Hello everyone!
We are planning to travel by bike for the next 6 months. Our idea is to travel from Tarifa in Spain to the North Cape (which is the "Corona" route, as the original route was from Istanbul to China, but the Coronavirus surprised us so we changed our plans).
Finding reliable information is difficult and every website says something else. That's why we decided to ask in this forum hoping that there are people form Spain that can help us.
- What do you think about our plan to cross Spain from Tarifa to France from mid-February? The route: we take a flight to Malaga, from there we cycle down to Tarifa, from there to Seville and from there following the Vía de la Plata to the north....
- We read that there are communities with confinamento and others with cierre perimetral. If we pass through such a community by bike, what happens? Does the police stop us, and if they stop us: do they fine us?
- We also read that it is possible to cross these areas with cierre perimetral, as long as the origin and destination is different from an area with cierre perimetral. We do not believe that we will always manage to cross the area in one day by bike since we are limited in km per day. Do you know what happens if we don't make it out of an area with cierre perimetral the same day we enter it?
We appreciate your answers to decide whether to try or better change the route again...
Thank you very much for your help!
Daniela and Andreas
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Hi Daniela,
There are some areas with different restrictions and it is changing a lot... very confusing so we are like in a long quarantine-like times. There is curfew and in some places it is at 8PM or 10PM or 11PM. Some have restrictions at municipality level like Catalonia, Basque Country or Valencia and some not. But again, not even sure how things will be in a few weeks as they are f***ing changing rules now and then. I know of some cyclist who are travelling around Canary Islands, still Spain but more relax.
Anyway, if you cycle police might stop you but I haven't been stopped yet... and on the other hand there is not that much tourist / people around so if you manage to cycle would be super relax. If you pedal close to Barcelona let me know, we might be able to host you if you want :)
Safe travels!
Hola Daniela, it's very difficult, almost impossible, to give you advice that is 100% correct & valid; as Jonathon says the situation here in Spain (and almost everywhere really) is very fluid, changes due to local circumstances and all we can do is provide anecdotal advice based on personal experience. I live in Cadiz province, Andalusia where a lot of towns & municipalities are under travel restrictions but we are allowed to cycle quite freely and the policia don't seem to be interested / concerned if we cycle across local borders. The main thing to be aware of is the night time curfew but you're unlikely to be riding late at night. So I'd say go for it, travel safely and practice all the correct hygiene procedures. Probably better if you're camping, be aware it has been unusually wet is Spain this winter so off-road trails will be muddy, keep to the roads for now. The Via de la Plata is a nice ride, I did it mostly on the N630 in October 2019. One final piece of advice would be to consider starting later (March or early April) as the weather will be warmer and the Covid situation clearer. If you make the trip we are about 65km north of Tarifa and can provide local route guidance and you can Warmshower at our place near Conil. Buen Suerte. Richard
Thank you so much for your answers, they are very helpful! We will wait for the decision from Greece Government (8th of february) about change of restrictions there and then decide if we start in Greece / the Balkans instead of Spain... but still we are optimistic that cycling will be possible, no matter where :)