Travel in Spain / France back to uk

[oggie101]

Hello been let down with flights which have been cancelled I store my caravan in Spain and need to get back to uk has anyone travelled through Spain over the Pyrenees through France to uk in the last day or so or are they stopping you at the border to France .
We are uk natioinals ,uk residents

 

[Guzzilazz]

Rather than rely on chat from a forum such as this, why not ring the UK embassy in Spain.

 

[oggie101]

I of course have tried to get in touch with British consulate and they push you out of the system when you tick the number 1 for travel it tells you to go to the gov.co.uk website , the site tells you not to travel . it has to be classed as an emergency like someone ill or the worst case dying. We are both fine and could travel in our own car ,caravan if sites are open without much contact other than paying for tolls sites etc

Thanks for your reply

 

[otherclive]

I of course have tried to get in touch with British consulate and they push you out of the system when you tick the number 1 for travel it tells you to go to the gov.co.uk website , the site tells you not to travel . it has to be classed as an emergency like someone ill or the worst case dying. We are both fine and could travel in our own car ,caravan if sites are open without much contact other than paying for tolls sites etc

Thanks for your reply

I thought that France was in mandatory lock down with police and army checking the credentials of anyone out on the streets. Even if it were less restrictive in the more rural areas I’m not confident that you would find a site open. So it would be major aires for stop over. Are you with either of the Clubs for your stay as their travel service may help given at this time there must be quite a few Brits heading home from Spain.

Looking at HMGs latest advice there are border checks between France and Spain and you would require a completed Attestation. But travel through France should be permitted.

https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/france

 

[Damian]

the site tells you not to travel . it has to be classed as an emergency like someone ill or the worst case dying

You have the answer, simple.

 

[Lutz]

In another forum there are several accounts of people returning home from Spain these last few days. It seems that there are no major problems in transiting through France so long as you are able to present a hard copy of the attestation mentioned above. They will not accept the same details on a smartphone or tablet so one will need to access a printer. Overnight stops, should they be necessary, can only be undertaken at service areas as the campsites are shut or will not accept guests.

 

[RayS]

I thought that France was in mandatory lock down with police and army checking the credentials of anyone out on the streets. Even if it were less restrictive in the more rural areas I’m not confident that you would find a site open. So it would be major aires for stop over. Are you with either of the Clubs for your stay as their travel service may help given at this time there must be quite a few Brits heading home from Spain.

Looking at HMGs latest advice there are border checks between France and Spain and you would require a completed Attestation. But travel through France should be permitted.

https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/france

IWe drove back from southeast Spain leaving a week ago today and Eurotunnel last monday morning.
The situation is unclear and much of the information wrong and confusing.

All campsites in Spain closed to new arrivals about 12-14th March and some have now started evicting existing residents - some directly and some by progressive closure of toilet blocks etc effectively enforcing the closure.

First overnight was at a truck stop Km 165 on Valencia to Zaragoza autopista , free but noisy. Next day into France on N121A directl back road not the main autoroute crossing. Armed with letter from campsite manager who woud not write that the site was closing but just that we needed to get hoe. I explained to the frontier gendarme that we needed to get to ferry and got waved through in 3 minutes. The big site Rouletta at St Jean de Luz was empty and closed, but I used a very small site near Dax at which we had stayed many times in the past and they made no problem of an overnight. Next night to site near Nantes - very rural and well known to us. Agreed a short stay (2 nights as we needed rest) but said we needed to have 'reason' forms. Theare /were required for all people, showng name age address and 5 tick boxes for justification of travel, none of which actually fitted the circumstances of returning to a ferry to go home. One form for each person, one for each day. Only available then on line which must have been awkward for many elderly French people not on line. Spot fine initially 35 euro rose overnight to 135 euro.
Last night at small site near Boulogne which behaveed basically as if nothing was happening. Not stopped or checked in any way. LucK o f the draw, other friends stopped 3 times. Used autoroutes as much as possible - almost empty but very expensive diesel.
All campsite in France now officially closed. I was able to email the sites I had used beofre in reasonable French which may have helped at bit.
Motorway service areas often had significant food stocks too.


So came home to self isolation but glad to be here. Much less happy with the way the ferry company hnadled the cancellation, see a future posting