Albergue in Manzanares el Real

[peregrina2000]

I have had some email exchanges with another pilgrim who walked the Camino de Madrid recently, and he told me he gave up on the possibility of staying in the albergue in Manzanares el Real, after arriving in town in early afternoon and learning that there would be no way to get the key till later in the day. There is at least one in-town hotel option, which has a privileged position right next to the beautiful castle in town.

But for those who are heading out on the Madrid, I just want to say that it is very much worth it to stay in the albergue. It's about 2 km outside of town, high up and solitary on a rocky promontory with gorgeous views of the Guadarrama mountains in several directions. The albergue is on the back of an old ermita, the Ermita de Picra Sacra, indicating the sacred location of its position. The albergue was opened last year, has two big dorm rooms, and two separate bathrooms/showers. There is a big salon and a separate big kitchen.

It's true that the logistics are a bit complicated. You must get the key from the priest, whose house is in town about two doors away from the tourist office. Though the sign on the door says that he is there after 1 pm, he didn't arrive till after 3 on the day I was there. I would have given up and gone to the hotel but earlier in the day I had met two Spanish pilgrims who insisted we stay there. And I'm so glad I went along with the plan because it was such a special privileged place.

To complicate things, the priest insists that someone bring the key back down to his house in the morning. That means that someone in the group has to walk an additional few kms to drop off the key. But it isn't the full 2 kms down from the albergue and back, because the camino turnoff is at least a km further down, if that makes any sense. It took about an extra half hour for the drop off -- we waited with his pack at the turnoff. But all in all, it was such a magnificent location, I would say do it if at all possible. You'll likely arrive early from Colmenar (only 16 very pretty kms through the country) and can visit the castle (highly recommended, 1.5 euros for pilgrims), have lunch (lots of restaurants on the square and around) and then buy groceries in the chain supermarket that doesn't close for siesta. Bring up your food for the night and next morning, and you will have a wonderful afternoon/evening.

So, this is my longwinded way of saying that it's a highlight of the Camino de Madrid, well worth the minor inconvenience. Buen camino, Laurie

 

[stellasoave]

This is my first message here and my english is not good.
I arrived in Manzanares saturday 24 of september, in the afternoon, and the turist office was closed, the police office too, and so i went by centre of city to the albergue, and i hoped that was something write for the key, but nothing and noone.....
......i ask to the centre in the bar of the square but noone know something, so i went (i have to) in Hostal that ask me for the night and little breakfast 50 euros...

The day after, until i start my cammmino to Cercedilla, i stay in local police for ask for albergue in Cercedilla, and the Local police said that there are 2 albergue.
I arrived in Cercedilla and the police said me that the albergue was closed, so i ask for sleep in polideportivo but they said me thai is no possible because it's open only for the group.... ...group?????? wHICH GROUP????
....So for the second day i have to stay in hotel....45 euros....
NO GOOD NO GOOD......IS NO PILGRIM PRICE....WE CAN DO SOMETHING?????

 

[peregrina2000]

Hi, Stellasoave,

Welcome to the forum. I hope that you had better luck with the albergues during the rest of your Camino de Madrid. North of Segovia, the pilgrim infrastructure is really outstanding. But about the albergue in Manzanares el Real, my Spanish friends had told me that they had heard that the priest who is in charge of the albergue can be a little "unusual" or difficult, but we had no problems. It isn't an ideal system to have the key with the priest, who spends much of his week on the road in other places, and I think weekends are probably much more difficult. I guess your experience shows that it's important to be flexible in case the albergue doesn't work out.

I'm surprised about Cercedilla. I only know of one albergue there, and it's actually a youth hostal. It is open all year, and the staff told us that they always held some rooms for pilgrims. We stayed in a small wing off the main entry where there were 4 or 5 rooms with two individual beds and private baths. It was very nice. There were several groups of school children there, but they had no access to our wing.

The Cercedilla albergue/hostal is on the way out of town, up towards the start of the roman road, so it positions you nicely for the next morning's long haul up to the top. Here is a link with more information about it, and maybe calling in advance is a safer way to go. We arrived early because the walk from Manzanares isn't too long. So we first bought groceries, used internet at the locutorio, and had a coffee. We then ate lunch in a nice place in town near the train station, went to see the Roman bridge, and then arrived outside the albergue right as it was opening up after lunch, around 5 pm. Here is more info on the albergue, and there is a phone number there in case people want to call. http://www.reaj.com/info-albergue.asp?id=117

Buen camino, Laurie

 

[peregrina2000]

Just a p.s. to my earlier post,

I did a little searching on the Spanish language forum to see what more I could learn about Manzanares and its albergue. There are a LOT of complaints. Complaints that the Madrid regional government funded the renovation of the building and furnishing the albergue, and now the priest/church gives priority on weekends to religious youth groups. Complaints that the priest is frequently not there when pilgrims arrive.

But there are also some pictures of its inauguration, and the first one gives you an idea of why it is worth the hassle if you can get in.

http://fsvr1.ibdinternet.com/read.php?6 ... msg-313415

This albergue is pretty new, so I'm hoping there will be some resolution of this issue before too long. As the pilgrims on the Camino de Madrid increase, and as they are mainly Spaniards, I know that they will not suffer in silence.

 

[Sojourner47]

I stayed at the ermita in September - I arrived at Manzanares about 1400 after walking from Tres Cantos. A note on the door of the priest's house stated pilgrims should present themselves between 1600 and 1830 with credential and 5 euros. After a couple of beers in the square, I duly rang the bell and was admitted - the priest was very helpful, and spoke better English than my Spanish. He gave me a key, a sello, and a map of how to get there. As Laurie says, it is a bit of a trek, but well worth it - beautiful location, and very well appointed, even though the hot water wasn't on when I stayed, but it was 36C, so a cold shower was very welcome!! The key does have to be returned - drop it in the priest's letter box the following morning.
The police at Manzanares were also very helpful, and rooted out a clerk in the town hall to give me another sello. The tourist office was closed.
PS. there are no shops anywhere near, so you need to stock up in town beforehand. Good kitchen at the ermita.

 

[stellasoave]

Thank peregrina, yes i had luck for my beautiful camino, but not only in manzanares and cercedilla...

The camino is very beautiful, it's flat but hardly too, usually if there are 35 degree all the day (better then rain i know) but when u arrive in the little village the peple give u all the thing u need....is invaluable....i raccomand this camino.
I done it for 10 days alone....