Hi Guys
Back from our trip now, didn’t quite make Morocco after all due to weather but had a good trip around Spain/Portugal/France
Blog as below for your delectation !
http://commander-spain.blogspot.co.uk/
Phil
Great report. You could have refuelled at Portimao in Portugal, the coastal scenery is quite good, although it has to be said Viseu sounds interesting. Coincidentally I did almost the same trip in reverse almost 20 years ago.
Hi Neil
yes Portimao is definitely on my list but we needed to get a bit further up country before fueling on this trip.
I was amazed at the inland scenery of Portugal – Stunning…
Next trip is PROB40 down to Agadir as soon as we have a weather window, I’m thinking Jerez would be a good customs airport for the departure/arrival to Morocco, anybody had any experience here, handling, fuel etc?
Cheers
Phil
Hi Phil,
I only had time to read your report now – very nice, thanks a lot.
Some questions regarding the airport experiences:
Did the handling people at La Rochelle make you pay any hanlding fee or not?
300 Euros for a fuel stop at Girona is a gigantic rip-off. Can hardly believe it. You should report that to AOPA Spain. I know they are fighting the handling robbery for years now but apparently the success is zero. Do you think there would have been a cheaper option as far as handling agents go?
Malaga and San Sebastian airports don’t sound much better. Really kills any residual desires to fly to Spain again…
Great report. I remember the nature reserve just along the coast of Valencia. Great pictures as well.
La Rochelle didn’t charge handling but we did pay more than usual to park on the hard surface, about 20 euros I seem to think.
I don’t understand Girona charging this amount for what was essentially a technical stop. We do fly into Valencia also handling with Euraservices and its about 120 euros and they truly give a good service for that, last time they pre-booked our hire car, took us to the terminal , sorted out the car and even went and got it from the garage and loaded our luggage , so we didn’t touch the luggage for plane to car… good effort, I think I will ask my contact there about Gironas fees, I do wonder if it was an error on the admin side…
Hi Phil,
Great to read your report and see the photos – looks like you had a lot of fun! 
Admit I’ve been put off going to Spain (San Sebastian) due to the mandatory handling charges – for apparently no, or very little, service. It’s not much in the scheme of things, I suppose, but no one likes to feel ripped off.
Hi JoJo
Thanks!
Not far from you to San Sebastian….
To be honest although we got the least service at San Sebastian it was an acceptable charge
Hows the new aeroplane? When will we see you over at Sleap ?
Cheers
Phil
Great report Phil, thanks for sharing.
I can only echo Bosco’s sentiments re the charges in Spain, if that is what they are then these places are pretty much off the list.
Pal of mine went for a Spain trip but fueled in Perpignan and then flew to Sabadell and I believe Castellon de la Plana. I wonder if all the places are like this, then Spain should really be treated with much caution.
It certainly isn’t €300 or so in all of Spain. 2-3 years ago I paid €80 at Barcelona Sabadell (for an amazing service, aircraft to hotel without leaving the car, and back again – worth it for the taxi rides alone which are usually a massive ripoff) and last November I paid something less at Salamanca
I think the €200 at Prague LKPR is a ripoff, and they pay for it dearly by having almost no GA going there nowadays (in 2005 it was €50 and they had loads of GA), but I will pay it for a one-off trip, and there is no useful alternative.
