#76 Arrival in Portugal - Free parking or not...

February 18-19, 2022: Tavira, Olhão, Faro

F. After 80 days in Spain, today we crossed a national border for the third time on our journey. (Excluding Gibraltar, which was crossed on foot.) The research beforehand did not suggest that this crossing would be as easy as the previous two. Portugal requires a PCR test upon entry, the toll system is quite complicated, and free parking has become even more challenging since the law change in 2021 and 2022. We managed to avoid the PCR test, and fortunately, there were no controls at the border. We opted for Easy-Toll for the toll system and could easily register at the border station. However, our plan was still to avoid toll roads, and that worked out fine as well, as the route after the border took us directly to the coast, away from the toll road. Now we just had to solve the issue of free parking. But more on that later.

First, we headed to the small holiday destination of Tavira. Small and beautiful. After the previous places, which all had a rich history, this little town seemed very tiny. However, we immediately noticed that we had crossed a national border. Almost everyone we spoke to spoke English very well, and many houses were decorated with typical Portuguese ceramic tiles on the outside. The beach could only be reached by boat or ship, as it was located on the offshore island group. This phenomenon was also present in Olhão and Faro, which we visited the next day.

Olhão has a beautiful promenade - even though there is no beach - and the fish and vegetable market attracts tourists like us and locals on a daily basis. Faro has a very beautiful old town with many small streets that invite you to take a stroll. Unfortunately, the bone chapel was closed when we were there, so we headed west in the evening.

But what about free parking? One thing is clear: overnight stays with the camper are strictly prohibited in national parks or nature reserves. Which makes sense! Until the end of 2021, overnight stays or parking your camper for the night were only allowed on campsites and designated parking spaces. Since the beginning of 2022, a relaxed law applies, which states that parking for campers outside the nature parks and national parks is allowed for 48 hours within a municipality, provided that no overnight stay is evident. In other words, no chairs, tables, etc., should be set up. Strictly speaking, opening side windows and extending a step are also considered camping and therefore prohibited, but let's see how strict the controls are here. We have already heard from many people that there are controls. The penalties are also not insignificant. The first two nights, one on an unofficial parking space in a supermarket parking lot and one in a regular parking lot at the beach, went smoothly and there were no problems.

Day 127 - Total tour 8,325 km

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