Many pilgrims at the moment, why?

[Antonius Vaessen]

Hello,
Friends who started in Irun three days ago report back to me that there are much more pilgrims on the Norte than expected. Up till now they had difficulties finding a place to stay and had to take a bus once to the next place.
Does anybody know an explanation for this crowdedness in this period?
My wife and I will fly to Bilbao on the 12th of may and start our walk probably there ( or in Irun) She will not be able to walk more than 10 miles/16 kilometers per day. If it stays this busy this crowdedness maybe will be a problem for her
Could members of this forum who start out on the Camino del Norte in the next week's report back to the forum how the situation develops and if pilgrims don't find a bed in albergues? The answer to this question can be useful to us,perhaps we will be looking for an alternative.
Many thanks

 

[Bradypus]

May 1st is a public holiday in Spain. Many people take advantage of this day falling so early in the week by making a long weekend break - perhaps also taking Friday off work. A phenomenon known in Spanish as a "puente". So it is likely that after Tuesday things will quieten down a lot.

 

[Peter Fransiscus]

Yesterday there where 1121 arrivels in the Pilgrim office.
Will be more today I think .

 

[Scarlet Fez]

I arrive at Biarritz on the 1st May and was going to get the bus/coach from the airport down to Irun. If it's a Public Holiday will this service still be running?

 

[naplesdon]

Yes, but on the school holiday/fete schedule. Chronobus doesn't go that far but the train runs to Hendaye just across the border. There is a bus company that operates from the airport to Irun, I think is called something like Transport 86. I could not find it when I looked on Rome2rio.

 

[MichelleElynHogan]

Yesterday there where 1121 arrivels in the Pilgrim office.
Will be more today I think .

It sounds like we could be headed for another record year.

 

[Treva]

It sounds like we could be headed for another record year.

I can attest to the large crowds. Slept on a gymnasium floor in Zubiri last night at the municipal, and then quickly made reservations at the wonderful Albergue de Pamplona which is where I am now. As of right now, Pamplona looks like a busy day at Disney World. . Be prepared, the Camino keeps you on your toes this weekend...but still provides!!

 

[naplesdon]

I arrive at Biarritz on the 1st May and was going to get the bus/coach from the airport down to Irun. If it's a Public Holiday will this service still be running?

I finally remembered the name of the bus company from the airport to hendaye. It is transportes 64 and the bus you need is the 816. There is schedule on line and the first day they return to service is 1 May and it looks like it is about every hour.

 

[Scarlet Fez]

Cheers Don, just hope as its a Public Holiday in France as well on the 1st of May there will be a bus running. I will try and check on line now.

 

[Peter Fransiscus]

And a lot of people don't work the day before also , a long weekend of 4 day's.

Wish you well,Peter.

 

[Peter Fransiscus]

It sounds like we could be headed for another record year.

The numbers around 14.00hr today where almost 600 .

 

[Deleted member 3000]

And the weather is deteriorating: a bit of snow in O Cebreiro!

 

[Bradypus]

The numbers around 14.00hr today where almost 600 .

I read just now that the final total for yesterday was over 1100. Big numbers. Hard to imagine but last summer a new record was set when 2,700 Compostelas were issued in a single day. In the first year I walked there were less than 5,000 issued in the whole year!

 

[goatgirl]

Roncevaux on Saturday night was full by 1.30 ish, couldnt get a bed between there and pamplona on sunday so needed to taxi to pamplona. There are so many people!!!

 

[Peter Fransiscus]

And the weather is deteriorating: a bit of snow in O Cebreiro!

Snow storm yesterday before Samos .

 

[Luka]

Guys, aren't we mixing up the Camino del Norte and the Francés? As for the Norte, I live in Ribadesella and have seen a lot of pilgrims as well as in the train as in town. I wonder where they all stay, because there aren't many albergues on this stretch. Yes, we have a 'puente' right now (for people from Madrid this lasts until Wednesday), and Ribadesella is full of tourists, but I also saw quite a lot of foreign pilgrims, who will most likely stay on the Camino after the puente.

The weather is terrible, by the way. Lots of rain and too cold for the time of the year...

 

[filly]

I am on the camino San Salvador and even that is busy!! 7 pilgrims each night as opposed to almost alone on the Camino de Madrid. Minimal snow at Pajares by the way today and perfect weather.

 

[miriamaok]

I’ve just finished a stretch of the Camino Del Norte from Bilbao to Llanes. The only place where we ran into a wave of pilgrims was Santillana but it was a Sunday night. The Convento Albergue filled up quickly and then the municipal so by 6pm no albergue beds left. We then booked private accommodation in Comillas (with central heating because it was cold and very wet). Otherwise it was the same 20 or so Pilgrims. No one felt it was especially busy. Indeed some people elected to go home early as the weather was so pants. And I did meet a couple of people who had come over from the Frances because of the crowds.

 

[Luka]

Today I did a little hike on the Camino del Norte, from Pendueles to Llanes. Spoke to a pilgrim who started in Irun. He said that it sometimes had been difficult to find a bed, but so far it wasn't a real problem. He had been sharing rooms with other pilgrims when the albergues were full and then paid 20 euro per person instead of 15.

 

[brian560]

In Gurenika as we speak in the youth hostel, have had no accomodation problems. The Spanish long weekend probably caused a shortage of accomodation.

 

[Mandy P]

I'm in Lourenza now having started in Irun on April 11. No real crowds to speak of... The only place it's been tricky for an albergue so far has been in Gijon, as the Municipal has closed and now the closest one open is at the campsite, and in Ribadeo as there are only 12 places. If you're traveling as a couple, you shouldn't have problems though, as you can quite easily find a pensión for €30, not much more than the albergues which run €10-12 per person.