MARCH 2014
Hi Alan,
As promised I have jotted a couple of paragraphs below;
A-Frames Abroad
Jean and I had been planning a two month tour of France, Spain and Portugal.
Everyone seemed to know someone, that had heard of someone's brother, who had a mate that had been fined in Spain for using an A-frame.
Whilst I was not disputing that this 'has' happened, nobody seemed to be able to put a number on how many had been fined against how many hadn't....and how much the fine was for, though I had heard numbers around the 40-60 Euros?
I considered the possibility of a fine of 60 Euros to be a better option than purchasing/hiring a trailer. This option, by the way, would have rendered me illegal to tow in the UK as I would have been above my 750kg towing limit.
We disembarked the ferry in Dieppe on the 6th January and pottered down through France, arriving at the Spanish border on the 16th. Jean was all psyched up to the fact that we may be told to unhook the car forcing her to drive through Spain...... but nothing happened!
We were not "lucky" by seeing no police. In fact, we saw more police in the first day in Spain than throughout the previous 10 days in France.
We covered a total of around 3,200 miles of which approximately 1,500 were on Spanish roads.
We would have been seen by at least 20 police vehicles during our time in Spain and not one felt it necessary to stop us.
On one occasion we were on a totally deserted motorway. The only vehicles for miles were our RV, A-frame car and a motorway patrol car. The cop came alongside for quite some time seemingly scrutinising our rig, then eventually accelerated away. Would this have happened if we were driving illegally?
We met a couple of fellow RVers who claimed the same thing, though they had actually been pulled over.... checked out and then left to carry on their journey without ticket, fine or the like. These guys also mentioned that they believe the Spanish police no longer have the power to take 'on-the-spot' fines.
All in all, Jean and I are now looking forward to our next trip relaxed in the knowledge that we gathered on this trip.
We will use the A-frame again and we will be heading for Spain.
Best Regards
Keith Perry