Food into Spain?

[Ch1pbutty]

Other wise you may as well park up in the garage and put up a big screen showing tours through the French countryside.

Great idea, you could use the saved diesel cost on supporting your local independent shops / producers (greengrocer, butcher, fishmonger, micro brewery. Local vineyard) rather than shopping at the UK supermarket buying a lot of European produce at reduced prices. This will help boost your local economy.

Joking aside. If you have paid to stay at a site overseas then you are already supporting the local economy. A lot will try to take a small amount of perishable food with them as it avoids the need to throw it away. Wasting food is never good.

 

[JULIANLISMORE]

One of the reasons campervans are unpopular is their occupants failure to support the places they visit. It’s as if they want to look out at the world rather than engage with it. Don’t take food with you but go out and buy it locally, support the places you visit, explore the differences of being abroad. Other wise you may as well park up in the garage and put up a big screen showing tours through the French countryside.

Apart from the bottle of single malt for our Danish friends the rest of our travelling stores are just “hard rations” for the journey and the avoidance of the need to shop as soon as we land in Netherlands. We will certainly sustain ourselves during most of our stay on locally purchased foods.

 

[larrylamb]

Don’t take food with you but go out and buy it locally,

Have you seen the size of the fridge? I think the question regards having food on board to provide for the journey to Spain rather than 3 weeks worth of cheddar and pork pies.

 

[Amarillo]

We have been to the EU twice. They were very interested in our camping gas, and on one occasion asked to look under our bonnet and were particularly interested in our hook up cables stored in the battery compartment.

I think the customs officials have better things to think about than British pork pies and ham & cheese sandwiches.

The rules are there to protect EU commercial interests and not petty disputes over ham salad baguettes.

Both France and Spain sell an excellent range of charcuterie and cheese, but sadly lacking in gala pie and scotch egg.

 

[JULIANLISMORE]

S

What chaos at Felixstowe, please, @JULIANLISMORE ?

Is it this https://theloadstar.com/chaos-at-po...ens-as-carriers-refuse-return-of-empty-boxes/ ?

Sorry, victorgeorge, it wasn’t me who referred to the chaos at Felixstowe, it was soul style Devon.

 

[JULIANLISMORE]

Have you seen the size of the fridge? I think the question regards having food on board to provide for the journey to Spain rather than 3 weeks worth of cheddar and pork pies.

Quite right, only in our case bound for Denmark, not Spain. We are not even particularly expecting to take meat or dairy products into the EU, knowing as we have all along about those prohibitions. What concerned us was to recently read government guidance which appeared to indicate that all plant-based foods were prohibited unless tested and accompanied by a photo-something-or-other certificate. Most of our “hard rations” come in this category.

I’m getting the impression that other Cali owners with experience of entering the EU are saying that no-one at the port of entry seems the slightest bit interested in the sort of foodstuff I’m referring to. As usual I’m probably taking the official information too seriously to heart!

 

[Ozzy Pete]

One of the reasons campervans are unpopular is their occupants failure to support the places they visit. It’s as if they want to look out at the world rather than engage with it. Don’t take food with you but go out and buy it locally, support the places you visit, explore the differences of being abroad. Other wise you may as well park up in the garage and put up a big screen showing tours through the French countryside.

Have you ever heard of an Aire? That’s the parking area that mainly French but some other European countries have to encourage people in Campervans and motorhomes stop in their town or village. If campervans were so unpopular why would they encourage you to stay “Free”. Campervans and motorhomes support the local communities in many ways by staying on Aires and local campsites. Filling up with fuel in local garages. Buying food in local Supermarkets. 99% of the people on this forum travel in Mainland Europe and beyond. Taking a tin of beans with you because you fancy beans on toast is hardly a crime, Or is it ?

 

[Amarillo]

Quite right, only in our case bound for Denmark, not Spain. We are not even particularly expecting to take meat or dairy products into the EU, knowing as we have all along about those prohibitions. What concerned us was to recently read government guidance which appeared to indicate that all plant-based foods were prohibited unless tested and accompanied by a photo-something-or-other certificate. Most of our “hard rations” come in this category.

I’m getting the impression that other Cali owners with experience of entering the EU are saying that no-one at the port of entry seems the slightest bit interested in the sort of foodstuff I’m referring to. As usual I’m probably taking the official information too seriously to heart!

I think it’s a little like the British law which prohibits a three year old child from cycling on the pavement. Totally inflexible, but comprehensively ignored by those whose job it is to enforce.

 

[Viktorgeorge]

S

Sorry, victorgeorge, it wasn’t me who referred to the chaos at Felixstowe, it was soul style Devon.

Beg your pardon!

 

[soulstyledevon]

They’re stacking the stack on the M20. Today at lunchtime, there was a 4hr plus delay.
Thankfully we headed out Thursday night with Flexiplus, flew through…

 

[Barbara]

What chaos at Felixstowe, please, @JULIANLISMORE ?

Is it this https://theloadstar.com/chaos-at-po...ens-as-carriers-refuse-return-of-empty-boxes/ ?

That was in 2020 when the containers were stored on the A140 but all OK now. Container transport only no passenger ferries anymore from Felixstowe it was nice when it was possible to go to Zeebrugge . Great Lidi next to port entrance.

 

[Barbara]

Beg your pardon!

Most likely a spell check auto correction problem most likely meant Folkestone as channel there and as shown above problems on M20.

​

 

[WelshGas]

We are gradually wending our way from home in Scotland to Harwich, bound for Hook of Holland and ultimately friends in north Jutland.

We are very aware of the prohibition on importation of meat and dairy products from the UK to any EU country (although this is our first trip since Brexit), but reading the government guidelines almost all other food, e.g. Plant-derived products (which covers just about all the “dry goods” we normally carry) are prohibited too. We also have a bottle of single malt (plant-derived again) on board to present to our Danish friends.

What is the experience of fellow Cali travellers?

No one checked me back in May, although I had not taken any milk I had a number of ready prepared expedition meals on board. Didn't even check my Covid documents.

 

[mattpartridge]

No one checked me back in May, although I had not taken any milk I had a number of ready prepared expedition meals on board. Didn't even check my Covid documents.

Just come back from a week in Northern Spain, went Brittany Ferries Portsmouth to Santander. We took a fridge full of food and some in the boot too. We were pulled over on the way back, but the officials just opened the sliding door to check we weren’t smuggling anyone illegally. They did not open the fridge or ask to see in the boot.

 

[Juzza]

Have you ever heard of an Aire? That’s the parking area that mainly French but some other European countries have to encourage people in Campervans and motorhomes stop in their town or village. If campervans were so unpopular why would they encourage you to stay “Free”. Campervans and motorhomes support the local communities in many ways by staying on Aires and local campsites. Filling up with fuel in local garages. Buying food in local Supermarkets. 99% of the people on this forum travel in Mainland Europe and beyond. Taking a tin of beans with you because you fancy beans on toast is hardly a crime, Or is it ?

Not yet, haha