Bed situation Ponferrada to Santiago "Just fine"

[ivar]

I had a couple in today picking up a parcel that had walked from Ponferrada and arrived in Santiago yesterday. I asked them if they had any problems finding a place to sleep...

"No it was fine, we did not have any problems"... was the response I got.

...they might have walked behind one wave and in front of another, but I just wanted to point out that not everyone is having a bad experience finding a place to sleep on the Frances.

Buen Camino!
Ivar

 

[SYates]

Thanks for posting that, good to hear! SY

 

[vicky mc]

I had a couple in today picking up a parcel that had walked from Ponferrada and arrived in Santiago yesterday. I asked them if they had any problems finding a place to sleep...

"No it was fine, we did not have any problems"... was the response I got.

...they might have walked behind one wave and in front of another, but I just wanted to point out that not everyone is having a bad experience finding a place to sleep on the Frances.

Buen Camino!
Ivar

Glad to hear this as I'm getting a bit anxious I start my Camino next week and was getting worried about beds etc thinking I may end up sleeping against a wall with the sheep

 

[koilife]

Glad to hear this as I'm getting a bit anxious I start my Camino next week and was getting worried about beds etc thinking I may end up sleeping against a wall with the sheep

You don't need a bed race for that, just a light constitution and 2 euro bottle of vino . . .

 

[minaleigh]

Glad to hear this as I'm getting a bit anxious I start my Camino next week and was getting worried about beds etc thinking I may end up sleeping against a wall with the sheep

Same here. We leave from Roncesvalles on May 31st, and I'm getting nervous because of the posts about crowds... But there is literally no other time my friend and I can go.

 

[long trails]

I start in 4 days, from St Jean. Excited, but a little alarmed by the many reports of overcrowding. I will do my best to report back with my experences.

 

[Fletchonides]

Many thanks Ivar,
good to get some rebalancing information.
We are off next Thursday (26th) for 9 days starting in Pamplona. Can't wait.

 

[AcrossTheWater3008]

Hey, so glad the overcrowding appears to be easing!

Buen Camino all!

 

[jirit]

Hey, so glad the overcrowding appears to be easing!

Buen Camino all!

As I suggested in one my previous posts, in my opinion things settled down from mid May going into June

Mid March through to mid May is peak season for many non European pilgrims.

The summer rush will kick in later as European start to take their vacation

 

[movinmaggie]

I wonder, was this couple staying in Albergues or Pensions/hotels?

 

[jennie]

I start in 4 days, from St Jean. Excited, but a little alarmed by the many reports of overcrowding. I will do my best to report back with my experences.

please do try to report back,it would be great to hear,but most importantly enjoy your self,

 

[tpmchugh]

I have a friend walking at the minute, currently in León. Apart from sleeping in a school hall on a cardboard mat in Zubiri she has had a bed every night. Another friend just started from Burgos also having no problems although there was not a bed to be had in Hornillos so he just moved on and got a bed in Hontanas. They are both walking from mid stage to mid stage according to Brierley. Hopefully it will be the same when I set off at the end of August

 

[Deleted member 3000]

Every day is unique!

Daily arrivals in Santiago are up to 1500 a day. Follow previous advice and you will be fine. Insist that the Camino conform to you and you may be miserable. It always provides a way, but maybe not the way you planned.

 

[koilife]

Did anyone capture the Saturday and Sunday arrival numbers? With last week's weekday numbers cresting 1000 all week, I'd expect the weekend numbers to have pushed past 1600. I figure it's about time for arrival of the big surge that caused all the bed race threads earlier this month.

 

[koilife]

I did not capture the numbers for Saturday and Sunday (22-23 May 2016) but I found them in various web caches. They don't look unusually high:

Fri: 1331
Sat: 1323
Sun: 1275
Mon: 1063
Tue: 1017
Wed: 1143

Thanks for those numbers.

Also, the number of people claiming a Compostela does not allow to find out how many walked without interruption and how many walked over several separate periods of time. This month's apparently big wave from SJPdP may spread out over several years.

Agreed on the spreading across multiple years, but the surge earlier this month on the front half of the CF seems to have been atypically concentrated, and I tend to think section walkers would not be the primary cause of a singular and highly localized surge (then again, perhaps it wasn't a localized surge but a localized shortage of beds . . . )

I'm surprised that the Friday through Sunday numbers are that low relative to the rest of the week, suggesting to me that the week-long Sarria volumes are also lower percentage of total arrivals than in the past compared to those coming from greater distances (which would tend to produce a more even distribution across the entire week). Possibly, there's something about the Spanish school year that hasn't let loose the big Spanish Sarria-SdC volumes. Or, possibly, there has been an material increase as a percentage of total pilgrims in those not seeking the compostella (probably inevitable given the increasing secularization of the camino and society in general).

All this is rather like being an ant looking a single fallen tree and trying to understand the entire forest.