His name is Sininn, if I recall.
I had a great time there in the autumn of 2018.
And "The Way" was playing on a battered old TV in the corner too.
Perfect.
JustJack, thanks for the update, this is excellent news.
My first visit most welcome after walking in sub-zero (C) temperatures from El Burgo back in 2008. Toots & Maytals’ Monkey Man playing full volume. The smoking indoors thing was irrelevant as there was a wood stove in the middle of the room that didn’t have its flue fitted properly, billowing acrid smoke.
Good to see from John's pic the same fixtures – particularly the haunch of Jamon and old knife, used for peeling off a fine strip for anyone he found sufficiently agreeable at the time (always involved a little Spanish conversation first). Health and Safety I hear you ask..
And yes, that old VHS recorder continuously playing the Way. Was worn to a haze back in 2018.
In 2018 the bar was closed in the day, but we came back in the evening. A lot of alcohol, smoking and general partying going on with many pilgrims very drunk. Sufficiently so for two (apparently respectable ones) who had been flirting with each other since Burgos to finally start getting intimate right there. Meanwhile a group of the local men looked on at this
tableau chaotique in silence, agog, like tribe-seeking social anthropologists who couldn’t quite believe their luck.
I walked passed in the day time last year, disappointed that it was closed. Sat for a while outside and noticed how a lot of the wall paint had peeled away and how much of the previously joyous and irreverent graffiti had lost its life and colour. Looked like it might have been closed for good. So great to hear Sininis is still doing his thing.
Buen camino, in whichever way you choose..