MrMckenna

Anybody live or have a place on one ?

lynnxa

no, but I have several friends who do

stuboy

I know of a lady who has one near Alicante she complains that it is like an oven in summer and a fridge in winter, not for the faint hearted

petew

We live in a mobile home for a time when we first came to Spain and it was actually quite comfortable. The insulation on modern versions is pretty good.
In winter it was easy to keep warm and in summer it cooled down pretty quickly in the evenings.

MrMckenna

Is it true they charge treble for electric on these campsites from what I can gather this is true in the costa blanca region ?

HBG

We have relatives who live on a 'camp site' in inland Andalucia and we visit them frequently. The large site is Spanish owned and provides secure tenancies for around 300 British families who live on it in their own mobile homes, mostly all year round.

For the site rent they get free electricity and water, along with the use of an Olympic size outdoor swimming pool, as well as an indoor heated one along with a gym. The site also has a large Spanish hotel along with bar/restaurant and facilities to hold indoor (and outdoor) events.

The site is extremely well-run, holiday lettings are not allowed, and there is an amazing sense of community. The larger, new mobile homes can cost well over 100K.

You don't even need a car, there is regular public transport at the entrance and shops, medical centre and a large hospital are but a short distance away. It's half-an-hour away from Malaga airport.

But it is a communal life, and not for everyone.

MrMckenna

Hmm ok im just doing my homework on something. Do you know roughly what the rent is p/m ? Im going to guess and say its around the 450€ mark maybe even 500€. From what i can gather the rent on all the campsites on the costa blanca is around 300-350€ this is without electric included then they are stinging the residents by charging 90c per unit which is ridiculous because the going rate in spain is 30c per unit so they are trebling it. Im just trying to sum things up about this because if this is the case me and a friend have had a decent business venture spring to mind which he has links to anyway so it just seems ironic really and it might actually take off!!

HBG

I didn't realise the question was about a business proposition, but why not?

Before investing too much money in it, I would suggest you investigate your rights as an outsider on a private camp site, especially a Spanish-owned one.

The one I wrote about is a gated and guarded community, and the Spanish owner gets his electricity via a direct link to the grid, via a sub station on the site itself.

But why not approach the owners direct? The all have websites with contact details. Mucha suerte!

MrMckenna

Well we intend to find out a bit more then eventually see my friend Hugo who is a Spanish gestor to seek out all the legalities of what I want to do. Basically if I do start this up the owners of camp sites and caravan sites are not going to be very impressed at all but hey if what I'm hearing is true about them trebling electric costs on the sites and I do know this is true at the top end of benidorm/alfaz/albir etc then they can't really say anything because they are ripping people off. Maybe they can stop me accessing there sites but they cannot stop me from altering people's caravans etc with the owners permission. Obviously I want to go about it properly and see my friend Hugo because it's going to be quite a touchy subject where law is concerned just hope it goes in my favour.

HBG

Your calculations about electricity charges are way out, at the most electricity, water and site fees are no more than around 80 Euros a week, even in the bandit territory of Benidorm and Alfaz.

The site owners in Benidorm are not bothered about over-charging a few Euros on electricity fees, they're all waiting to get planning permission to build a 40-storey tower block on their site.

I hope your friend Hugo is a Gestor in Benidorm, because the Benidorm ones have got their territory well stitched up, and they are experts from many years of practice.

JLFS

So the business you are thinking about is supplying electricity to caravans.

MrMckenna

He is a local gestor from benidorm yes he's a family friend also. This venture is nothing I'm relying on because I have my own business but it's just something we have picked up on and a good business could potentially come from it it's just worth having a go really I'm not in benidorm at the moment I'm in Marbella but when I was up there I was staying at my dads which is near camping Benisol, camping villamar, camping el raco etc and I got speaking to a lot of people that live on them sites and from what they told me they are paying 300-350€ per month water included but no electricity which during summer turns out quite expensive due to air con units costing just over 1€ per hour to run which is ridiculous because it costs no where near that in an apartment or anywhere else so it just goes to show they are over charging for electric on camp sites I don't know why but they just are. My friends brother owns a company back in England that specialises in solar systems for caravans and mobile homes and there is a system that can be fitted that basically would cut electric bills in half with a 10 year guarantee all being because of the energy the sun produces in Spain well these parts of Spain especially. Now if I was living on a camp site in Spain and I was paying these sort of prices for electric but could pay a one off payment that could see my electric bill cut in half I would certainly be interested wouldn't you ? Obviously like I said I'm doing a lot of homework on it first before any move is made not rushing into anything. I'd say it's worth a go if possible got nothing to lose really.

stuboy

Are you trying to create two businesses here? Supply of electricity and installation of solar panels etc.
If you are then I would caution as follows

Firstly you will most likely find that the occupier is legally obliged to buy the electricity through the campsite owners and not free to shop around.

Secondly why would anyone fit a solar panel to a rapidly depreciating asset, the ten year guarantee will likely outlast the van.

HBG

Solar power to supply electricity to caravans in Benidorm? I don't have the technical knowledge, but in these troubled times any new business ideas must be worth considering.

Spain is blessed with sunshine, almost all year round, yet I haven't seen much evidence of it being harnessed on a commercial basis. Maybe it's a storage problem, do you need a bank of batteries?

It's got to be a better idea than buying a bar in Benidorm, or Torrevieja.

I was gutted today to see the most successful expat bar closed down today. It was run by experienced operators who provided exactly what expats wanted.

If they had to close after five years, the ones still left have got no chance of surviving.

JLFS

That reminds me of when my son bought his first car, far from depreciating, it doubled in value, he put a CD player in it.