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Albergue Elias Valina in Canfranc open April 16, 2024

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Adelina said:
Happy to hear it! This is a beautiful albergue in a beautiful setting! Very much enjoyed being hospitalera there last year.
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Hello Adelina. I would be interested in your experience. I am on my way to act as hospitalera in Ponferrada. I worked in Porto last year too in Peregrinos do Porto and loved it. I am a Canadian ( Fluent in French) and would like to know a bit more about this posting for possible future consideration. Thanks Isobel Cunningham
 
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lt56ny said:
I should be starting right around October 15. Hope I see you.
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I will be there from the 15th, so might see you again. You still owe me that beer you promised last time you came through!!
 
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Thinking of staying in Elias Valina albergue in early October.
My initial plan was to walk Oloron to P. la Reina, but now with the flood damage near Urdos its not possible to walk that part.
Now i'm going to walk the Baztan first, then bus from Pamplona - Jaca on same day then bus to Canfranc.
Going by the bus timetables it would be approx 8pm before i get to Canfranc.
It's a bit late to arrive in albergue though, other option is to stay in Jaca, bus to Somport next morning, then walk back to Jaca. That would mean staying both nights in Jaca.
Or else just stay in Jaca and start from there next morning, missing out on the Somport- Jaca stage!
 
Some one should be there at Canfranc Some hospitaleros may take issue with the fact you did not arrive on foot. I wouldnt, but some of the Spaniards we have worked with are strict about getting to the albergue by foot and not bus. I don't know who is working then. Maybe @Flog?
 
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AML said:
other option is to stay in Jaca, bus to Somport next morning, then walk back to Jaca. That would mean staying both nights in Jaca.
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That's what most pilgrims do. In fact, the hospitalera in Jaca Municipal gets upset if you want to start walking to Santiago without first taking a bus to Somport. She tells you to stay two nights, leave all your stuff at the albergue, and walk from Somport with a day backpack. No one will touch your stuff that you leave on your bed.

At least that was my prepandemic experience.

Oh, I just remembered one more thing: if you go to the tourist office in Jaca, they have a stamp for Jaca, but also for Somport, in case you couldn't get a stamp up there. Just tell them that you have just walked from Somport to Jaca - no cheating - and you will get two stamps in your credencial
 
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I know one hospitalero who took issue with someone wanting to leave a pack and walk from further back and spend a second night at Canfranc. It really depends on the rules in the community. We were told to watch which way a pilgrim approaches as from one way may mean the bus stop.
 
@Tortilla Thanks, thats good to know that its common enough to stay 2 nights in Jaca albergue. Will prob do that.
@J Willhaus I never thought taking a bus to begin a Camino may be frowned upon. During a Camino or skipping stages with a bus would be a different matter though.
I would have intended walking to Canfranc if the way up to Somport was open.
 

At Canfranc, they don't take reservations as such, but if you plan to arrive there by bus at 8pm, you should phone ahead to check if it's ok with them, and they should be fine with that. You could spend your first night there, then take the early bus up to Somport to walk back down, stopping at Canfanc Estacion for breakfast (theres a decent enough bar, right opposite the station) and on to Jaca. It would be a real shame to miss out on those first few kilometres down from Somport, surrounded by the towering peaks of the pyrenees if you started out from Jaca. From Canfranc Pueblo, there's a morning bus up to Somport at 7:07 and another at 8:44.

Edit: The hospis at Canfranc might allow you to leave your pack there and walk down from Somport without it, picking it up a couple of hours later when you pass... ask!
 
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It is a high tourism area and this albergue is only for pilgrims. We got a lot of hikers wanting a cheap place to stay when we were there.
 
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AML said:
Thinking of staying in Elias Valina albergue in early October.
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I was informed earlier today that Canfranc will now close early this year, around the 6th of October. This appears to be mainly due to the route in from France being blocked at Urdos and the significant drop in pilgrim numbers as a result (as mentioned in other threads), so you may need to plan around this..
 
Definitely walk from Somport, whether that means Java for two nights, or Canfranc Pueblo and then up, or whatever. It’s a beautiful section and shouldn’t be missed.
 
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Thanks for sharing this.
Actually 6th october is the day i'm planning to bus from Pamplona to Jaca, if all goes well on the Baztan first.
I'll call Canfranc albergue when i get to Jaca to see if still open. Otherwise stay in Jaca 2 nights.
 
J Willhaus said:
We were told to watch which way a pilgrim approaches as from one way may mean the bus stop.
Click to expand...

The difference in hospitality in Jaca and Canfranc is striking.
And they both are municipal albergues.
At albergue de Peregrinos de Jaca, they are very happy if you arrive by bus from Pamplona and insist that you leave your backpack when you go to Somport (probably because they don't want you to spend the second night somewhere else, so that they keep the money for the two-night's stay in that albergue).
In Canfranc pueblo (which is about an hour's walk from the Canfranc "city", where the cool train station is), they ask the hospitaleros to watch from which direction you come to the albergue, so that they can decide whether you qualify as a pilgrim or as a tourist (can I even say that without breaking forum rule #3?)

Just because of that, I would stay as far away from the albergue in Canfranc "Pueblo" as I could. I passed it on my way from Somport to Jaca. It's in the middle of nowhere. It's a pueblo of three houses and a dog. If the only bar is closed you are doomed.
 
Remember, we don't make the rules. We just have to abide by them. It is in a very touristy area and it is attractive to people who are not pilgrims, but area hikers. We would fill up with hikers looking for a cheap or "free" space and no room for pilgrims if the rules were different.
 
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You know, if I were a hospitalero at Canfranc and someone came and said, "I just walked all the way from Bayonne to Pamplona across the Baztan region, now I came here to walk more", I would probably say, are you sure you know where Santiago is, Pilgrim? From Pamplona you were supposed to go west, not take a bus to come here! You are clearly a Tourigrino!

Then I would let them in
 
If you have a credential and a plausible explanation, no problem. When we were there last in 2022, there was discussion among the city officials about staying the night, taking the bus to Somport and then hiking down and staying a second night or just picking up your pack and whether this should be allowed. The early bus was a new addition. @Flog has been there more recently and might comment.
 
Before the pandemic, I used to come and walk three Caminos one after another, taking buses between them: Basque Camino from Irún to Santo Domingo, Baztán from Bayonne to Trinidad de Arre and Aragonés from Somport to Puente de la Reina. But I wouldn't stay in donativos, because I myself didn't feel much like a pilgrim, since I didn't plan to go to Santiago at all. I think that people who do something like that should be a bit more aware of what they are doing.
I'm actually glad that in Spain hospitaleros are not so politically correct as this forum is and sometimes tell people where they belong.
 
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The above statements are untrue, disingenuous and inaccurate.. and in that order.
 
And this, more nonsense:


Did it occur to you that the hospitaleros in Jaca, rather than trying to part you with your money, might have had your best interests at heart, by offering to mind your pack to make your journey easier for you.. by saving you dragging it all the way up to Somport and back?
 
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