Camino de Santiago de Compostela

[handzondeck2]

Came across this post on a website:

Los albergues de Fuente de Cantos, La Puebla de Sancho Pérez, Zafra y Torremejía (Vía de la Plata) están cerrados hasta el 15/02/2011

Sharon

[Anniesantiago]

Has anyone actually stayed at Fuente de Cantos?
When we walked past, the windows were broken, and the beds were covered in bird droppings!

[mmm042]

Are you talking about the albergue in the same building as the Zurbaran Interpretive Center? I haven't stayed there, but I did tour the Zurbaran Interpretive Center in mid-November. Everything was open and looked clean and in order. Also, earlier on this forum, a veteran pilgrim had written this about lodging in Fuente de Cantos: "Excellent albergue, extremely clean, large rooms with few beds in each. Very clean sheets on all the bunks. Private pensiones here always get bad reviews." Let me know if you mean a different spot.

Melanie

[aeveling]

The only alburgue that I was aware of in Fuente de Cantos was the one in the converted Convent and that was an excellent place to stay 9 weeks ago.

Andrew, Salisbury UK

http://spanishfootsteps.blogspot.com

[CaroleH]

Hmmm . . . . this is all a bit of a worry. . . . and interesting! I'd be really interested in learning more before our camino in a few months time. Those albergues are mostly attached to convents I think. I'm wondering if this is a temporary closure or something more permanent, so appreciate any information from anyone

Meanwhile . . . Happy New Year to everyone on the Forum.

[bjorgts]

All these albergues belong to the "Alba Plata" project. That is why they are all in old restored buildings. You can find the information on different adresses. The albergues is said to be closed untill 15. of February. (One place it is said to be 15. of January.) May be they are doing some sort of necessary work on a time of the year when there are few pilgrims? Here you can see which albergues belong to the "Alba Plata": http://www.caminosantiago.org/cpperegri ... plata.html
Bjørg

[Anniesantiago]

I'm sorry. I think I'm wrong about the place. The place I'm thinking about (I don't have my guide books here) was maybe Casa Forestal? It was after Castiblanco and after we entered a large park area. We slept out on the patio under the stars. There was no water, but some firemen who were stationed there went to town and brought us back water and saved our lives! It was beautiful, but sadly broken down.

Has anyone stayed THERE?

[mmm042]

Oh, now this makes sense. Casa Forestal isn't an albergue. It's the former country home/hunting lodge of some Spaniard. It was built in the 1950s. When we went by in November, two men (governmental employees) were in the garage area so I asked about it. One had keys, and gave me a tour of the inside. As you said earlier, it's in terrible disrepair, and there are bird droppings everywhere. But it was interesting anyway. There's still furniture inside, and several stuffed animal heads on the wall, plus a cool old map of the area. The men also told me the old, round, stone structure across the road from the home is an old well. An animal used to be tied to the outside and hooked up to the pulley system thing; as the animal walked around the circle, the bucket was raised/lowered.

Melanie

[Anniesantiago]

Yes, it's really a shame because it's a perfect place for an albergue, and the site is lovely.
It was like a Maxwell Parish painting, the sunset was spectacular, and even sleeping under the stars was awesome! But it could be a very sweet stopping place.

[peregrino46]

I was in Fuente de Cantos- Alba Plata Albergue, according to my experience on the VdP iI can confirm that is one of the best I get. Very clean 4 people per room with private bathroom.

[hel&scott]

Has anyone actually stayed at Fuente de Cantos? When we walked past, the windows were broken, and the beds were covered in bird droppings!

Glad to see that the confusion over this is cleared up as yes, Fuente de Cantos has a fantastic Alburgue Touristico in a converted Convent. It's air-conditioned and I remember fondly the blast of cold air that hit us when we opened the door after nearly frying in the sun for 43kms (Monesterio was closed).

There are a number of these rather flash Alburgues on this route often in out of the way places but just as often the can be closed for renovations, still as Annie says you can always sleep out under the stars (as long as its not raining and you have some food and water with you).