The sea - a predator!

DAY 6: We have arrived at our campsite Malvarrosa de Corinto. We got here shortly before 2 PM and received the same spot we had five years ago when we first visited. Our friend Renate welcomed us with a beaming smile. She arrived on Wednesday and took the pitch right next to us - what a nice coincidence.

The six-day journey from Straubing was exhausting. Our longest leg was only 400 kilometers. Especially the three sections through France were tough. Endless roundabouts, country roads full of truck queues, the unfamiliar traffic navigation, and numerous speed cameras - all these are good reasons to take the highway back via Lyon - the 120 euros are a worthwhile investment in our nerves.

While I was setting up at the pitch, Icke made a detour to the beach, which is only 30 meters away. She came back shaking her head. “You have to see this. Come!” she said, took my hand, and pulled me along. I could hardly believe my eyes: the beach was gone! The sea had pulled back five meters from the land. And this has been the case since November. Four months ago, we spent three weeks at this campsite with long walks right by the water. Playing with our feet in the waves is now a thing of the past. You can no longer get to the water because the surf runs more than a meter below the edge of the beach. One shouldn’t venture too close to the edge because you risk sliding off with a piece of land and sand. What will this look like in a few months?

I will inquire a bit in the next few days. We had dinner with Renate last night at the small restaurant that belongs to the campsite. The three of us shared four different tapas. I immediately noticed the festive table in the back corner, which is reserved every day for the Kopp family, who owns the campsite. Mr. Kopp is German, and I interviewed him two years ago. Perhaps an opportunity will arise, and I can ask him what he is doing about the fact that soon the sea will take away his land.