Happy new year!
I will start in Cadiz earlier than you, and will be further up north when we come to Holy Week/Easter. The whole Holy Week ending up on Easter Sunday is big in Sevilla, so book ahead if you are there that week. If it can help you with your planning, here are the names on the two Sundays. Palm Sunday: Domingo de Ramos. Easter Sunday: Domingo de Resurrección. If you want an impression of what is going on in Spanish cities during this week, use You Tube and write “Semana Santa” or Pascua”. If you combine this with the city names, you will find that there are processions in almost every place you pass through during this week. If you google this words combined with city names, you can also find some programs for the week.
I walked Camino France at Easter in 2007, and my best memory from this week is not the big processions in Logroño and Nájera, but the mass and procession in a tiny little village with ten houses, 40 people and a church on Easter Sunday. So this time I know that I will find processions on most of the places where I pass that week, and the small ones tell my something about the local history of this traditions. Those will be more important for me to experience than the big once in Sevilla, Merida, Salamanca and Zamora. I was in Pamplona on Domingo de Ramos, and this day seemed to be sort of “the childrens day”. Hispanics, am I right?
I tell you all this because may be you should not only consider the possibility of many walkers, but also the possibility of getting an impression of Spanish Easter. I really look forward to just that now.
Generally I have not booked ahead, but have booked in Merida, which is also an important place at Easter.
My husband and I have walked Via de la Plata in parts during the two weeks after Easter for some years, and have experienced everything from being almost alone to full albergues. I remember that we once walked a couple of really long stretches to get away from a bulge with 30-40 people at the albergues. Having done that, we then were almost alone at night. So what will be or will not be, is not easy to tell. If you end up in a bulge, it may be very concentrated and a day forth or behind you can walk almost alone.
So, there will be several walkers from the forum on Via de la Plata this spring, but may be none of us will meet any of the others.
Bjørg
P.S.: If you find my English is not good, remember that some of us are writing a foreign language when we write on this forum.