Hi, lostpilgrim,
Thanks for pointing me to this post, which I hadn't fuly digested since I was walking on the Levante when you wrote it.
If you saw Roger's pictures, you'll see he has one (somewhere around 5 minutes on the first set of photos on youtube) of a sign pointing to the Refugio de Pena Sacra, with a Santiago conch shell. I'm trying to find out if that means that it's been re-opened for pilgrims and if so, under what conditions. But it seems that when you were there in April, it was still closed?
Glad to hear the Alcazaren albergue was immaculate. When I was there it was terribly dirty, and there were no brooms, mops, etc, to clean it up a bit. Hoping they've decided to maintain it a bit, because even though the windows are a bit weird as I remember (with heavy metal slats on them), it is a new albergue and should be kept in good condition.
Did you stay in the first hostel on the left as you walk up from Cercedilla or in the second one further on on the right?
And I am quite jealous if you actually got to go inside the Wamba church. When I went by it was locked up tight!
Thanks, buen camino, Laurie