nearby upon a hill surrounding the beautiful and protected mountain area of Montgó. There are many hiking paths and good views down the coast. From Cap de Sant Antoni you can see down to Xábia and even across to Ibiza.
Xábia, or Jávea in Spanish, is the easternmost point of the Valencian Community and the southern end of the Gulf of Valencia. For lunch we drove down a very narrow road to the gorgeous bay of La Granadella with its stony beach. It was early November and we were really happy to find that the La Bandideta Beach Bar was still open.
The area around Cape Nao is probably one of the prettiest residential areas along the coast. We saw some pretty amazing villas, some with spectacular views and some right on top of the cliffs. The larger population here consists of wealthy expats. There are even high-end supermarkets and private international schools, and the best locations for a villa here, range from 3 to 12 Mio. EUR!
Heading back north, we decided to take the scenic inland road from Valencia to Andorra, as driving along the main highway with all the lorries and trucks is tiring and not very interesting. The inland road took us through some diverse landscapes and some of the most beautiful towns in Spain that are tucked away in the mountains.
From Sagunto we left the main highway and olive-tree plantations started to replace the orange-tree plantations. Our first stop was in Vilafamés. A small town built by the Moors and their main product is, unsurprisingly, olive oil.
The road from here climbs above 1‘000 m and a roadsign indicated that there could be icy roads. In November, the temperature was just slightly above freezing point. We passed another hill-top old town of Ares before arriving at the beautiful town of Morella. This is fully surrounded by medieval walls with fourteen towers. The town can only be entered through one of the medieval gates.
Our final destination for this day was the Parc Natural del Ports, which is part of Catalunya. Before we arrived, just between Monroyo and Peñarroya, we had this lovely view and our first impression of the beauty of this Natural Reserve.
This is another beautiful rock formation called ‚Les Roques de Benet‘. From here we drove further into the park where we found a lovely campsite at Els Ateus. There were no other visitors and no network connections, just nature 😊! Because our holiday was running out, we could only spend one night there, which was a shame as there's so much to discover in this region. We'll go back again one day! It was a great (albeit, freezing) way to end our 4 week campervan-holiday in Spain.
Our other blogs of Spain that we have published cover the following areas (with links):
"One crowded hour of glorious life is worth an age without a name"
(The Call - Thomas Osbert Morsdaunt, 1730-1809)
Travel blog and travel guide by Aaron Matzinger & Clare Walker
© Aaron Matzinger & Clare Walker