Interesting to see Albergue A Fonte in Santiago is on the list. This used to be Acuario a few years ago, which was practically the only place I stayed in Santiago in the 2010s. Some of you may remember it - lots of booths of beds covered in hippy drapes and with more eastern style drapes hanging from the ceilings. A total fire hazard made even more so when some scary beardy mystic was invited to perform the Quemada ritual... For better or worse, it seemed to be a magnet for eccentric French pilgrims.
Back in 2011-16 there were far fewer albergues in the centre of Santiago and hardly any of those were open in the winter months - Acuario was. It's about 10-15 mins outside the old town on the CF route after San Lazaro, when you branch off onto Rua do Valiño. There's a huge rounded block of concrete flats on your left. You will have walked past it without seeing it as the albergue is one of the ground floor flats hidden from view by the steep slope - there are a lot of steps to get down there. I actually walked out of the old town one evening last February just to visit it, to feed my nostalgia, but it was dark, silent and all closed up.
During the years I knew it, it expanded to an adjacent flat and that element was modern. From the A Fonte pics it looks like the rest has now been modernised too.
Apart from a romantic like me (but with more cash) I wonder whether anyone will see it as a viable prospect these days, as there are so many more options now - all so much closer to the centre and the cathedral. On the other hand we've likely all stayed at albergues that probably shouldn't work, but somehow through the benign energy and focus of their owners/managers they really do.
