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Napoleon Route Closed.

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Transport luggage-passengers.
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Is it also closed to local walkers etc?
 
The one from Galicia (the round) and the one from Castilla & Leon. Individually numbered and made by the same people that make the ones you see on your walk.
Is it also closed to local walkers etc?

I am not sure, but I assume since the post states "People" not following the rules, it means everyone.
*****

1) For safety reasons the crossing of the Napoleon route will be restricted and pilgrims are required to take the Valcarlos route, except for special permit issued by the Rescue Agency in Navarre.

2) The closure date will be listed

3) People not following the rules
will be prosecuted by the local police.

4) Trespassers will be fined €12,000.
 
I'm all for safety etc but having riden this route only a few weeks back I'm struggling to understand how it becomes presumably too dangerous so quickly and where?
Closed to absolute beginners but to someone with a little experience I just don't get?
(I'm not saying it's wrong - I just don't get it that's all) ?
 
Is it also closed to local walkers etc?
Yes. Closed means closed :). There are plenty of other hiking trails in the area, I don't think that local walkers will miss this stretch one bit.

When the government introduced this winter closure for the first time several years ago, they envisaged the possibility of granting permissions to walk if requested but it turned out to be too difficult and complex and this option is now abolished (it was presumably never even implemented in the first place). You can read about this in the Official Bulletin of Navarra of 31 October 2019 - RESOLUCIÓN 283/2019.
 
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I'm all for safety etc but having riden this route only a few weeks back I'm struggling to understand how it becomes presumably too dangerous so quickly and where?
Closed to absolute beginners but to someone with a little experience I just don't get?
(I'm not saying it's wrong - I just don't get it that's all) ?

Here is one example why.


Also, a couple of years ago in May, there was snowfall at the top of the route and Joe got caught up on the summit with two pilgrims who were dallying. He said it quickly became a white-out and he feared for their safety. It can happen quickly!
 

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I'm all for safety etc but having riden this route only a few weeks back I'm struggling to understand how it becomes presumably too dangerous so quickly and where?
Closed to absolute beginners but to someone with a little experience I just don't get?
(I'm not saying it's wrong - I just don't get it that's all) ?
This is a pointless discussion. When there is a speed limit, it is for everyone, even when you think it is ok for you to drive faster. When there is a no entry sign on a road, it is for everyone, even when you think there's no one around and it is ok for you to drive through quickly. When the trail of the Camino Frances from the French-Spanish border onwards is off limits, it is off limits for everyone even when you think it is ok for you to walk.

For those who feel they are unable to accept rules made for the safety of all concerned without exception, there is the threat of financial fines that may really hurt and judicial prosecution.
 
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St James' Way - Self-guided 4-7 day Walking Packages, Reading to Southampton, 110 kms
I'm all for safety etc but having riden this route only a few weeks back I'm struggling to understand how it becomes presumably too dangerous so quickly and where?
Closed to absolute beginners but to someone with a little experience I just don't get?
(I'm not saying it's wrong - I just don't get it that's all) ?

It's also about ensuring that the fire and rescue services can concentrate on their main role throughout the rest of their domain
 
I've translated relevant parts of this year's RESOLUCIÓN 283/2019, which, like many laws, has an introductory part that gives some reasons for it. I've adapted minor terms to make it easier to understand for those who are not very familiar with the details of the local geography. They are actually asking for spreading the content of the resolution.

Walking the Route Napoleon means mastering a difference in elevation of more than 1200 m, given that Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port is located at 154 m above sea level and the Lepoeder pass is located at 1432 m above sea level, in addition to the smaller intermediate differences in elevation along the trail.
To master such a difference in elevation, the pilgrims who wish to tackle the Route Napoleon must have adequate physical preparation, which is not the case for a high percentage of them, as experience has shown. Moreover, a significantly higher physical effort is required when there is snow or in case of other adverse weather conditions; furthermore, the pilgrims must carry appropriate equipment for such situations, and experience has shown that, on many occasions, they did not have appropriate equipment on them or with them.
The Route Napoleon enters Navarre/Spain at a high altitude, namely at 1288 metres above sea level. The Navarrese section of the trail has no escape routes until the Lepoeder pass is reached, i.e. along a length of 5 km from the French-Spanish border to the Lepoeder pass. Continuous measures have been taken to improve signposting and this signposting is regularly checked. Signposting has been done thoroughly and it is only in blizzard conditions that the signposts cannot be followed any more.
However, despite all these measures, interventions by rescue personnel, both professional and voluntary, have still been necessary in this area, in many cases caused by the waning of the pilgrims' physical strength or their lack of information and preparation in view of the harshness of this route. The situation is especially serious in winter, with very difficult conditions for rescue operations, including life-threatening situations for rescue teams, given the terrain and the weather conditions in the area, and serious difficulties for locating pilgrims, getting to pilgrims, and evacuating pilgrims.
The experience of recent years has shown that it is appropriate to maintain the prohibition of walking the Route Napoleon from its entry into Navarre during the winter season, for the sake of greater safety for individuals as well as for professional and voluntary rescue personnel.

Translated with the help of www.DeepL.com/Translator
 
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Tell me about the pilgrims! (??? - My wife, who's Dutch, says it sounds like a bit of sarcasm)
Thanks, I must admit that I still don't really get it ... btw, I see this occasionally on FB groups that I follow: someone suddenly bursts into a foreign language without any obvious reason. My guess is that it has to do with automatic translation features that are now incorporated into online tools, and some posters don't even realise this. I have automatic translation turned off everywhere.
 
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Here we go AGAIN!

Please, for your personal safety and the safety of those who would have to risk their lives to rescue you, JUST FOLLOW THE RULES. In this instance, questioning authority is not productive.

As I said previously, either take the Valcarlos Route, arrange for a taxi to take you to Roncesvalles to start, fly into Pamplona and start from there, or rearrange your dates.

Please let's not keep questioning constituted authority. They are there. They know what local conditions are like, seasonally and actually. The first responders have recovered unknown numbers of frozen solid corpses, and well-broken bodies. I applaud the stiff €12.000 fine. Hope it per person and not per incident.

Let's just cooperate...PRETTY PLEASE?
 
So they adapted their sign again in Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port. Whether this is the most eye-catching informative signage for an increasingly international clientele to get the message across to them that the Napoleon route is closed is another question altogether ...

Winter signage.jpg
 
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I'm all for safety etc but having riden this route only a few weeks back I'm struggling to understand how it becomes presumably too dangerous so quickly and where?
Closed to absolute beginners but to someone with a little experience I just don't get?
(I'm not saying it's wrong - I just don't get it that's all) ?
The weather can change in a second.
The words you saying can't better not said.
 
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So they adapted their sign again in Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port. Whether this is the most eye-catching informative signage for an increasingly international clientele to get the message across to them that the Napoleon route is closed is another question altogether ...

View attachment 66484
It's France , they use the French language . It's the same in every country , they use the Country's language.
In my honest opinion it's not wrong ,
 
Someone suddenly bursts into a foreign language without any obvious reason. My guess is that it has to do with automatic translation features that are now incorporated into online tools, and some posters don't even realise this. I have automatic translation turned off everywhere.
No it doesn't. It just that the vast majority of the visitors of this forum are using a foreign language.
The one or two Dutch on this forum are the only ones that are using the correct language....
 
The focus is on reducing the risk of failure through being well prepared. 2nd ed.
It's France , they use the French language . It's the same in every country , they use the Country's language. In my honest opinion it's not wrong ,
If you want to get your message across you need to ”speak” the language of your target audience. This doesn’t necessarily mean French or English or Dutch or whatever. It can just mean the specific words you use, the way you express your message. How many non-locals who start in SJPP, even when they have some French, know where the Col de Bentarte is or the GR65 or even the voie du Puy? You need to see the world through the eyes of your target audience, not through your own eyes.
 
If you want to get your message across you need to ”speak” the language of your target audience. This doesn’t necessarily mean French or English or Dutch or whatever. It can just mean the specific words you use, the way you express your message. How many non-locals who start in SJPP, even when they have some French, know where the Col de Bentarte is or the GR65 or even the voie du Puy?
@Kathar1na , it says FERMÉ in 4 languages....
 
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We all know what signs meaning "closed" are. If you have to explain it to someone, then perhaps it is the recipient and not the messenger that is at issue.

Pilgrims who ignore closed signs are no different from non-pilgrims that ignore the same signs - and there is nothing disrespectful about having an opinion about it.

As regards using one language or another, I notice the Confraternity's Facebook page has no issue with people switching back and forward in a number of languages. It might be an improvement if it were to happen here as it would allow other pilgrims to comment and give local advice.
 
The one from Galicia (the round) and the one from Castilla & Leon. Individually numbered and made by the same people that make the ones you see on your walk.
I'm all for safety etc but having riden this route only a few weeks back I'm struggling to understand how it becomes presumably too dangerous so quickly and where?

This route can be dangerous at any time of the year, it does not remain ' nice' from one day to the next. I walked it on the 28th October years back, it was a glorious day, I met a couple in Belarado who had walked it two days before me, they had to be rescued of it when the weather changed. Scenarios like that become more likely as you go into winter, and it was exactly because the emergency services were being called out on a regular basis to rescue people who were determined to do " My Camino" that they closed the route in winter.
 
Where is the official statement that documents the 12,000 Euro fine? I could not find that in the documents that have been posted here.


-Paul
 
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Where is the official statement that documents the 12,000 Euro fine? I could not find that in the documents that have been posted here.
It is covered by general laws, such as Ley Foral de Tasas y Precios Públicos de la Administración de la Comunidad Foral de Navarra and similar. Good luck with researching and searching through these legal dispositions in Spanish if you have doubts and need precise verification! I doubt that anyone here is going to bother to do so. The 2019 Resolution that has been posted or linked makes it administratively easier to apply these other laws because it is easier to show that you (generic you) caused an emergency rescue operation through your own negligence. If you walk into an area where access is officially prohibited by law for example and you need to be rescued it is negligence on your part, and that is the legal basis for charging you for the cost of the rescue operation. Similar for fines that may apply.

So there is no need to spell it out for pilgrims in great detail: they are expected to obey the law and if they don't they cannot claim that they didn't know or hadn't read it on the internet in great detail. Ignorantia juris non excusat is an eon old principle that every pilgrim should be familiar with. 🤓
 
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This ruling applies to the Spanish section only - so only half the route. And if I read it correctly, there is a blanket ban on even asking express permission to traverse that section of the route "due to the complexity and difficulty found in its application." So not even worth asking.

Is there a similar ban on the French side. I would have thought not as it is mainly road?
 
Don’t be stupid. Either walk via Valcarlos, or take a taxi and start at Roncesvalles.

You WILL be billed for your rescue from the Napoleon pass Route... if you survive.
You also risk deportation.
 
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I'm all for safety etc but having riden this route only a few weeks back I'm struggling to understand how it becomes presumably too dangerous so quickly and where?
Closed to absolute beginners but to someone with a little experience I just don't get?
(I'm not saying it's wrong - I just don't get it that's all) ?

It can (and often does) snow on the Napoleon Route any time of the year. All it needs is a big Nth Atlantic gale to bring in the cold rain clouds.
 
Is there a similar ban on the French side. I would have thought not as it is mainly road?
On the French side, the road (D428) is closed to traffic during winter (see http://inforoute.le64.fr/# - Route D428 fermée l'hiver). I don't know what this entails but I guess it is closed for general vehicle traffic and may not be served by snow ploughs.

As has been spelled out many times and very clearly: experience has shown that the Spanish section that is prohibited for pilgrims is the danger zone in winter months. That's where exhaustion starts, hypothermia sets in, accidents happen, orientation becomes difficult, and fools don't know how or are no longer able to turn around and go all the way back to SJPP, past the signs that had told them earlier "You must not walk here" ...
 
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Our Atmospheric H30 poncho offers lightness and waterproofness. Easily compressible and made with our Waterproof fabric, its heat-sealed interior seams guarantee its waterproofness. Includes carrying bag.

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So they adapted their sign again in Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port. Whether this is the most eye-catching informative signage for an increasingly international clientele to get the message across to them that the Napoleon route is closed is another question altogether ...

View attachment 66484

Hola @Kathar1na, I think I can understand you point, you would like this sign to also be in English!! (please forgive this assumption.). But given that the area around St Jean has three or four local languages - French; Spanish (Castilian); Basque; and I think Catalan (Barcelona) so asking for a 5th (English) or even a 6th Italian or German is imho a bit too much to ask. Your smart phone would help translate the sign.
 
Hola @Kathar1na, I think I can understand you point, you would like this sign to also be in English!! (please forgive this assumption.). But given that the area around St Jean has three or four local languages - French; Spanish (Castilian); Basque; and I think Catalan (Barcelona) so asking for a 5th (English) or even a 6th Italian or German is imho a bit too much to ask. Your smart phone would help translate the sign.
No, that's not what I want. And I must admit if I had known that my remark would lead to such a long discussion about language choices I would not have made it in the first place. My comment wasn't about words. It was about visual impact; for example but that's just an example, nowadays, it's easy to make signs that use photographic information and other non-verbal information.

For what it's worth, I myself am pretty competent in French, certainly as far as reading comprehension is concerned, and while I probably didn't know where the col de Bentarte was when I went there the first time (I can now pinpoint it on a map in my sleep), I was already pretty familiar with the general course of the Grande Randonnée 65 at the time and les chemins de Saint Jacques de Compostelle. You don't need to know any of this if you come from the four corners of the earth and want to walk in the direction of Roncesvalles on your first day.

Oh, and due to a number of factors in my by now long life, both private and professional, I am quite aware of linguistic issues in various parts of the EU such as multilingual issues, minority language issues, specific language use in a specific territory, extremely high political sensitivity of such issues etc etc etc. Really, quite aware ...
 
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Hola @Kathar1na, I think I can understand you point, you would like this sign to also be in English!! (please forgive this assumption.). But given that the area around St Jean has three or four local languages - French; Spanish (Castilian); Basque; and I think Catalan (Barcelona) so asking for a 5th (English) or even a 6th Italian or German is imho a bit too much to ask. Your smart phone would help translate the sign.
It says 'closed' ... in English.
I think adding Korean script (which I believe is the same written language as Chinese and Japanese) would alleviate some safety concerns.

I don't think the details of what is closed needs more translating, but the winter alternative perhaps needs more clarity. 'Suivre' in a few languages perhaps.

Editted to add: I am incorrect about the script, and thank Vacajoe for bringing my attention to this.
 
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Written Korean uses a vastly different written symbol language then the Chinese and Japanese (which also differ from each other, though share some of the same characters).
 
Written Korean uses a vastly different written symbol language then the Chinese and Japanese (which also differ from each other, though share some of the same characters).
I stand corrected. I recall being in China and a Korean man and a Chinese man communicated with written script. Perhaps there was a lot more going on.

Thanks for educating me.

Editted: I went and did some quick reading about this. Perhaps my memory fails me and it was a Japanese man who communicated in script with the Chinese man, since that seems more probable.
 
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Written Korean uses a vastly different written symbol language then the Chinese and Japanese (which also differ from each other, though share some of the same characters).
Joe is correct. Written Korean is phonetic, rather than pictographic, with 24 letters.

Screenshot_20191125-153428_Firefox.jpg

 
The one from Galicia (the round) and the one from Castilla & Leon. Individually numbered and made by the same people that make the ones you see on your walk.
Hola @Kathar1na - thanks for the explanation. Hey don't worry about "stirring the pot" - it made me think and it made others think, before acting. I walked out of St Jean on May 1, 2017 heading for Valcarlos not the Napoleon that I had promised myself 6 months before. The weather god had brought rain, winds gusting to 80km (50 mph) and a max temp of 8'C (47'F), and being a little older (and maybe wiser) I gave it a miss. Maybe if health permits I will return one day to walk just this small first step on the Camino Frances. Cheers
 
On the French side, the road (D428) is closed to traffic during winter (see http://inforoute.le64.fr/# - Route D428 fermée l'hiver).

I now understand why the Spanish have taken the view (large fine) that they have. Anyone getting to the border must have travelled miles over a closed French road to get to the pass over to Roncesvalles putting both French and Spanish rescuers at risk.
 
I must admit that I am finding some of the replies on this thread rather disconcerting.

Obviously not everyone here agrees, but I am assuming that the local officials know what can happen on their mountain, weather changing for the worse without warning, and further assume that they set closure dates from experience of the probability of horrendous conditions in the winter period - and they are also aware, from experience, just how stupid and unprepared many pilgrims can be (Darwin Awards abound up there!) - so they close the route to save lives .. pilgrim lives and also rescue personnel lives .... good enough for me.

As an aside, the Napoleon route can never be considered to be a traditional pilgrim route, or even a 'real' pilgrim route. To Roncesvalles that would be the main road, Valcarlos route - so, the problem with closing the Napoleon route to save lives is?
 
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€2,-/day will present your project to thousands of visitors each day. All interested in the Camino de Santiago.
On the French side, the road (D428) is closed to traffic during winter (see http://inforoute.le64.fr/# - Route D428 fermée l'hiver). I don't know what this entails but I guess it is closed for general vehicle traffic and may not be served by snow ploughs.

As has been spelled out many times and very clearly: experience has shown that the Spanish section that is prohibited for pilgrims is the danger zone in winter months. That's where exhaustion starts, hypothermia sets in, accidents happen, orientation becomes difficult, and fools don't know how or are no longer able to turn around and go all the way back to SJPP, past the signs that had told them earlier "You must not walk here" ...
Which is why Orrison closes towards the end of October. Last year they even closed early so as to get work done on the albergue before the road officially closed.
 
Which is why Orrison closes towards the end of October. Last year they even closed early so as to get work done on the albergue before the road officially closed.
The main reason why Orisson closes is actually the fact that they never had permission to stay open during the winter months. It was a condition imposed on them when they got their building permission 15 years ago: they are only allowed to operate from the 1st of March to the 30th of October. So they were always closed for four months (and now they close for a month longer). For some reason or other I have always assumed that this was a matter of environmental protection.
 
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This Briton was exceptionally lucky in having survived , no doubt partly due to fast acting Bombadeiros...
Note: It does not say she was a Pilgrim on the upper route, mereley a hiker in the Pyrenees !!

I recommend the OP for posting, as this is most important (every year) :
The winter weather of the Pyrenees is to be respected!
 
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The focus is on reducing the risk of failure through being well prepared. 2nd ed.
Does he reopening of the route always happen on 1st April or is this weather dependent?

Would love to walk it but would never break the rules or ignore official advice. Next year's Camino must be early April or September due to work.
 
The Navarra provincial law closing the route covers a set period. It is not dependent on actual weather conditions at the time. If adverse weather makes the route unsafe then the SJPDP pilgrim office will strongly advise against walking it but I am not aware of any official closures outside the 1 November to 31 March period.
 
Understood. I will check with the pilgrims office at the time.
 
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My understanding is that from Nov 1 - Mar 31, you can be fined for trespassing up to 12,000 Euros if found on the Napoleon route. I haven't hear of anyone actually be fined, but sooner or later someone will be fully prosecuted.


-Paul
 
My understanding is that from Nov 1 - Mar 31, you can be fined for trespassing up to 12,000 Euros if found on the Napoleon route. I haven't hear of anyone actually be fined, but sooner or later someone will be fully prosecuted.
While I was looking for something totally different today, I happened to come across a website that has details on this. Someone had asked about a source earlier. So here is the reference to the laws on which fines and recovery of the costs for rescue are based:

Los incumplimientos de esta medida [= winter closure of the Route Napoleon on Spanish territory] serán sancionados como infracciones leves según los artículos 60 y 61 de la Ley Foral 8/2005, de 1 de julio, de Protección Civil y Atención de Emergencias de Navarra. Las infracciones le permiten ser sancionadas con multas de hasta 12.000 euros. Y, además, en caso de rescate, se les cobrará el mismo acuerdo con el artículo 51 bis de Ley Foral 7/2001, de 27 de marzo, de Tasas y Precios Públicos de la Administración de la Comunidad foral de Navarra y de sus organismos autónomos.
 
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