What you should know about parking a motorhome or camper

If you can't stop dreaming of that moment when, driving a motorhome or camper, you travel the whole world, this post interests you! To make it happen you need to know what proper motorhome parking is like (ie how to park), what camping is, and what overnighting is.

For this reason, in today's post we explain the differences between these three concepts and we tell you where you can park, spend the night or camp with your motorhome, van or caravan legally.

And it is that your adventure can end with fines and unpleasant surprises if you do not know and violate the basic rules of overnight that every camper vehicle must follow on each of its trips. So be very attentive!

Differences between parking, staying overnight and camping with a motorhome or van

When making a first trip in a motorhome or campervan, all the most common questions revolve around the same topic: where and how to spend the night. Can you spend the night anywhere? What is the difference between spending the night, camping and simply parking a motorhome? Let's clarify these doubts!

Parking

The parking of a motorhome is governed by the same rules that any other vehicle must comply with. In other words, when you want to park your camper, you must adhere to the national traffic regulations.

In this way, you can park, like any other vehicle, where there is no express sign parking prohibition . And always without exceeding the road markings that delimit the parking area.

Taking all this into account, you should know that it is totally legal to stay inside the vehicle and even sleep in it (overnight). Something that includes the text of the Instruction 08/V-74 of the DGT. Well, for the correct parking of a motorhome, it does not influence whether or not there are people inside it, as long as the activity does not go outside.

Day or night, your motorhome or camper will be well parked even if the roof skylights are open or if someone is there inside. But no element may protrude from the perimeter of the vehicle itself. That is, you cannot use an awning or take out chairs or tables, for example.

Camping

Having clear the keys for the correct parking of your motorhome or camper, you should know the following: Doing any of the following actions is considered camping:

• Open the awning, casement windows or any element that protrudes from the perimeter of the vehicle.
• Remove chairs, tables or any accessory to the outside.
• Empty the tanks.
• Place leveling blocks or stabilizing feet.

At this point, you are most likely wondering: Will I never be able to open the awning or use the table to eat outside my camper? But don't worry, you can, but not anywhere!

In Spain it is totally forbidden to camp outside the places expressly authorized for this purpose. And these are generally campsites or RV areas. With which, in these areas, you can do any of the aforementioned actions.

However, this is not the case in all countries. Camping will be allowed or not depending on where you are. And in view of the fact that there are places with various specific regulations that regulate camping, it is best to find out beforehand about the possible prohibitions of each area to which you travel if your intention is to to camp.

Overnight

The next term that you should internalize is the overnight stay, which can be summarized as follows: If your motorhome or camper is well parked, you can stay inside, that is, stay the night or spend the night in it. And they cannot fine you unless you are parked in an expressly prohibited place, or if you exceed the parking marks.

How to keep your motorhome fully charged?

Regardless of if you decide to spend the night or camp, there is something that you must take into account so as not to get stranded during your trips: your autonomy electrical.

You will be able to keep your motorhome fully charged without any problem during sunny days, since your Solar panels will be receiving continuous solar energy and will work at full capacity charging your batteries. But on cloudy days, things get complicated. Less sun, less load capacity. And your batteries may not receive enough power to sustain your power consumption.

In this type of situation, if you continue the route, as soon as you start the engine of your motorhome or camper your batteries will charge . But to avoid this type of inconvenience, the best option is to have an auxiliary battery.

With a BLUETTI portable power station such as the EB3A or the EB70 , you can have electricity at any time and without unforeseen You will have at your disposal the energy you need to be able to charge all your devices and small household appliances, and you will be able to continue enjoying your trip in motorhome or camper.

Now, if you want to go one step further and be energy independent, you can opt for the station of solar energy AC200P and forget about worries. With its capacity of 2000W, you will have the perfect energy backup so you don't have to worry about the load anymore of your batteries.

Where you can spend the night and where you can camp

And if now that you know what are the differences between parking, camping and staying overnight, you are wondering where you can do each one of these activities without problems, keep reading that we will explain it to you right now!

You can park and spend the night with your motorhome or camper both in areas, campsites and car parks, as well as in any other place where parking is prohibited.

Thus, in almost any city, you will find car parks in which you will not have problems parking your camper like any other car. Also free or paid parking . But there are specific areas for motorhomes where you can also spend the night.

Motorhome areas are usually prepared so that in addition to spending the night, you can service your motorhome or camper: fill and empty the water tanks, empty the chemical toilet and connect to electricity. In addition, when they are paid, sometimes it is even possible to camp in them.

And finally, we find the campsites. Some paid spaces that have all the services for your motorhome or camper, and in which it is also totally allowed to camp .

The regulations for motorhomes or campers

And who regulates all this overnight and camping in Spain? the General Directorate of Traffic in the General Traffic Regulations. Specifically in Chapter VIII, articles 90 to 94) and Instruction 08/V-74.

However, each autonomous community, province or town may have its own regulations that regulate camping and overnight stays in their area. So, again when in doubt, always find out about the possible prohibitions in each place where you want to spend the night with your camper!

Prohibitions to take into account

There are two other points that you should take into account when you want to spend the night with your motorhome or camper: the Coastal Law and the ban on staying overnight that usually exists in protected spaces.

And it is that on the one hand, the Coastal Law prohibits movement, parking, camping or overnight stays in the maritime-terrestrial areas of influence. And on the other hand, in most protected natural spaces it is forbidden to spend the night with a motorhome or camper, despite the fact that in many, parking is allowed daytime. So be very careful with this!

Now that you know how and where to park, sleep or camp, you're all set! Enjoy doing routes with your motorhome or camper without anything stopping you!