If you are going to Portaventura give this site a miss (Camping La Pineda de Salou / Costa Dorada)

Member Name: Mick-Gray

Product:	Camping La Pineda de Salou / Costa Dorada
Date:	23/09/06 (406 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Close to Portaventura

Disadvantages: Next to an Oil terminal, small pitches people not very helpful or friendly

We chose this site because of its close proximity to Portaventura theme park. We went online and looked at the website and also found it listed in the Caravan Club Europe sites book. The pictures looked fantastic the beach only 400 metres away, The campsite looked shaded and very pretty and the facilities looked great. My wife and I intended to take our two daughters and their husbands along with our 6 grandchildren for a two week holiday in Spain by the beach and to visit Portaventura theme park as part of the holiday. After checking the website, I telephoned the site and booked several months in advance and paid a deposit.

We drove through France from Calais and eventually arrived tired but excited at the site. Problem No 1: we were kept outside the gates for nearly an hour whilst we tried to explain who we were and although we showed the booking forms it seemed at first they they were not very happy to see us. This was eventually explained when we were asked if we were working or on holiday. When we said we were on holiday they explained that because we were a large party they had thought that we might be Travelers and that they had had a problem earlier in the year with them. We were then booked in and given our pitch numbers which we were left to find for ourselves. Each pitch was divided by trees and was indeed shady but so small that a caravan and awning filled the whole pitch leaving no room for the car and my daughters pitch next to ours did not have enough room to extend the guy ropes to their tent. It all felt very cramped. After getting set up we decided to visit the beach. Problem No 2: We then found that the campsite and the beach were right next to an enormous oil terminal with tankers coming in and out all day and unloading at the jetty by the beach. The smell of oil and diesel was so strong at times that it made us feel nauseous. During the night we could see the light from 3 flame tubes burning off the gas from the oil tanks. Sometimes they burnt clear and sometimes with a heavy black smoke which wafted over the beach and the campsite. During the night we could hear a tannoy system which made announcements at various intervals to the night shift at the terminal. All in all this site spoilt what would have otherwise been an enjoyable holiday.
mick Gray

Summary: For Portaventura theme Park find another site