Bans & Fines

Murcia City Council is processing an order to dismantle a caravan settlement on a plot next to the Segura river in Javali Nuevo. Residents reported on social media that caravans have been concentrated there permanently for several weeks. In early October, Murcia Local Police filed a report on camping with caravans in a prohibited area and notified the city's urban planning department. The plot does not permit such use and lies in a flood zone, where municipal rules prohibit occupation and camping. The settlement contains at least a dozen caravans, and the council says the eviction procedure is being handled under current regulations.

Police removed motorhomes that had long been parked on the coastal road between Kanlıca and Çubuklu in Beykoz, Istanbul, after residents complained. Some owners moved their vehicles; tow trucks took the rest to a car park.

In Hohenwarthe, Saxony-Anhalt, a working group is to resolve the dispute over motorhome parking at the Trogbrücke bridge. The local committee discussed the issue on Thursday evening. The Hohenwarthe parish council has filed a motion to ban overnight stays in motorhomes at the site. The conflict, which has lasted for months, centres on rubbish and human waste.

The commune of Guerlédan in Côtes-d’Armor plans to install paid parking meters for motorhomes, caravans and camper vans at the Landroannec site along the lake dam. The municipal council approved the first stage of the project on 5 November 2026. Parking will be charged per day in 24-hour slots at half the rate of the new Camping-car Park aire on rue du Lac. The solar-powered meters are due to operate by the 2027 tourist season. Officials say the free site has increasingly functioned as wild camping, with some visitors staying several days and leaving rubbish.

Overnight motorhome stays in Exmouth fell by 43% after the parking charge rose from £11 to £20. A report for East Devon District Council records 2,664 paid stopovers at Maer Road and Queen's Drive Echelon car parks in the ten months from 1 November 2025 to 1 September 2026, down from 4,660 a year earlier. Income rose by £2,020 to £53,280, of which £13,320 is ring-fenced for motorhome parking enforcement. Promised fresh water and waste disposal facilities at Maer Road remain uninstalled, with no completion date given.

A debate continues in Hohenwarthe over a possible night parking ban for motorhomes at a car park next to the Mittelland Canal bridge near the Elbe. The local council of Hohenwarthe voted in favour of asking the municipality to request the ban from the Federal Waterways and Shipping Administration. On Tuesday evening, members of the municipal building committee did not take a position on the proposal. The debate follows reports of pollution, including sealed faeces found in the rubbish.

The council of Ribadeo has begun installing signs along the coast banning parking and the passage of all types of vehicles after approving motorhome regulations. Signs placed in Piñeira (Ribadeo) were destroyed, as happened earlier in Arnao (Castropol). The growth of motorhoming in recent years has generated controversy over rules introduced to prevent indiscriminate parking.

Fermo has reduced long-term motorhome parking in the coastal neighbourhoods of Lido Tre Archi, San Tommaso and Casabianca. Over two years the municipality installed height barriers and bollards in car parks, starting with the area on Via Ugo La Malfa in Lido Tre Archi, and extended the measures to streets in San Tommaso and to Via De Gasperi and Riva del Pescatore in Casabianca. According to the council group Insieme per Fermo, motorhome presence is now sporadic. City councillor for urban security David Cinti said controls must continue, and the group supports restarting a neighbourhood watch scheme.

Rimsting municipality has adopted a parking fee by-law for two car parks, at the sailing harbour in Schafwaschen and at the Rimsting beach site. The by-law gives the Oberland municipal services association a legal basis to issue fines. A council meeting addressed overnight stays in motorhomes at the beach car park, where they are prohibited. Councillor Stephan Walter said the fine of 15 euros equals the parking ticket, so motorhomers stay overnight despite the ban. The administration said the fine level is set by federal traffic law and the municipality cannot change it.

The Seattle City Council voted 6–3 to approve a new permit process that could lead to a ban on people living in RVs on city streets. The rules, which still need approval from Mayor Katie Wilson, require a one-time citywide census of RV owners, who could then apply for a temporary licence to park long-term if they follow city laws and agree to move to a shelter when offered. The timing and method of the census, the duration of the permits and the availability of shelter beds remain undetermined. The legislation will eventually ban RVs parked for more than two hours on city streets. Eddie Lin, Dionne Foster and Alexis Mercedes Rinck voted against.

The Board of Directors of the Balearic Islands Port Authority (APB) has approved a new civic ordinance restricting the use of caravans and motorhomes within Palma port. Parking outside designated areas is prohibited, and a vehicle is considered to be camping if occupants sleep, eat or drink inside it, even without deploying external equipment. Fines for this range from €750 to €1,499. Unauthorised graffiti and vandalism that creates dangerous situations carry fines of €1,500 to €3,000, with offenders also liable for repair costs. The ordinance also sets fines of up to €1,499 for public drinking, unauthorised street trading and disrespect towards port police officers. It will enter into force the day after publication in the Boletín Oficial del Estado.

At the Lister Ellenbogen on Sylt, drivers who stay past midnight pay €125. The owners want to stop overnight stays in the nature reserve.

A ban on motorhome parking has come into force on the seafront, Piazza Bolla and Via Einaudi in Albenga. New signs being installed today reserve parking spaces exclusively for cars and motorcycles. The measure aims to improve parking management and traffic flow, maintain hygiene standards and increase public space availability. Councillor Mauro Vannucci said the city has numerous campsites and equipped facilities for motorhome tourists.

From 16 to 27 November Samcheok will target illegal parking of construction machinery, lorries and camping vehicles. A publicity campaign runs from 4 to 13 November.

Local police in Burgos have proposed installing a height barrier at the entrance to the Gamonal park-and-ride to stop caravans from entering. Up to a hundred caravans gather there daily, and many occupy two parking spaces. The fine for this offence is 60 euros, reduced by half for prompt payment. Officers often cannot issue fines on the spot because most owners are foreign and frequently absent. The proposal has been sent to the traffic and public works departments, which will decide whether to install the barrier and where.

Motorhome owners are preparing to intensify their campaign against parking restrictions in Elche and Santa Pola following changes to Spain's traffic regulations. The new rules, in force since 1 October, set conditions for parking motorhomes and other vehicles adapted for accommodation. Nothing may extend beyond the vehicle, it must remain supported on its tyres (safety chocks are permitted), and no fluids can be discharged from the living area. The Helgober group is planning a third demonstration in Elche before the end of the year, after two protests in 2025, and is considering legal action against councils. Campaigners say individual offenders should be dealt with rather than imposing restrictions on all motorhome owners.

Residents near Beacon Point Road in Wānaka say visitors are defecating in the bushes, doing laundry in the lake and dumping rubbish. Only three overnight spots are designated there.

In Galicia, the municipalities of Ribadeo and Trabada have approved new regulations for motorhomes, and Xove has started drafting its own. The rules ban placing furniture, awnings or other items outside the vehicle and discharging liquids. In Trabada, a motorhome may stay on the same stopover for no more than four consecutive days; in Ribadeo, for no more than 72 hours per week and no more than 48 hours continuously. Fines range from €200 to €750 for minor offences, up to €1,500 for serious offences and up to €3,000 for very serious offences.

About 40 members of the public attended a hearing on Tuesday for three freedom camping locations in Wānaka. Residents called for a ban amid problems linked to freedom camping. The hearing concerned the three specific sites.

San Carlos City Council will consider measures targeting motorhomes used as housing on streets in the city's east side. A proposal would limit parking in commercial areas to four hours between 8am and 6pm and raise fines to $100 for a first ticket, then $200 and $500. The existing overnight parking ban from 10pm to 6am carries a $50 fine. In a city survey, 28 of 52 residents called motorhome parking an issue and 24 did not; 14 of 18 businesses said it was a problem and two said it was not. Palo Alto council voted on 19 October to ban motorhomes within 100 feet of homes from 8pm to 8am.