A Fiat-based motorhome with a turbo problem, a mountain road with no sympathy for struggling engines, and a couple of campsites found entirely on the fly. This one had all the ingredients of a stressful week, and yet it turned out to be one of those trips where things work out precisely because you let them.
The power problem: what was actually happening
Leaving Mariposa Libre with a full Lidl shop and high hopes, we made it exactly 90 miles before losing all power again on a hill. Ninety minutes, ninety miles, completely on the nose. The motorhome fires up fine from cold and drives perfectly well on flat roads. Put it on an incline, though, and the turbo just gives up. Lorries were overtaking us at 30 mph. At one point we were down to 20, which on a Spanish motorway is genuinely not safe.
We pulled over twice to let things cool down and called Camper Assist, who were polite but not especially useful. They could send a recovery truck to a garage, but no garage could see us. What they could not do was send someone out to diagnose it on the spot. The more useful call came via Allianz, their sub-contractor, who had dealt with three other brand-new Fiat-based campers with the exact same fault in the space of a week. He had followed one of them back to Bilbao. So this is a known issue, at least among breakdown operators, even if Fiat themselves have not made it obvious. We are managing it by planning shorter driving stints, avoiding big climbs where possible, and accepting that hills will slow us to a crawl. Not ideal, but workable.
Camping Playa de Mazarron: highly recommended, not quite for us
Five or six people on Instagram and Facebook pointed us toward Camping Playa de Mazarron, which tells you something about how well regarded it is. We were still 249 km away when we set off for it, and the power issue meant the last stretch was slow going. We got there, checked in, and the receptionist squeezed us onto a pitch for one night despite the motorhome’s height limiting our options.
The site has clearly earned its reputation. Three toilet blocks, one of which is double-decker, huge. A big pool with a bar alongside it. A well-stocked air-conditioned supermarket on site. A large restaurant. A play area. And the beach, right out the back, which was the real revelation. Lyndsay went for a swim and called it the most glorious sea she had been in for a long time: clear, warm, fish visible below the surface. She could have spent the whole day there, and I believe her.
The reservations came down to the shade canopies. Every pitch has one, which makes complete sense in that heat, but Lyndsay noticed straight away that they stop the air moving. It felt sticky underneath rather than cool, and the pitches felt cramped despite being a decent size on paper. We had five or six neighbouring outfits within very close range. The photos in reception, as Lyndsay pointed out, were all taken before the canopies went up. We did not want to colour the kids’ opinion before they had formed one, so after they came back from the sea we asked them. They all said one night was right. And so did we. Cracking site, just not our thing.
This is also a decent example of not booking ahead. We asked for two nights, got one, moved on. If you are doing one or two nights at a stretch, you can usually find a pitch without pre-booking. We have been doing this for weeks and that was genuinely the first time we have been turned away outright.
The second campsite and the visit to Phil and Izzy
La Monte, recommended by another of you, was fully booked. Nothing for one night, nothing at all, which in fairness is a first for this trip. We both jumped on Search for Sites, independently picked the same place about 20 minutes up the road, and headed there.
It cost 75 euros for the night: 45 for the van and two people, then 10 euros per additional person, so three extra charges on top. Not cheap. But the pitches were bigger than Mazarron, quieter, shaded by proper trees, and the pool was a short walk away. Harry made burgers for lunch while Lyndsay pulled a salad together, and I can confirm that Harry gives Five Guys a run for their money. The pool itself was almost too warm, more hot tub than swimming pool, but after the drive we had, nobody was complaining. There is no restaurant on site, just a bar, but the bar does a Hands and Lemon which Lyndsay has declared one of her new favourite drinks on the basis of one glass.
The following day we headed up into the mountains to see Phil and Izzy, the Gap Decaders, at their place in the hills. The van started losing power again about five minutes from their gate, which concentrated the mind somewhat, but we crawled up and made it. What a place to arrive at. Completely off-grid, pool, their remarkable overland truck parked up alongside, and Phil’s KTM 890 Adventure gleaming in the sun. He has a Victron MultiPlus with a 5,000-watt inverter (same as I have in the van, as it happens), around a thousand amp-hours of battery, and a combined 4,600 watts of solar across the shed roof and the field. The result is that he cannot actually remember the last time he looked at the battery monitor. That is the goal, right there.
Phil also introduced us to a post-Second World War Spanish-built walk-behind tractor, originally designed for German vineyards, no starter motor, started with a rope like an old lawnmower, and I had a go. Harry had a go. It is louder and more agricultural than anything I have driven in a motorhome, and I loved it. Izzy fed us starters and then a risotto. We woke up the next morning to mountain views and birdsong with the air con having run all night and the batteries still at 52%.
Questions people ask
What is causing the power loss on the motorhome? The most likely culprit is a turbo or boost issue. It only presents after sustained driving, specifically on hills, and the Allianz breakdown contractor confirmed he had seen the same fault on three other brand-new Fiat-based campers in the same week. Steve is managing it by keeping driving stints shorter and planning routes to avoid large climbs, with the intention of getting it looked at properly back in the UK.
Is Camping Playa de Mazarron worth visiting? It has clearly earned its strong reputation and the beach directly behind it is exceptional. The facilities are extensive and well-maintained. The main caveat is the shade canopies: practical in the heat, but they restrict airflow and make the pitches feel closer together than the site map suggests. If the beach matters more to you than the pitch environment, it is worth it. The family collectively agreed one night was right for them.
How did the Radfords find campsites without booking ahead? A combination of Instagram and Facebook recommendations from their community, Search for Sites, and Google Maps. Lyndsay has found that Google Maps occasionally surfaces places that do not appear on the dedicated apps. They lost count of how many nights they had pitched up without a booking on this trip; La Monte was the first site to turn them away completely.
Who are Phil and Izzy (Gap Decaders)? Phil and Izzy are friends of the Radfords and fellow YouTubers. They were particularly useful ahead of the Radfords’ Morocco trip, sharing tips and locations. They now live off-grid in the Spanish mountains in a property Phil has set up with a full Victron solar system. Phil also drives an overland truck he built himself and rides a KTM 890 Adventure. Steve links to their channel in the video description.
If you want to see the campsite walk-arounds, the mountain visit, and Steve’s attempt at starting a vintage Spanish tractor, the full video is well worth watching. And if you are heading to Spain yourself and wondering what to expect from aires, campsites and the roads in between, our motorhoming in Spain guide covers a lot of that ground.
Watch the full video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=matbgMr4Jyc