# Tag 20 The Mother of All Skylines

It continues. It rained again last night and it is very grey this morning. Checking the weather report is always the same. There is a persistent low-pressure area with rain clouds rotating above the Valencia region, but not dissipating. It affects the area north to Tarragona (where we are currently) and south to Alicante (where we have to pass through).

There's no way around it, we have to go through, on the AP 7 motorway, the Autopista de Mediterano.

And it's raining cats and dogs. The windshield wiper is doing its best.

Eventually, it gets a bit brighter after Valencia, or at least we think so. By the way, we're always driving along endless orange plantations. Are these the ones from Uncle Dittmeyer, and is the orange juice called Valensina named after them because they grow here near Valencia?

In the region around the regional capital Gandia and Olivia, there are some beach sections with parking spaces. We want to check them out and drive to the town of Daimus on the water's edge.

Just driving through the town gives us an eerie feeling. The satellite town is lonely and deserted. There's no one on the waterfront promenade either. The only thing missing are the hay bales blowing through the alleys, representing the only movement.

Let's get out of here.

At the exit, we finally find something positive - a REPSOL filling station with diesel for €1.76. We have to take advantage of that opportunity.

It's always exciting to think about where to go next. We are free to decide, so we choose a parking space behind Alicante on the Costa Blanca.

And then we catch sight of it, the skyline of Benidorm.

We already know the town and associate it with Spanish mass tourism. But when we see the skyline from the motorway, it takes our breath away. Monaco has nothing on it.

Benidorm has the highest density of high-rise buildings per population worldwide. With just under 70,000 inhabitants and 345 buildings with more than 12 floors, it's no wonder it's called 'little Manhattan'.

We're definitely not going into that town.

After Alicante, we leave the motorway and take the national road through a lagoon landscape with lots of flamingos (can they actually fly?) towards La Marina. We've chosen the 'Camper Park-El Pinet Playa' parking space. It's located on the outskirts of town and not far from the sea. The place is quite crowded with German, French, Dutch, and Scandinavian motorhomes. Some large 'ships' with German retirees are among them, obviously staying here for a longer period of time.

The site manager, a Frenchman, is pleased with my knowledge of French and finds us a good spot - €12 per night with shower, toilet, laundry room, bread service, etc.

And the best part - the sun is shining and I'm taking out the garden chairs from the garage for the first time in 3 weeks.

Would you like a little walk to see the sunset?

Of course, just a short walk down to the sea (only 1.5 km), where you can see an original coastline. Pine forest in the middle of the dunes and not much development. There are a few dilapidated houses right at the water's edge that I can't quite place. They might still be rented out as holiday apartments... Other than that, there's nothing here. Several motorhomes are parked randomly in the parking lot at the end of the road. This is another way to do it.

There is a gravel path behind the dunes along the coast. You can hear the sound of the sea and walk through the landscape to the next parking lot (another 1.5 km). From there, you turn back towards the town (another 1.5 km) and then walk through the closed shops back to the parking space, accompanied by the setting sun.

We'll take a closer look at that tomorrow.

Oh, I almost forgot:

Today's birthdays: Happy birthday cousin Carola and the fastest left winger at 39 years old, Christian Billek.