Gas in spain?

[DENBOY]

Hi folks, just got back from 6 weeks in spain, can anyone advise on the best way forward gas wise for this country. Is it gaslow or spanish bottles as these are so cheap, I'm looking for 3-4 months at a time. By the way on the subject of fuel economy I got from 20 mpg at 65-70 mph to 29 mpg at 50-55 mph (herald aragon on a 2.5 transit) so it seems the best aid to your wallet is a light right foot.

Dennis

[BGD]

When we bought our secondhand (well actually probably about 6th hand) old-dog motorhome here in Spain, it had recently come from the UK, so was fitted with UK gas bottles.

 

We simply changed the regulator fitting on the end of the flexible pipe in the gas compartment for a Spanish one (jubilee clip holds it onto the pipe), which you can get at any DIY store here for about 10 euros; and then bought two of the small orange Spanish butane gas bottles (6kgs size?) to connect to that fitting....one in use, and the other sitting next to it as a spare

Works perfectly.

 

And the new Spanish small orange bottles which they've swapped over to over the past year, are now plastic, which makes them a lot lighter too.

 

You can get the Spanish small orange gas bottles at almost every Repsol petrol staion.

Technically you are renting them, so the first time you buy one, the guy fills out a contract form, and you pay about 25 euros...but of that something like 15 euros is the deposit. If you keep your copy of the paperwork, then any time you want to stop using those bottles, just take them back to any Repsol garage with the paperwork and you get your deposit back.

 

Technically I think you're meant to be living here to rent the bottles, but in practice every garage just wants to see a copy of your passport ("pasaporte") to fill in some of the details on the form he has to complete. If asked for a home address here, just make up some address in Spain for him to write in the "direcion" (home address) section of the form.

 

The system is easy-peasy, the bottles are cheap (about 10 euros per exchange), and certainly on our ex-UK van they work perfectly.

 

 

 

 

 

[Wirralian]

Thanks for that information BGD.

 

I brought home with me some three years ago a Spanish orange 12kg gas bottle (bought on site from a departing German). I understood that it was difficult to get one if you were not a resident in Spain, hence the reason for bringing it home.

 

Since then I have installed 2 Gaslow bottles and thought that I could get away with just these during last winter's perod in Spain. It was touch and go as I ran out just at the end and had to rely on 'hook-ups' until I reached a Repsol auto gas supplier in Granada. This winter I had intended

to bring the Spanish bottle with me. From your information I shall leave this heavy bottle behind.

 

John :-)

[BGD]

If you want to bring that empty "big" Spanish bottle with you, then do so - 'cos all the Repsol garages will swop them in just the same way as the little bottles; and the price to swop a big ornage empty bottle here for a full one is better value.....about 14 euros.

The fitting valve is the same as for the little ones.

 

The only reason I only use the little bottles in our MH is that they won't fit in my gas compartment. We use them all the time at home (Spain has no piped gas network, so everyone uses the big orange gas bottles, or has a big bulk gas tank installed at their house which a tanker has to come and refill from time to time).

 

You don't actually need a contract with Repsol here at all, as you can also buy an empty big bottle from any bric-a-brac shop, or "rastro" (a sort of stall market cum car boot sale type thingy, which are hugely popular all over Spain) for about 10 euros, then just take it to a Repsol garage to swop for a full one .

[sailor girl]

We're in Spain now for the winter and we have a refillable system, (after listening to much advice on this forum!) I knew that the places you could refill in Spain were few and far between, but someone has now told me it is practically impossible! We're on the costa del sol and we've got about another month's worth I'd say. Does anyone know of a place that they know for sure still exists where you can refill lpg?

 

Thanks

Liz

[derek500]

sailor girl - 2008-11-03 9:37 AM

 

We're in Spain now for the winter and we have a refillable system, (after listening to much advice on this forum!) I knew that the places you could refill in Spain were few and far between, but someone has now told me it is practically impossible! We're on the costa del sol and we've got about another month's worth I'd say. Does anyone know of a place that they know for sure still exists where you can refill lpg?

 

Thanks

Liz

 

The trouble is here in Spain bottled gas is a way of life, so there's no need for refillable gas bottles. Repsol, even deliver weekly to houses like milkmen do in the UK.

 

You'd be better off taking the advice above and get yourself an orange bottle and use that when in Spain.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Don Madge]

sailor girl - 2008-11-03 8:37 AM

 

We're in Spain now for the winter and we have a refillable system, (after listening to much advice on this forum!) I knew that the places you could refill in Spain were few and far between, but someone has now told me it is practically impossible! We're on the costa del sol and we've got about another month's worth I'd say. Does anyone know of a place that they know for sure still exists where you can refill lpg?

 

Thanks

Liz

 

Hi Liz,

 

I've got an Excel spread sheet with a list of GPL stations in Spain but I will need an e mail address to send it.

 

Don

[sailor girl]

"The trouble is here in Spain bottled gas is a way of life, so there's no need for refillable gas bottles. Repsol, even deliver weekly to houses like milkmen do in the UK.

 

You'd be better off taking the advice above and get yourself an orange bottle and use that when in Spain."

 

I can't help wishing someone had said this before we spent £500 changing it over to the refillable system, rather than all the messages saying that was the best way to go!!!! *-)

[derek500]

 

I can't help wishing someone had said this before we spent £500 changing it over to the refillable system, rather than all the messages saying that was the best way to go!!!! *-)

 

Do a search, you'll find I said the same thing on here nearly two years ago!!

 

http://www.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=9961&posts=12

[Tomo3090]

If you go to the MHF forum about a third of the way down on the left hand side of the home page is a link to all the addresses of LPG sttions in Europe. There is also a free download for POIs for TomTom sat navs that shows all LPG filling points in Europe.

 

If you go up to Granada from Malaga along the main dual carriageway and come off at Santa Fe, (junc. 230) and follow this road into Granada about 100 metres or so after it becomes a single carriageway there is a filling point on the left hand side. It looks like a garage forecourt but only has 2 pumps for LPG. It is surrounded by a wire fence and looks closed but is infact open for business! There's also 1 in Cordoba on the airport road

[PJay]

Can anyone please advise the size of the gas bottles in Spain.? we were unable to get one to fit our gas locker in France , the diamiter was to big. Have a Swift Sundance (2006) , Fortunatly we have an electric plate on our cooker. Also elec Kettle. Have managed in the past, with two full bottles, of Prpane, but would like to know that if needed we could fit one. we have bought a regulator and a smallish bottle of Butane, ( which can be used with the Barbie)which we know from our past expierence on boats that these are easier to come by. I presume other swift users have a simalar problem? Don't really like carring the extra butane bottle.

We are planning to tour Spain 2009 for approx eight weeks.

 

[starvin marvin]

Tomo3090 - 2008-11-03 11:07 AM

 

If you go to the MHF forum about a third of the way down on the left hand side of the home page is a link to all the addresses of LPG sttions in Europe. There is also a free download for POIs for TomTom sat navs that shows all LPG filling points in Europe.

 

If you go up to Granada from Malaga along the main dual carriageway and come off at Santa Fe, (junc. 230) and follow this road into Granada about 100 metres or so after it becomes a single carriageway there is a filling point on the left hand side. It looks like a garage forecourt but only has 2 pumps for LPG. It is surrounded by a wire fence and looks closed but is infact open for business! There's also 1 in Cordoba on the airport road

 

I used the Granada site last year to refill my bottle. We came upon it from the South on the ring road (exit La Chana, thats the name of the junction) we were given directions by reception at a site we werestaying on in Granada. Its exactly as described above.

 

We couldn't find the LPG filling station near to Alicante airport. A good tip is to speak to owners of the large American RV's, most of those seem to know were the filling stations are, we only had rough directions for Alicante and try as we did we had no luck but I'm going to have another go next time I'm in the area.

[hymer1942]

Another good idea is to ask Taxi drivers, a lot run on it.

[olley]

Hi GPS for the Alicante site is 38.3023 -0.5281

 

Olley

 

[Guest Tracker]

hymer1942 - 2008-11-03 3:46 PM

 

Another good idea is to ask Taxi drivers, a lot run on it.

 

I know taxi drivers can be an odd lot at times but I've never met one who runs on gas - cooking on gas maybe - but not running on gas surely?

[BGD]

Soz - But I've never come across any taxis here in Spain running on LPG.

None.

 

That isn't to say there aren't any at all, but every single taxi that I've ever been in, or noticed here runs on deisel.

 

 

 

 

 

For info, there are two types of the Spanish orange gas bottles (which you can get and exchange at any Repsol or Campsa or Petronor garage, and many thousands of other outlets) all over Spain, are the following dimensions (in inches):-

 

BIG BOTTLE: I've just measured one, It's 21.5" high, by 11.5" diameter.

But remember you need enough headroom above it in a gas locker to be able to locate the push-fit-and-then-push-down-on-the-collar-to-lock Spanish gas regulator.

The regulator sits another 3" proud of the bottle when locked in place, and then you need to allow at least another 1" above that to be able to flip over the on/off lever on top of the regulator.

So the absolue minimum real height you'll need, if you are able to attach the regulator with the bottle on it's side and then stand it upright in your gas locker for operation/storage, would be 25.5" Ideally you could do with at least 3 or 4 inches more, so that you could connect/disconnect the regulator without having to tip the bottle over.

These big bottles hold 12.5 kg of butane. Full, they weigh about 13.5 kgs.

 

SMALL BOTTLE: If the big bottles won't fit, don't despair, 'cos they've introduced smaller bottles at almost all the same outlest now too.

I haven't got the dimensions to hand, but they are the ones that we actually use in our Motorhome. They are sort of globe shaped, plastic bottles, and connect to the same regulator as the big ones.

At a guess I'd say they were perhaps 15" high, and 10" diameter, hold 6kgs of butane, and are much lighter in total weight (6.5kgs).

 

Here's a link to the Repsol webpage which shows the two types of bottle:

 

http://www.repsol.com/es_es/productos_y_servicios/productos/glp_butano_y_propano/paises/espana/butano_y_propano_envasado/informacion_de_productos/catalogo_de_productos/butano/default.aspx

 

 

 

 

Remember that you'll also need a flexible gas hose, with a Spanish regulator attached by jubilee clip, to tap into your UK gas pipe somehow. Any DIY store and all big stores stock them, for about 10 euros.

 

 

Easy peasy lemon squeezy.....

 

 

[starvin marvin]

Olley,

 

As well as struggling with a new laptop, I'm also battling with Satnav, forgive me for asking a daft question but the GPS you've given is written quite differently from others I've seen recently on the forum one from Don Madge recently where he gives for example a site in Cordoba as N37 54.02 W4 47.22

 

I seem to remember that co-ordinates to be for example on an OS map to be given as "along the corridor and up the stairs" ie horizontal axis first, then vertical axis. But perhaps my memory like the rest of me is shot to pieces!

 

Are these GPS co-ordinates both correct?

 

 

[olley]

Hi StarvinM, tomtom accepts degrees or decimal which is what I posted above, converting that to degrees you get: N38 18 08 W0 31 41

 

I find working in decimal easier as its simpler to enter and google Maps is fussy about how you enter degrees.

 

I haven't visited this station but a member on fun has, and described exactly where it is.

 

looking at the co-ords it seems to be up the stairs and along the corridor. (lol)

 

Stick those co-ords in to google maps go in close in satellite view and you can see the two LPG tanks in the top lefthand of the station.

 

Olley