Camping El Escorial is an enormous campsite with over 600 pitches and 6 check in desks.
When we were there there were 4 motorhomes and 2 caravans and 4 of them were British!
The ACSI rate is 19e and we were not overimpressed. Again location is all important, it is near the palace of El Escorial and if you walk nearly a mile to the main road there is a bus stop to catch the buses to Madrid.
The pitches are just grass/mud and not enormous - as it was winter we were given the use of 2 pitches.

One toilet block was open for us because it was heated.  My shower ran cold as soon as someone pulled the flush in the loo or ran another shower!.
There was wifi around the bar area, but as the bar, cafeteria etc were closed you had to sit in the cold to use it and the signal was weak.
In the summer when all the pitches were full it would be our idea of hell, but it takes all sorts......

We decided that as it was only a few miles back up the road we would visit one of the most controversial places in Spain - Valle de Los Caidos - The Valley of the fallen.

It was conceived and ordered to be built by the Dictator Francisco Franco and intended to be a memorial to the fallen of both sides in the Spanish Civil War. However Franco is actually buried here behind the altar in the Basilica so it is permanently connected to him.   About 40,000 soldiers from both sides are buried here.   But many of the Republicans who died were slave labourers who dug out the Basilica from solid rock.
There is a monastery and a school here as well as the Basilica and Cross. The complex was built between 1940 and 1958.
The complex has become a sort of rallying point for the far right, and successive Governments have struggled to know how to deal with it. It costs a lot of money to maintain and the Socialist Zapatero Government actually closed it down, on the grounds that it was in a dangerous state of repair.   Our Lonely Planet Guide to Spain published at the time does not mention it at all!
There is no information at all at the Basilica about the history and background to the place.
It has been suggested that Franco's body should be exhumed and moved to be with his wife's body, so that the monument can be used as a proper memorial to the fallen, but the far right and Franco's family are adamant that this will not happen ( I nearly said 'dead against it'!)
There is so much that has been written about the Valley of the Fallen that if you want to know more about it ,perhaps it is better that you 'Google' it, and I will just stick to the facts.

The basilica was excavated into the rock and extends for 860 feet. There are 6 chapels, 3 on each side dedicated to the Virgin Mary. At the far end , under a Cupola is the Church and high altar. On each side there is a Chapel dedicated to the fallen.   
High Mass is held every day from 11am to 11.45am. Photography inside the basilica is forbidden. To get into the basilica you have to go through airport -type security and your bags are x-rayed.
While we were waiting for the service to finish I took the following photos  'illegally' with the camera at waist height, behind my scarf.  


 The Basilica is fairly typical Fascist architecture and is huge , with an enormous esplanade in front.


Above the Basilica on the hillside above is a gigantic Cross on a huge base.
This Cross is 492ft high, including the base. The arms are oriented N/S and from left to right are 154ft across. it is 984 ft from the esplanade below to the top of the Cross.

At the base of the Cross are 4 sculptures of the Evangelists, each 18m high.
There is a funicular railway leading up to the base of the Cross but this was not working ' due to ongoing works and refurbishment of the funicular and the statues'.
Needless to say, we could see no evidence of any 'ongoing works'!

On the day we visited it was still very misty/foggy and the sun was still trying to break through. This gave the whole place a very haunting atmosphere.

 Apparently the Valley of the fallen is a popular attraction.  While we were there there were only about a dozen people inside the Basilica, but when we came out there were 2 buses parked, but not many people were on either of them.
We moved on from here, but I will do the afternoon as a separate entry.

 We drove the 3 kms back from the Valley to the main road and retraced our steps from yesterday but with one big difference.   We could see that the whole way up and the summit of the Puerto de Guadarrama was completely shrouded in thick fog.    
After our experience of yesterday, we did the best thing - at the next junction we joined the Peage and went through the nearly 4km long tunnel, going back on to the road to Segovia at the next junction. This cost us the princely sum of 4.6 e but was worth every cent!