UKC

HI where can i firstly meet up with climbers in france spain and portugal ( which forums or meet ups should i use) to trad climb and where is the best spots to climb in these countries, thanks

David

There's some great trad in the Picos in northern Spain. 

No idea about meeting people though. Usually facebook groups are the norm on the continent and offer the equivalent of ukc partner forum. I imagine gets a lot easier if you speak french, spanish or Portuguese 

have you seen https://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/destinations/where_to_trad_climb_in_franc... ?

might give you some ideas

There is trad climbing in Portugal at Sagres and at Sintra. 

Sagres is sea cliff climbing in very dramatic settings with big seas.  Climbers supposedly meet at a bar called Dromedario in Sagres, but it was closed for the season while we were there.  The Tasco do Careca restaurant also seems to be popular with climbers (for good reason).

Sintra is granite and in a very popular tourist attraction.  I don't know if there's a regular climbers' meeting place - one option might be to hang out at Cascais (near Lisbon), which is sport climbing, but an easy place to meet locals.

There is also other trad climbing in the mountains (too cold for us to visit while we were there in Jan/Feb).  I can thoroughly recommend Carlos Simes' "Portugal" climbing guide - a selective guide available in English, which covers the best of both sport and trad in Portugal.

We found Portuguese climbers to be very friendly and welcoming, so hopefully you will find someone to hook up with!