Greetings and Collecting info about Spain, Portugal and France

[Minupepperpot]

Hello everyone
I'm Minu, currently in Italy working on a van.
Soon I'll be travelling around Spain, Portugal and France with a short budget!

I was wandering if you had any tips on finding free food around Southern Portugal, Spain and France. Do you know about any shop/supermarket that has easy acces to the dumpster? Or markets that give away unsolded or ugly veggies maybe (I will try this one on site asking around and update anyone who cares )? Also restaurants or smaller shops that at the end of the day will give away the leftovers

Also curious if busking is easy! I will need money for Disel at some point

Hope everyone is having a nice day

 

[Raggamuffin]

Hello everyone
I'm Minu, currently in Italy working on a van.
Soon I'll be travelling around Spain, Portugal and France with a short budget!

I was wandering if you had any tips on finding free food around Southern Portugal, Spain and France. Do you know about any shop/supermarket that has easy acces to the dumpster? Or markets that give away unsolded or ugly veggies maybe (I will try this one on site asking around and update anyone who cares )? Also restaurants or smaller shops that at the end of the day will give away the leftovers

Hey hey welcome!! Sounds awesome man, I wish I could join!

I'm not sure about France, but probably similar - Spain and Portugal definitely you can eat for free from the local food markets! Either street markets or the big scale covered markets (best in my opinion). If you hit the market early, you can literally fill up on samples and samples and samples... and if you hit it late you're in better luck of getting a cheaper deal (if you have a little cash) and also finding the food venders can't take back that is unsold.

Many a summer day I've been sleeping rough in Spain, tucked into the stone steps of a church & I hear the early morning bells which means breakfast!

 

[roguetrader]

I'm not sure about big cities but security on skips / dumpsters in more rural areas of France / Spain / Portugal always seemed pretty lax to me - they were normally unlocked and unguarded even in areas with lots of scavengers about ....

In France one good source of cheap food is the Croix Rouge (Red Cross) - they sell store cupboard Staples - pasta / rice / tins etc - for 10 % of the normal price - it was a while ago I used this service but worth looking into if you're there ...

as far as busking goes I've heard Spain is hard because you need a license / permit to do it legally - no papers and the police will move you on constantly..... if you use the search function on this site I think a couple of threads have discussed this in more detail...

 

[Minupepperpot]

Hey hey welcome!! Sounds awesome man, I wish I could join!

I'm not sure about France, but probably similar - Spain and Portugal definitely you can eat for free from the local food markets! Either street markets or the big scale covered markets (best in my opinion). If you hit the market early, you can literally fill up on samples and samples and samples... and if you hit it late you're in better luck of getting a cheaper deal (if you have a little cash) and also finding the food venders can't take back that is unsold.

Many a summer day I've been sleeping rough in Spain, tucked into the stone steps of a church & I hear the early morning bells which means breakfast!

Sweeeet! Spanish people have always been very very kind to me, same goes for Portuguese. They always tried to help me out when I asked so I hope will be the same with asking for unsold food Thank you so much <3

 

[Minupepperpot]

I'm not sure about big cities but security on skips / dumpsters in more rural areas of France / Spain / Portugal always seemed pretty lax to me - they were normally unlocked and unguarded even in areas with lots of scavengers about ....

In France one good source of cheap food is the Croix Rouge (Red Cross) - they sell store cupboard Staples - pasta / rice / tins etc - for 10 % of the normal price - it was a while ago I used this service but worth looking into if you're there ...

as far as busking goes I've heard Spain is hard because you need a license / permit to do it legally - no papers and the police will move you on constantly..... if you use the search function on this site I think a couple of threads have discussed this in more detail...

Oh well, as long as I don't get fined or arrested I'm fine with it
Definetly going to try the Croix Rouge, thanks a loooot!!!

P.S. love your vehicle

 

[warlo]

I cant tell you exactly where to look for food, that would be pointless. just know that you'll be fine so long as you keep looking. France is full of supermarkets on the road that will feed you really well. specially if you have a van, you will be able to stock a lot of good food. try and get as much as you can (specially from supermarche markets) in your van before you get to spain, if you go trough the south, cause there its really easy to get vegetables but not that easy to get other type of goods (like rice, pasta, oil, milk, cheese, etc), so if you are well stocked then its all about getting the fresh stuff. in spain you can look around street markets or the packaging factories. they usually have huge containers full of veggies. you'll be shocked how much they throw away cause it doesnt have the shape or colour.
Portugal is fine, regular supermarkets throw like any other around Europe.

You got a van, so find big supermarkets on the road. those are best.

 

[Minupepperpot]

I cant tell you exactly where to look for food, that would be pointless. just know that you'll be fine so long as you keep looking. France is full of supermarkets on the road that will feed you really well. specially if you have a van, you will be able to stock a lot of good food. try and get as much as you can (specially from supermarche markets) in your van before you get to spain, if you go trough the south, cause there its really easy to get vegetables but not that easy to get other type of goods (like rice, pasta, oil, milk, cheese, etc), so if you are well stocked then its all about getting the fresh stuff. in spain you can look around street markets or the packaging factories. they usually have huge containers full of veggies. you'll be shocked how much they throw away cause it doesnt have the shape or colour.
Portugal is fine, regular supermarkets throw like any other around Europe.

You got a van, so find big supermarkets on the road. those are best.

Thank you a lot. This comment gives me hope I won't starve through winters