Fuente de Cantos, Zafra at Easter. 10 day Camino.

[Andrewere]

I don't usually book ahead but given the recent Albergue closures and the fact that we will be walking during the Easter period it's probably sensible.

As far as I know the Albergue Turisticos that have closed are Fuente de Cantos, Zafra, Puebla de Sancho Perez and Torremejia

Leaving Sevilla on April 1st, we'll be in Fuente de Cantos around Thu. 5th April, Zafra Easter Friday, Torremejia Sat. etc.

So far I found Apartmentos Rurales Calle Llerna and Hotel la Fabrica in Fuente, with the option of walking another 6k to the Albergue Juvenil Calzadilla de los Barros.

I see Zafra has quite a few options, not so many in Torremejia and although we would like to stay in albergue type accommodation with other pilgrims I guess this might not now be possible.

Does anyone have information/experience on possible alternatives.

When we're walking I'll post info here as I see there are several people from the forum who will be there just after us.

Andrew.

 

[sulu]

Hi aeveling!
I'll be ahead of you, thanks to Ryanair I start on March 8th.
I believe there is another hostel in Torremejia, run by the Meson del Gitano tavern (18 bunks in 4 rooms) don't know what it's like but beggars can't be choosers!
I have booked a hotel room in Zafra because it is a bigger town and I wanted to have somewhere to aim for, the cheapest I could find was €30, it will probably be more in Holy Week.
As far as I can I will also post info as I walk.
Buen camino
Sue

 

[peregrina2000]

Hi aeveling,

When I walked the Vdlp in 2010, I am virtually certain that there was an albergue IN the "center" of Calzadilla de los Barros. The mundicamino site lists the albergue as being 1.7 kms outside of town. I slept in the now closed Fuente de Cantos albergue, and Calzadilla is a flat straight walk for there, so we arrived early in the morning and were very happy to see that there was a bar open in town. (It's kind of hidden, or at least it was, but it's right on the camino as you come into town and has a little terrace connected to it). The woman running that bar told me that there had been some pilgrims there the night before, and that they slept in the albergue right in the main plaza. At least that's what I remember. It was definitely not a 45 bed albergue, which is also what mundicamino says about this one. So I'm not sure but there might be a more convenient place to sleep in Calzadilla than the far flung youth albergue.

In Torremegia, I would recommend what I think used to be the Hotel Millenium, now called Hostal La Moheda. When I was there a new family (a very nice family) had just recently taken over the Millenium, so maybe they changed the name. Rooms were very very clean, very very simple, and just fine for the likes of us. Price was, I think 15E. I personally don't like the albergue run by the Meson de Gitano. I have been through Torremegia twice, and I was put off by the fact that as I walked into town, two 8-10 year old girls on bikes came to tell us not to go to the Hotel, but to go to the albergue, that the hotel was bad. I followed their advice the first time, but not the second. The food they serve pilgrims for dinner is a very bad meal, and I felt like I wa kind of a sucker for going there. Nothing physically wrong with the albergue, mind you, but it's just not a pilgrim-friendly operation. The second time I walked through, the Torremegia albergue had not yet opened, so I went to the hotel and found it as I described above. But as Sue says, at least there is a choice of places to sleep in Torremegia even with the albergue closure.

Buen camino, Laurie

 

[peregrina2000]

Some suggestions for Zafra

The first time I walked through Zafra, I got bitten by bedbugs in the now closed albergue turistico, so the second time I came through I had investigated alternatives, and had a list:

Two star hotel Don Quijote, very central, close to parador/castle

Two star pension Carmen, on the way into town a few blocks beyond train station, so not a great location if you want to enjoy Zafra (which is very enjoyable, with nice plazas, etc).

One star hostal Pension Arias, which is near the bus station, which is in an another out of the way charm-less part of Zafra.

As things turned out, the people I was walking with wanted to stay in the albergue, so I took my chances and slept there again, and this time, no bedbugs.

But if money is tight, I think the pensiones are probably going to be your best bet. Good luck and buen camino, Laurie

 

[bjorgts]

Since my plan was to stay in the albergues in these towns, I have not done much research, but this is what I know by now:
Fuente de Cantos. Hostal Extremadura (924500608) Calle Real 39, and Hostal Casa Vicenta (924500825 and 924500 227) Calle Real 33 are near each other in the same street. Casa Vicenta have very low prices somewhere, but Hostal Extremadura looks nicer. Hotel Fabrica (924500042) Calle real 117, is more expencive.
Pueblo de Sancho Perez. I have written down Hostal El Monte ((924551439) Calle San Antonio and Hotel Balneario El Raposo (two stars).
Zafra. When you walk into town, you first come to Hostal Carmen (924551439) Avenida Estacion 9 and Hotel Cervantes (92456270) Calle de Servantes 7, both with good prices. Then there are a lot of places to stay. Here are some more: Hotel Victoria, Hotel Las Palmeras (924552208) Plaza Grande 4, Hotel Los Balcones, Don Quijote ...
Torremejia. The privat albergue Rojo Plata is still open (658854372) Calle Jose de Espronceda 23. At Mundicamino the only other place mentioned now is Hostal La Moheda (924341012) Avenida de Extremadura 62. If this is another name on Hotel Milenium or if there are two different places, I do not know. Hotel Milenium has number 56 in Avenida de Extremadura, and I have this telephone (924340207)
This is what I know by now.

Bjørg

 

[grayland]

It appears that there are now a fair number of us with the same problem and questions. Current information is difficult to come by.

I appreciate the input and hope that others can add what they know about current availability and recommendations along the VdlP.

 

[peregrina2000]

Update on Torremegia. I called the number listed for La Moheda (924 341 012), and though the woman who answered told me I was calling Torremegia, she assured me there is not a hostal/hotel in town by that name. Weird.

I then called the number I had for the Millenium (924 341 095). (Bjorts, the number you have is the old number, which was changed several years ago when a new family took over the Millenium). camino-mozarabe-and-via-de-la-plata/topic8596.html

The woman answered "Hotel Millenium" and assured me that the Millenium is alive and well. Single rooms, 20 euros; double rooms, 35 euros.

I can call Spain easily for 3 cents a minute on my low tech online phone card, and am happy to help.

Buen camino, Laurie

 

[sulu]

Thanks for all this information. It's strange that each pilgrim information site has different information for Torremejia. I'll keep an open mind and post what I find when I get there. About 4 weeks from now, hopefully.
Sue

 

[bjorgts]

Thank you for the updating, Peregrina. I had "your" number to Milenium, but then I found the other number somewhere, and since I had heard that there was a new number, I changed... to the old one... There are so many different sides with different information. It is confusing. I will be in Torremejia in the week before Domingo de Ramos, and have thought of not booking. Have more choices of where to stay at night without booking. Bjorg

 

[William Marques]

I do not have much to add except to say that Zafra is a very pleasant town which I would not miss and well worth spending the night in. Due to an accident we had to spend more than one night there on our Camino in 2000. I would have thought that it is a big enough town to have an interesting Semana Santa celebration.