Common courtesies required and expected from peregrinos

[piogaw]

Hello fellow peregrinos,

As a working hospitalero i would like to ask our fellow peregrinos who stay in albergues to show courtesies to the hospitaleros who volunteered their time and expenses to make life easier for you and to help you in your camino.
We do have our rules and regulations to follow. Many times we do not have the flexibility to change or bend the rules and regulations for your own selfish motives. If we can make allowances we will try to help you. The following infractions are taken very seriously by us hospitaleros.

1. Coming back into the albergue drunk and being abusive towards the hospitalero is a no-no and, it will not be tolerated. You might possibly ended up in a jail cell.

2. Curfew time is strictly enforced. Many of the albergues have a curfew time of 22:00 hour (10:00 pm to our north american peregrinos). A few has a midnight curfew. Do not argue with the hospitaleros trying to extend your curfew time. And i will ask you not to abuse the hospitaleros. We are very patient with our fellow peregrinos up to a point. Do not try to come in late after the hospitalero has gone to bed. On many occasions the hospitaleros will have to wake up early to let the early starters out of the door. Therefore do not have much of a sleep.

3. Loud noise. Be considerate of your fellow peregrinos trying to get a decent sleep. If you come in late, try to keep your voice down

4. Cleanliness in the kitchen. Many of the kitchens in the albergue have an area or box for food supplies/perishables leftover for other peregrinos to use. Please throw away anything not of use or stale food. Leave the non-perishables in the area. And please keep the area cleaned. Too many times peregrinos do not wash the dirty dishes in the sink and do not wipe the table and kitchen top after use. Please remember you are not an home and there is no mother to clean up your mess.

5. Please do not take any kitchen utensils or cups with you. Let other peregrinos have the use of all the facilities available. This is stealing.

6. If there is no open-fired cooking facility (stove) it is for a reason normally it is due to fire regulation as some of the albergue are part of a church or public building. Do not give the hospitalero a hard time.

7. Many albergues do not have a refrigerator due to contractual restrictions imposed by the coffee machine/ drink machine supplier. Either you can have a refrigerator or no drink machines. So again be understandable of our situation.

8. Many albergues have limited supply of hot water. Try to stagger your timetable for taking a shower. I have seen many many a time when everybody want to take a shower at the same time and use up all the hot water. Fortunately my albergue have continual hot water supply all the time 24/7. Also do try to keep the toilet/shower area cleaned. Put all trash in the rubbish bin.

9. Try to keep your area and the dormitory where you sleep clean. Dispose all your rubbish in the rubbish bin.

10. Many of the albergue have free desktop facilities to use. Please keep this to a maximum time of 30 minutes so that others might be able to use it. Do not monopolise the desktop. Also many albergues shut down this facility at midnight. Please do not ask to use it after midnight.

11. Drink machines are usually shut down after 23:00 hour to avoid disturbing peregrinos who want to sleep. Do not ask us to turn it on so that you can get a drink after hour.

12. Lights are normally turn off after 22:00 hour. Again don't ask us to turn it on for you, it will be inconsiderate to disturb your fellow peregrinos.

13. all of the public albergue closes down for a certain period of time to allow the cleaning of the facility. most of the checkout time is 08:00 hour, some are 09:00 hour and reopen anywhere from 11:30 hour onwards. please leave the albergues as requested and not delaying the closing time to enable clean up. don't try to reenter the premise before the reopening time.

I wish you all a buen camino and an injured-free camino.

 

[Anne100]

Great post! It's nice to hear from the hospitalero side of things.

 

[wayfarer]

"1. Coming back into the albergue drunk and being abusive towards the hospitalero is a no-no and, it will not be tolerated. You might possibly ended up in a jail cell."

I do not even understand why anyone walking the Camino would do this.

 

[KinkyOne]

@wayfarer

As I remember piogaw was/is a hospitalero in one of the SdC albergues and I guess by then and encouraged by finishing the Camino, pilgrims are somehow high-spirited and tend (minority of them of course) to celebrate their completion in unacceptable way. Therefore some, obviously, drink a glass too much. But I must admit I was very surprised to see that as no.1..., because I haven't seen one "drunk and abusive" pilgrim along the way.

Thanks piogaw!

 

[piogaw]

"1. Coming back into the albergue drunk and being abusive towards the hospitalero is a no-no and, it will not be tolerated. You might possibly ended up in a jail cell."

I do not even understand why anyone walking the Camino would do this.

hello wayfare,

this has happened twice in my albergue recently. this happened both times when hospitaleras were on duty. it rarely happens, but it does happen.

i don't know the why but there is no intention on my part to exaggerate. i have worked as a hospitalero for a whole month and has come back to work at the same albergue for another 5 weeks.

 

[wayfarer]

piogaw, I know you are not exaggerating as I have seen people behave like this in shops and at reception in hotels and I still do not understand why they do. Why take out your frustration on someone who is trying to help you by being abusive.
Might see you in SdC in a week or so.
@KinkyOne, I have seen plenty pilgrims with one too many, been there myself but I wouldn't put up with anyone being abusive, drunk or sober, to a service worker or hospitalero.

 

[piogaw]

hello wayfarer,

thanks for the support. i have seen plenty of not so sober people in ireland, having bought a home in dublin in the mid eighties myself. however the drunks i have encountered are very good natured and not abusive and are always in a happy mood. that is the irish for you.

god bless.

 

[Rosemaryk1]

Hello fellow peregrinos,

As a working hospitalero i would like to ask our fellow peregrinos who stay in albergues to show courtesies to the hospitaleros who volunteered their time and expenses to make life easier for you and to help you in your camino.
We do have our rules and regulations to follow. Many times we do not have the flexibility to change or bend the rules and regulations for your own selfish motives. If we can make allowances we will try to help you. The following infractions are taken very seriously by us hospitaleros.

1. Coming back into the albergue drunk and being abusive towards the hospitalero is a no-no and, it will not be tolerated. You might possibly ended up in a jail cell.

2. Curfew time is strictly enforced. Many of the albergues have a curfew time of 22:00 hour (10:00 pm to our north american peregrinos). A few has a midnight curfew. Do not argue with the hospitaleros trying to extend your curfew time. And i will ask you not to abuse the hospitaleros. We are very patient with our fellow peregrinos up to a point. Do not try to come in late after the hospitalero has gone to bed. On many occasions the hospitaleros will have to wake up early to let the early starters out of the door. Therefore do not have much of a sleep.

3. Loud noise. Be considerate of your fellow peregrinos trying to get a decent sleep. If you come in late, try to keep your voice down

4. Cleanliness in the kitchen. Many of the kitchens in the albergue have an area or box for food supplies/perishables leftover for other peregrinos to use. Please throw away anything not of use or stale food. Leave the non-perishables in the area. And please keep the area cleaned. Too many times peregrinos do not wash the dirty dishes in the sink and do not wipe the table and kitchen top after use. Please remember you are not an home and there is no mother to clean up your mess.

5. Please do not take any kitchen utensils or cups with you. Let other peregrinos have the use of all the facilities available. This is stealing.

6. If there is no open-fired cooking facility (stove) it is for a reason normally it is due to fire regulation as some of the albergue are part of a church or public building. Do not give the hospitalero a hard time.

7. Many albergues do not have a refrigerator due to contractual restrictions imposed by the coffee machine/ drink machine supplier. Either you can have a refrigerator or no drink machines. So again be understandable of our situation.

8. Many albergues have limited supply of hot water. Try to stagger your timetable for taking a shower. I have seen many many a time when everybody want to take a shower at the same time and use up all the hot water. Fortunately my albergue have continual hot water supply all the time 24/7. Also do try to keep the toilet/shower area cleaned. Put all trash in the rubbish bin.

9. Try to keep your area and the dormitory where you sleep clean. Dispose all your rubbish in the rubbish bin.

10. Many of the albergue have free desktop facilities to use. Please keep this to a maximum time of 30 minutes so that others might be able to use it. Do not monopolise the desktop. Also many albergues shut down this facility at midnight. Please do not ask to use it after midnight.

11. Drink machines are usually shut down after 23:00 hour to avoid disturbing peregrinos who want to sleep. Do not ask us to turn it on so that you can get a drink after hour.

12. Lights are normally turn off after 22:00 hour. Again don't ask us to turn it on for you, it will be inconsiderate to disturb your fellow peregrinos.

13. all of the public albergue closes down for a certain period of time to allow the cleaning of the facility. most of the checkout time is 08:00 hour, some are 09:00 hour and reopen anywhere from 11:30 hour onwards. please leave the albergues as requested and not delaying the closing time to enable clean up. don't try to reenter the premise before the reopening time.

I wish you all a buen camino and an injured-free camino.

Hi Piogaw!

I would love to know where you are and what Albergue you run so I can either stop by and say "Hola" or perhaps stay the night if my schedule allows. I thank you for your post and am deeply sorry for any hard or frustrating times you encounter with some peregrinos. Your post could actually be the "rules for life!" I am hoping and challenging all the people who will be starting or have started The Camino, to please take all of this heart. This could be for some peregrinos the hardest part of the walk! Thank you again and God bless you and the work you so unselfishly perfom!

Rosemary

 

[StuartM]

"1. Coming back into the albergue drunk and being abusive towards the hospitalero is a no-no and, it will not be tolerated. You might possibly ended up in a jail cell."

I do not even understand why anyone walking the Camino would do this.

This happened twice to me on the Frances. Once was in the private albergue in Portomarin (I think it was called Buena Vista, it's in the basement of a bar/rsstaurant) where both a German group and Spanish group did it at closing time. The other time was in a hotel in Sarria (Hotel Escalera) where they were north Americans. It turned me off staying in large towns as there seemed to be a lot of people who just wanted to get hammered when they reached civilisation again.

 

[piogaw]

Hi Piogaw!

I would love to know where you are and what Albergue you run so I can either stop by and say "Hola" or perhaps stay the night if my schedule allows. I thank you for your post and am deeply sorry for any hard or frustrating times you encounter with some peregrinos. Your post could actually be the "rules for life!" I am hoping and challenging all the people who will be starting or have started The Camino, to please take all of this heart. This could be for some peregrinos the hardest part of the walk! Thank you again and God bless you and the work you so unselfishly perfom!

Rosemary

hello rosemary,

thank you for your encouragement and support. i am fortunate that i can converse in at least 4 languages with different peregrinos from around the world. , i, being an experienced hospitalero, have has no problems personally with any peregrino. as you know our job is to make the peregrinos feel welcome and to provide our hospitality and offer any help and support. that can be anything to help secure enroute lodging , buying train ticket, providing options and etc. for peregrinos on their way home after an enjoyable camino and visiting the tomb of saint james. also to help peregrinos that want to visit other parts of spain asides from providing all kinds of information about santiago. my colleague and i have enjoyed very much meeting peregrinos from all over the world. we are very happy and feel honour to be able to provide services to them from people in their 80s down to families with young children. we do hope any peregrino that stays in our humble albergue feel the same way as we do.

i am working as a hospitalero in the albergue fin del camino (formerly the albergue jaime garcia rodriguez who was the founder of the pilgrim office). we are a non-profit organisation run by the st james pilgrimage foundation with 110 beds plus 50 reserved. our facility is 3 years old with modern facility to include a big enclosed garden. we are not in the centre of town, but a 25 minute walk from the cathedral towards the bus station. we are actually 3 minutes from the path of the camino frances as you enter santiago. our location is in the parish of san antonio de fontinas, and is located next to the local police station.

thank you once again and buen camino to all. que dios os bendiga.

 

[AshaDasi]

Hello Piogaw, I'm sorry that it was necessary to post this. I'm building a comprehensive camino website and in support of you and other volunteers I will post everything you've written here on a page of its own. It seems there really are some people who need to be told how to behave. I can't believe this. What a shame.

 

[piogaw]

Hello everyone. I am back again to add a few more observations:

14. Please check your laundry on the clothes lines and make sure you did not mistakenly taken someone else clothing. It is very annoying and irritating for peregrinos to discover someone has taken their washings either by mistake or intentionally.

15. This is a plea to all peregrinos. If you have decided you want to leave clothings, footwears behind. Please let us know so that we can clean and donate them to the monastery. Do not leave them for days on the clothes line as we do not know whether these clothings are yours or not. We err on the side of caution as we do not want to take away anything that belongs to you. This also applies to footwears left in the albergue. We actively support donation of any articles of use to charity for the homeless and poor people who will appreciate the kindness shown by your donation.

Thank you once again.

Buen camino and may god bless you all.

 

[WayWalker63]

What I find in-comprehendible is that adult people would use the kitchen and not clean up after themselves. Really? Even if your mother is walking with you, I would hope she would tell you to wash your dishes and clean up your mess. I know mine would make us clean any picnic area we used of our debris and that others had left behind. I made my children do the same. If we made cookies or cooked anything other than the family meal the rule was to clean up after ourselves always.
Of course you are probably preaching to the choir here. I think most of us that have taken the trouble to research and plan our caminos so thoroughly, would be smart enough and polite enough to do most of your list on instinct. Hopefully this post will reach some of those pilgrims who don't have the basic social graces.

 

[stevenjarvis]

WayWalker63 I share many of your and others sentiments about inconsiderate and selfish behavior. I absolutely endorse and applaud piogaw for her selfless, generous and kind service. I hope I would never commit any of the heinous acts described here. However, I wonder how helpful it is to expect universal exemplary manners from the hordes of us who will fill albergues for years to come. Mine is not a counsel of despair, I am all for encouraging, promoting and educating to the benefit of all. At the same time, if these "rules" have to be reiterated at the " fin del camino " , when they may have spent thirty nights exposed to "albergue etiquette", I suspect that some pilgrims will never change or learn ! I imagine a hospitalera journal from medieval times might record similar pilgrim selfishness. 'twas ever thus.

edit Ps although I'm not sure we can either "expect" or "require"..... maybe just hope for....

 

[fraluchi]

[...]if these "rules" have to be reiterated at the " fin del camino " , when they may have spent thirty nights exposed to "albergue etiquette", I suspect that some pilgrims will never change or learn ! [...]

For many years I walked the Camino(s), visited hundreds of albergues and on occasion spent time as hospitalero, but have not (yet) come across drunken and abusive behaviours from pilgrims staying at albergues.
What I would add to the "rules" is a request to pilgrims who want to leave very early in the morning, that they prepare their backpacks in the evening before. It is unfair to wake up others with flashlights, crackling plastic bags, slamming doors and shuffling through dormitory aisles.

 

[annakappa]

On of the reasons why we have never stayed in an Albergue once reaching Santiago, is the possible tendency to 'let go' of the discipline that one has been keeping in check over the past weeks!
I have been a hospitalero in Rabanal in 2010. Generally speaking, I find that Pilgrims are an extremely well behaved, generous group of people. I have never come across someone drunk.
One of the aspects that is possibly overlooked by Pilgrims is the fact that a hospitalero works an incredibly long day. Up before 6 to be ready either to prepare breakfast, if that is offered or to be ready for the first leavers. Once the doors close at 8 am after the last Pilgrim has left, then it's time to get cracking on the cleaning, washing, etc. etc. From the moment the doors are opened to receive the days' new group, then you have to remain on duty.........until, finally the front door is closed for the night, when you finally fall into bed and are out like a light! Anne

 

[MendiWalker]

When I was planning my first Camino (Frances 2.009) I came across a post on the internet (not here) that said that the Albergue San Lazaro was a well-deserved prize after all the walking along the Camino. Upon reading that I had it very clear that that was going to be where both my wife & I would stay in Santiago. We discovered that they gave you real sheets & pillow case & a towel as well. You could stay 3 days max. And that you could return later than the usual 10pm curfew . That last part left us a bit worried. Oh my God the first night we slept so well, didn´t even hear a mouse. Since that first Camino we have completed 2 more and we stayed at the same albergue. Hopefully we shall walk the Camino Ingles next year and we shall stay here as well.

Buen Camino!

 

[JabbaPapa]

What I find in-comprehendible is that adult people would use the kitchen and not clean up after themselves. Really?

It is very frequent.

People being drunk in the albergues is also frequent ; though I've never seen any such drunken pilgrims abusing the hospitaleros/as (though I have heard about such things second-hand several times) ... most who drink, I think, are using some red wine partly to help ease their pains and help ensure a sound night's sleep, not as a means to excite themselves against fellow pilgrims or the hospitaleros/as

 

[Rebekah Scott]

I have been a hospitalera for a long time and have served in several places. I have never been "abused" by a pilgrim, but I have dealt with many drunks. Aside from the occasional village fiesta or championship football night, these are almost always in city situations, primarily in popular pilgrim starting places: Salamanca and Ourense spring to mind. The pilgrims are fresh, they are starting their walk the following day, they are in a city with lots of bars, and they do not know how to behave yet in a pilgrim albergue. Factor in some ethanol and you get indignant drunks banging on the locked door at 1 a.m., mixing it up with indignant worn-out pilgrims trying to sleep.
The best part is when you're standing there shivering in your PJs and they start to lecture you on how you're killing the Camino Spirit.