Thank you Paul. This is very usefull information. Maybe we meet in Ricobayo!
Thanks!
Regrettably not Frans, I left the albergue in early summer 2020. I was ordered to become a reception centre for the Red Cross, an interesting 3 months, with the homeless from Zamora to get them off the streets during covid, and once movement was possible again the ayuntamiento decided the albergue would no longer have a resident hospi, I am now based on the FrancĂ©s near SahagĂşn when not hospi-ing. The albergue in Ricobayo is open now, the number to call for the keys is posted on the door, it is Manuel's mobile number so you can call any (sensible!) time any day of the week. If you don't speak Spanish he, like all similar key holders, on hearing it is a non-Spanish caller, will just say something like 'I come 30 minutes'. You can also go into the bar Del Rio on main street and ask, Cinta speaks very good English, they also have rooms there, and it's your best bet for eating in Ricobayo. Opens early in the morning for breakfast for the workers from the Ricobayo dam and hydroelectric plant. There are albergues and other accommodations open all along the route now, nicely spaced out, including new municipals in Bragança and Vinhais, except for day 1 out of Zamora when it's a long day from Zamora to either Muelas del Pan or Ricobayo, although if you need or choose to, ask around in Almendra del Pan (visit the Visigothic church there, San Pedro de la Nave, St Peter's Boat, moved stone by stone to its current site as the Ricobayo dam was being built) where there is a rough and ready 'locale' where you can slum it. Bar there open now and then, no food so buy or use bar in Valdeperdices (Partridge Valley). Regrettably there is no uptodate map or guide for the route until you reach VerĂn, where the CZP joins the SanabrĂ©s, and the brief notes handed out by Zamora Tourist Office are next to useless and ancient, even misleading. Gronze tell me they have no plans to cover the CZP, 'insufficient demand'. It would be really useful for me and future pilgrims if you join the facebook group and post any useful info as you go, thanks.