Camping with glamour

For those not accustomed to contact with nature and getting by with just what they need, camping may be the synonym of uncomfortable holidays. However, forget this image of camping because it is changing and now even the most delicate of tourists can feel at home in some of the most unspoilt corners of Spain.

In Spain, the camping boom occurred in the 1970s largely because of the European tourists, who were much more accustomed to going around with their homes and camping where the fair winds blew. Much time has passed, and although the sector is still in good shape, many people who decide to spend their free time in a tent are more and more demanding. And this ‘extra’ that their hosts require is nothing more than comfort, wanting to feel as though they were in a five-star hotel amidst a nature that cannot be disturbed and in which large accommodation cannot be built, a demand that comes from interesting ideas such as ‘glamping’, which is something like traditional camping but rather more cool.

There are surroundings of this kind all around Spain. In some there are ecological ovens, offering excursions for fishing, activities for children and adults; and they leave nothing to chance in planning holidays in which you will sleep in a king-size bed, and not a classical (uncomfortable) sleeping bag. Others even have natural swimming pools, massage services, spas or simply are places decorated for relaxation where the only thing you have to do is to breathe deep and enjoy the nature. Wigwams (conic tents like those you see in westerns made of wood and skin), cabins or tree houses are just some of the types of accommodation you can find on these 21st-century campsites.

But some say that ‘glamping’ is for the lazy because you don't have to put up a tent or take utensils with you, organise activities and suffer the small drawbacks of living in natural surroundings. But the truth is that it does bring people to nature who would never have considered a holiday of this kind and so stimulates the imagination of the proprietors, who have to invent new forms for their guests to enjoy the environment.

Images: Cloud House Farm / GlampingHub.com

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