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Camiño Finisterre Bed bug warning!

meni

New Member
Time of past OR future Camino
April/May (2019)
There is a bad infestation of bed bugs in the Municipal (Xunta) Albergue in Negreira. I stayed there last night and we found them on the walls, crawling behind skirting boards, on the mattresses....and in the morning all over our cloths and backpacks! 😫
 
The focus is on reducing the risk of failure through being well prepared. 2nd ed.
Yikes! I hope you washed everything in hot water and dried it in a hot dryer. There are plenty of threads here on how to deal with it so you don't carry them home! One of my clients spent over $2000 getting rid of bedbugs after a trip to Asia!
 
Ideal sleeping bag liner whether we want to add a thermal plus to our bag, or if we want to use it alone to sleep in shelters or hostels. Thanks to its mummy shape, it adapts perfectly to our body.

€46,-
Ideal sleeping bag liner whether we want to add a thermal plus to our bag, or if we want to use it alone to sleep in shelters or hostels. Thanks to its mummy shape, it adapts perfectly to our body.

€46,-
sorry to hear this I spray my back pack, sleeping bag and a fit sheet with Permetherin and have not had problems. I have had people above me below me and beside me with bed bugs but this spray has kept me safe.
My story has been the same as yours so far on five caminos.
I'll be staying in Negreira in May and I'll be avoiding that place.
 
sorry to hear this I spray my back pack, sleeping bag and a fit sheet with Permetherin and have not had problems. I have had people above me below me and beside me with bed bugs but this spray has kept me safe.
I always spray everything, too, but still was bitten in Mansilla de las Mulas.... my last day, too!
 
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 at Madrid airport right now on my way to Italy trying to deal with it (I’ve found 3 HUGE ones on the outside of my backpack). Incredible that it happened on my last day! 😢
I hope you didn't go into a busy transportation hub with a bunch of infected gear.
 
The problem is not just on the Finesterre Route. A friend just finished the Frances. To start with, she got bitten from head to toe on the Qatar flight to Barcelona. Desinfected her stuff, then the problem continued all along the Frances. Even in new albergue with pristine bedding, they were crawling all over the sheets on beds....is this a bad year, end of season, worldwide exponential explosion????
 
My story has been the same as yours so far on five caminos.
I'll be staying in Negreira in May and I'll be avoiding that place.

It should be clear by then. The Xunta Alberues seem pretty good at clearing infestations. I have stayed there many times and it was fine.

When people report infestations at albergues, if run correctly, the albergue will clear the infestation pronto. No need to avoid at a later date. And an infestation can appear anywhere, including Paradors. Always worth checking before staying the night though!

Davey
 
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It should be clear by then. The Xunta Alberues seem pretty good at clearing infestations. I have stayed there many times and it was fine.

When people report infestations at albergues, if run correctly, the albergue will clear the infestation pronto. No need to avoid at a later date. And an infestation can appear anywhere, including Paradors. Always worth checking before staying the night though!

Davey
Davey, I normally agree with you, but the OP indicated the facility was practically swarming with bedbugs. It's hard to believe they were staying on top of the problem with such a huge outbreak.
Yes, I am aware that even the finest hotels around the world can house those little "buggers"!
 
We bought the darn things home on our last trip to Spain. Staying in 4 and 5 star hotels.
So having experienced the huge cost of getting rid of the tiny offenders we will be being particularly careful. We bought a hot bag that everything will go straight in on our return home (it wont be coming i the house until its been treated) and I will be washing things a on a hot wash as often as possible... probably a good reason to use cotton, nylon and polyester clothing and not your best expensive merino.
Keep bags off the floor, seal it up, don't drop dirty clothing on the floor..apparently they love nothing better.
However we slept in some really awful looking beds on the El Norte a couple of years back and had no problem at all.
I don't know about Permethrin and its effects on bed bugs, but its been well talked about on here. We used it on last years 5 month Te Araroa hike in NZ and did not have any ill effects.
The cost involved in eradicating them is substantial and stressful. I can advise you that you don't want them in your house.
Bites are usually in a straight (ish) line and come in groups..Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner. If you get bites you've possibly got them in your gear. A Hot tumble dryer is supposedly effective. But Id do a hot wash as well to be n the safe side. Be like the old Levis advert?
 
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Also just because you didn't receive bites doesn't necessarily mean all the proper precautions are what is preventing them. Bed bugs dont like all people. Consider yourself lucky if you're one of those! Also some people get bitten but show no reaction to bites.
 
Ideal sleeping bag liner whether we want to add a thermal plus to our bag, or if we want to use it alone to sleep in shelters or hostels. Thanks to its mummy shape, it adapts perfectly to our body.

€46,-
We bought the darn things home on our last trip to Spain. Staying in 4 and 5 star hotels.
So having experienced the huge cost of getting rid of the tiny offenders we will be being particularly careful. We bought a hot bag that everything will go straight in on our return home (it wont be coming i the house until its been treated) and I will be washing things a on a hot wash as often as possible... probably a good reason to use cotton, nylon and polyester clothing and not your best expensive merino.
Keep bags off the floor, seal it up, don't drop dirty clothing on the floor..apparently they love nothing better.
However we slept in some really awful looking beds on the El Norte a couple of years back and had no problem at all.
I don't know about Permethrin and its effects on bed bugs, but its been well talked about on here. We used it on last years 5 month Te Araroa hike in NZ and did not have any ill effects.
The cost involved in eradicating them is substantial and stressful. I can advise you that you don't want them in your house.
Bites are usually in a straight (ish) line and come in groups..Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner. If you get bites you've possibly got them in your gear. A Hot tumble dryer is supposedly effective. But Id do a hot wash as well to be n the safe side. Be like the old Levis advert?
My worst nightmare!
 
I can confirm that the bedbug issue at the Municipal (Xunta) Albergue in Negreira is still out of control.

I took precautions and put my backpack sealed up and far, far away from the beds. I tried to warn the other pilgrims to do the same, but they did not listen to me. I fear they will be carrying little hitchhikers along to subsequent Albergues.

When I flicked on the lights in the morning I saw several bedbugs on different beds. I am fairly confident that all beds are infected there.

What angered me the most was the indifference of some pilgrims. One fellow straight out said he didn’t care if he got bitten, or if he carried the bugs onto the next place.
 
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... We bought a hot bag that everything will go straight in on our return home (it wont be coming i the house until its been treated) and I will be washing things a on a hot wash as often as possible... probably a good reason to use cotton, nylon and polyester clothing and not your best expensive merino.
...
Here is a resource of SYates:

Quote: What kills begbugs?
• 30min of 45C/113F kill 100% of bed bugs and eggs
• 72hours of -18C/-0.4F kill 100% of bed bugs and eggs
So at home where you have got enough time you can freeze your clothes as well... especially the clothes that cannot be washed and dried very hot.
 
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Get a spanish phone number with Airalo. eSim, so no physical SIM card. Easy to use app to add more funds if needed.
I’m at Madrid airport right now on my way to Italy trying to deal with it (I’ve found 3 HUGE ones on the outside of my backpack). Incredible that it happened on my last day! 😢

Are you really sure that they are bed bugs??? Because bed bugs aren't huge. Unfed they have the size of an apple seed and are slim. Fed they have still the same size, but are 'rounder'. Also, they don't come out in daylight normally, they are nocturnal! Do you have a photo of them?

BC SY
 
Are you really sure that they are bed bugs??? Because bed bugs aren't huge. Unfed they have the size of an apple seed and are slim. Fed they have still the same size, but are 'rounder'. Also, they don't come out in daylight normally, they are nocturnal! Do you have a photo of them?

BC SY
I don't know about photos, but you can see them in Sara Dhooma's video of that particular stage of her journey.
 
Get a spanish phone number with Airalo. eSim, so no physical SIM card. Easy to use app to add more funds if needed.
Can confirm as of 13th December the bed bug issue is still out of control. The room to the right of the stairs seems to be infested, at least 5 out of 8 beds in that room. Some people left at 2am in the morning they were being eaten so badly. I personally found them on my stuff (even though treated and never touching the bed) and bed covering in the morning, have never seen bed bugs so big, squashed one and ended up with blood all over the disposable mattress covering. Then lifted the pillow and found a bunch more. I’ve had other albergue’s in the days since see the ‘Negreira Municipal’ stamp and ask me multiple times if I’ve cleaned all my stuff because they are well aware of it. Also seems to be an elderly man living in the Accessible dorm room downstairs, as per a google review from weeks ago this doesn’t seem to be a new thing, slightly disconcerting when you’ve been in the Albergue for hours and a disheveled man in his pj’s appears in the kitchen out of nowhere.
 
I personally found them on my stuff (even though treated and never touching the bed)
I'm guessing that you mean that it was treated with Permethrin?
Permethrin doesn't repel bed bugs, or kill them on contact. However, it will kill them over time, like an hour or two. That's why I treat my sleep gear, backpack and all of my cloth stuff sacks with permethrin. I may get bitten (and I have in the past), but I figure that if they get inside my pack with everything treated with permethrin they won't be coming out alive. I don't want to be that person who is spreading bed bugs from albergue to albergue, and I definitely don't want to bring them home! And if I suspect that I have been exposed to bed bugs I take the time to put everything that can take the heat into a hot dryer for half an hour.
This video shows how bed bugs die when exposed to permethrin treated fabric.

 
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Anyone stayed here in the last week or so? What's the situation? I may be passing through Negreira in a couple of weeks time.
 
I am carrying a mini ultraviolet flashlight and plan to inspect our bunks before we even take our packs off. Hoping that will be adequate, as I puff up like a blowfish with most insect bites! ...
 
Get a spanish phone number with Airalo. eSim, so no physical SIM card. Easy to use app to add more funds if needed.
There is a bad infestation of bed bugs in the Municipal (Xunta) Albergue in Negreira. I stayed there last night and we found them on the walls, crawling behind skirting boards, on the mattresses....and in the morning all over our cloths and backpacks! 😫
where is this place and on what Camino?
 

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