Foncebadón haunted?

[hikingpal]

Hello, everyone. My husband and I walked the Camino Frances last summer, and stayed in a lovely pensión in Foncebadón. The next day we talked to a man who claimed that Foncebadón was "really haunted."

We enjoyed our time in Foncebadón and never felt unsafe or creeped out there. I'm just curious if anyone has any insight on this topic. Is Foncebadón actually claimed to be haunted?

 

[SYates]

Lol, not at all! I did several stints there as a hospitalera (in the church albergue). Most likely this rumours comes from Paulo Coehlo's (in)famous book about his 'pilgrimage'.

Don't worry, it is a lovely place! Buen Camino, SY

 

[dougfitz]

Well, it might once have qualified as a ghost town, but seems quite alive with quite real people these days.

 

[SYates]

Oh, forgot to add:

Welcome to the forum!!!

BC SY

 

[november_moon]

I loved that town. I had one of the best afternoons/evenings of the Camino there And I wouldn't be surprised to learn that there are ghosts there. We wandered around town in the afternoon - poking around the outsides of some of the abandoned buildings and sat out by a small pond with our books. It felt a little like some of the dearly departed were still hanging around. Or maybe it was just a combination of the emptiness and unsettled weather. Who knows?

 

[jsalt]

Is Foncebadón actually claimed to be haunted?

No, no ghosts.
Packs of wild dogs though . . . .

 

[tyrrek]

I saw a horse there, but no headless horseman unfortunately.

 

[Devon Mike]

On my first Camino as I arrived in Foncebadon and walked up the main street surrounded by the derelict buildings, I felt the spiritual presence of the residents from decades ago before the village was abandoned. I spoke with a Spanish couple later that day who also had the same feeling.

This was not the only time I have had that experience on the Camino Frances. Another truly spiritual feeling was when I sat in the small Chapel in the grounds of the Albergue San Nicholas de Flue in Ponferrada. I was on my own there but did not feel alone. When I spoke to one of the Hospitaleras about it, she told me the Chapel had been built on Ponferrada's ancient cemetery, something I had not known. So for me it was the obvious reason for my awareness of the spiritual presence there.

 

[Anemone del Camino]

Before I walked my first C., I had seen ohotos and read commentary about abandonned villages and the strange feeling they gave.

I am still looking for my first one...

As for haunted? Not any more than any other place?

 

[Felipe]

Haunted villages? Not to my knowledge.
Ghost towns? Many. Especially in the meseta, where concentration of property and mechanization of agriculture drove peasants off the land and into the cities. You can cross a village without seeing a soul, hearing the laughter of a child, even the noise of a TV. In the bars you find old people talking about past times.
Only in vacations some families came back from cities.

 

[Anemone del Camino]

Haunted villages? Not to my knowledge.
Ghost towns? Many. Especially in the meseta, where concentration of property and mechanization of agriculture drove peasants off the land and into the cities. You can cross a village without seeing a soul, hearing the laughter of a child, even the noise of a TV. In the bars you find old people talking about past times.
Only in vacations some families came back from cities.

Really? Where? Never walked through one. Super quiet ues, but never abandonned.

 

[domigee]

No, no ghosts.
Packs of wild dogs though . . . .

If there are ghosts, they are nice ghosts Lovely place and coming back to life. How wonderful.
Didn't see wild dogs though
A few goats.... oh and one chicken

 

[nycwalking]

Haunted! Haunted! Of course. It is HAUNTED by the spirit of terror left behind by every pilgrim who read Shirley and Paulo prior to limping to Foncebadon crippled by fear of what awaited them. Not to mention the spirits of pissed off Rexs and Princesses who resent being used as "kibble and bits" fodder to vend sensationalistic tomes.
Buen camino.

 

[Felipe]

Hontanas is a good candidate for a haunted village. We saw the signpost "Welcome to Hontanas" but there was nothing, not a single house or barnyard. We started to joke that it was inhabited by ghosts, and that after a while we would see another signpost: "You are leaving Hontanas".
The answer, obviously, is that the village is in a hollow, in the bottom of a muddy valley -an odd place, really. There was not a person in sight, only houses with closed doors and some boarded windows. The wind whistled through the maze of old streets. It was misty and cold. Quite eery, really.
But the bar was warm, noisy and welcoming, with a throng of pilgrims and some old local people.

 

[Robo]

Hello, everyone. My husband and I walked the Camino Frances last summer, and stayed in a lovely pensión in Foncebadón. The next day we talked to a man who claimed that Foncebadón was "really haunted."

We enjoyed our time in Foncebadón and never felt unsafe or creeped out there. I'm just curious if anyone has any insight on this topic. Is Foncebadón actually claimed to be haunted?

Isn't everywhere 'haunted' to some degree.
Assuming people have died at most locations around the World....

Our house certainly is. Built in 1880, the wife of the original builder is still here

We call her Big Mamma. She looks after the place when we are not here.

 

[HedaP]

Hmmm maybe but if so the fantasmas are friendly and very quiet. I walked early in the season and Foncebadón was yet another place where I was the absolutely only person in an accommodation with no on site hosts. I stayed in the pension next to the tienda. (I needed a big towel night as was still carrying the camino cough.) It was an extremely old building that had been renovated. Slept soundly.
PS Loved staying at Foncebadón and would highly recommend it. Didn't see any wild dogs but there was a very sweet little donkey wandering up and down the main street.

 

[tomnorth]

Could be...

 

[Sarah80]

Hello, everyone. My husband and I walked the Camino Frances last summer, and stayed in a lovely pensión in Foncebadón. The next day we talked to a man who claimed that Foncebadón was "really haunted."

We enjoyed our time in Foncebadón and never felt unsafe or creeped out there. I'm just curious if anyone has any insight on this topic. Is Foncebadón actually claimed to be haunted?

Brilliant! I am at Foncebadon as I type this in the Posada del Druida. The pilgrim menu looks a bit scary but everything else has been fine. If anything goes bump In the night I'll let you know... if I'm still alive to tell the tale

 

[peter obrien]

Hello, everyone. My husband and I walked the Camino Frances last summer, and stayed in a lovely pensión in Foncebadón. The next day we talked to a man who claimed that Foncebadón was "really haunted."

We enjoyed our time in Foncebadón and never felt unsafe or creeped out there. I'm just curious if anyone has any insight on this topic. Is Foncebadón actually claimed to be haunted?

I did not stay in Foncebadon But 30 minutes out of Foncebadon i found bear tracks on the trail which i showed to several people this was in January 2017 Peter Obrien

 

[arturo garcia]

Foncebadon is a typical small rural town of Spain , with some very old rural houses that were inhabited by past generations. New generations wants to live more in the cities. In both places we will see and feel mostly what we carry inside of us.

 

[Giselleontour]

I did not stay in Foncebadon But 30 minutes out of Foncebadon i found bear tracks on the trail which i showed to several people this was in January 2017 Peter Obrien

Do you have a picture of it?

 

[SYates]

I did not stay in Foncebadon But 30 minutes out of Foncebadon i found bear tracks on the trail which i showed to several people this was in January 2017 Peter Obrien

Those were, most likely made by a mastiff leones (livestock guardian dog that can grow rather large) The 100+ brown bears in SPain live mainly in the Cantabrian Mountains/Picos de Europa. Buen Camino sin osos, SY

 

[Tincatinker]

Leones and tigers and bears, Leones and Tigers and Bears, Follow the yellow brick thing etc ad nauseum

 

[owms2323]

Hontanas is a good candidate for a haunted village. We saw the signpost "Welcome to Hontanas" but there was nothing, not a single house or barnyard. We started to joke that it was inhabited by ghosts, and that after a while we would see another signpost: "You are leaving Hontanas".
The answer, obviously, is that the village is in a hollow, in the bottom of a muddy valley -an odd place, really. There was not a person in sight, only houses with closed doors and some boarded windows. The wind whistled through the maze of old streets. It was misty and cold. Quite eery, really.
But the bar was warm, noisy and welcoming, with a throng of pilgrims and some old local people.

When was that? Just stayed at St Brigidas in Hontanas last April. It was one of the highlights of my 2nd CF

 

[Felipe]

When was that? Just stayed at St Brigidas in Hontanas last April. It was one of the highlights of my 2nd CF

Mid-April, 2008. I stayed in albergue El Puntido; it was good.
Don't misunderstand me: I like quiet, melancholic towns.
I think these villages come back to life and are much more active when the good weather comes.
When we were there, the paths were so muddy in some sections that we could have given swimfins a good use. Cyclists had to dismount, it was imposible to them.

 

[Anemone del Camino]

Was Foncebadon ever a "real" village? With many streets, shops, a church, etc.? If so, how far back in history does one have to go back to experience that?

All I remember of it is a muddy road with a few stone buildings on each side, and the tall wall left over from what ised to be a pilgrim hospital.

Thank you.

 

[november_moon]

I don't think it was ever a big village, but it had some side streets at one time. We poked around and saw foundations for quite a few buildings. And if you look at the village on Google Maps Satellite view, you can see the outlines of foundations of a bunch of buildings.

 

[KinkyOne]

...Most likely this rumours comes from Paulo Coehlo's (in)famous book about his 'pilgrimage'...

Yes, that was a "pilgrimage"
Confirmed by Acacio in Viloria de Rioja (https://www.gronze.com/castilla-y-leon/burgos/viloria-rioja/refugio-acacio-e-orietta). And Coelho was the godfather of this albergue
Just to add, Acacio and Orietta are true (winter) pilgrims.

 

[nycwalking]

Leones and tigers and bears, Leones and Tigers and Bears, Follow the yellow brick thing etc ad nauseum

Where are the"oh my(s)"?

 

[Deleted member 3000]

claimed that Foncebadón was "really haunted."

It can be if you want it to be.

 

[Iris la peregrina]

Hello, everyone. My husband and I walked the Camino Frances last summer, and stayed in a lovely pensión in Foncebadón. The next day we talked to a man who claimed that Foncebadón was "really haunted."

We enjoyed our time in Foncebadón and never felt unsafe or creeped out there. I'm just curious if anyone has any insight on this topic. Is Foncebadón actually claimed to be haunted?

Just seeing this now. I stayed in Foncebadon on my Camino. During my stay there I noticed how strangely lethargic the animals seemed…That night, while sleeping on the floor of a big room with many other pilgrims…I woke up in the wee hours of the morning and began to feel strangely anxious. I couldn’t shake it. Also, I heard the animals outside and they seemed lively, making sounds, so unlike earlier in the day. I could not go to sleep and stayed in a strange state of alertness the rest of the night. I did feel creeped out. I spoke about this at breakfast and the owner of the place I stayed told me that the town was haunted and that I must have sensed it. It was a really strange experience—I was sensitive to it and aware.