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More Theft at the Seminario Menor - Santiago

JohnnieWalker

Nunca se camina solo
Hola

I have just seen further reports of theft at the Seminario Menor - the albergue in Santiago. The communal accommodation is notorious for petty theft. If any of you are using this otherwise excellent facility please exercise caution and do not leave valuables unguarded even when sleeping - or maybe especially when sleeping.

Any further information would be helpful.

John
 
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John,

This is very sad. Your words of vigilance need to be heeded as having got to Santiago I suspect that our sense of relief lets our guard go down.

Given the 10€ charge it is time that the secure lockers are upgraded. I am glad that they are there, but it would not hurt for them to be a bit more foolproof. Having said that I have never had anything stolen from them but I confess that I live in the fear that it will happen one day.

Maybe others might say if they have had problems.

philip
 
I have never had a problem. I take little, and leave even less lying around.

If you have watched a twelve-year-old kid open a car with a slim jim, or opened your gym combination lock with part of an aluminum can, you know that locked things are not particularly secure. A locker is a deterrent only if there are easily stolen items lying around. Having lugged a 20-pound pack across Spain, taking one pound of valuables with you wherever you go should be easy!
 
€2,-/day will present your project to thousands of visitors each day. All interested in the Camino de Santiago.
Looking into this further - it maybe that pilgrims think that the Seminario Menor is pilgrim only accomodation as on Camino. However the facility was privatised some 8 years ago and is run by a private company - clearly with 177 beds and an economic crisis the danger is that they simply fill the beds with anyone who pays. Therefore caution is even more essential.
 
So is this theft of stuff you leave laying around or are people actually breaking into the lockers? I paid the extra for a private room and had no problems last year. Of course, I also lock my stuff up in my room...yeah, the paranoia of a solo female traveler runs deep.... :) It was 15€ for a private room, if I remember correctly, and after all the dorm rooms on the Camino, I thought it was a nice treat for three nights!
 
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I grew up in a small town in Canada where we used to leave our houses and car doors unlocked. Then I spent a year and a half in South America and met so many people that had been robbed that an awareness of the possibility of being robbed seeped into my skin. I think that one of the problems, if you can call it that, with the Camino is that people become used to the kindness offered by fellow peregrinos and even non-peregrinos and they forget that they still need to be vigilant. I never sleep in an albergue with my money, passport, credit cards or credencial away from my body. I rember Martin from Australia who we met on the French route. Getting near the end, we were all very protective of our credenciales. He said if he was ever mugged he would give up his money, passport and credit cards as long as he was left with his credencial. His comment was that money, credit cards and passports can be replaced, but he wasn't going to face going back to St Jean de Pied de Port to start the Camino again. When I was on the Portugues route, we met a German mother and son who were robbed at the albergue on their second to last day. Their backpacks were stolen from near their beds and they had their money, passports, credit cards and credenciales in them. Fellow peregrinos lent them the money to make it to Santiago. When we ran into them in Santiago we were horrified by what they had experienced. It is always a wrong thing to rob someone, but you have to have a particular sort of evilness inside of you to steal from a peregrino. So, you will experience wonderful acts of kindness and generosity on the Camino, but you always have to be careful. Some not very nice people out there regard peregrinos as easy prey.
 
Wise words and good advice Nicole. I heard once of two pilgrims who lost their packs because they left them on the street outside a bar in Pamplona. My thought then was that we shouldn't tempt people too much either. Stealing from lockers though is premeditated and therefore serious. If it is of any assistance I have always carried things I can't really afford to lose, (passport etc) in a very small bag round my neck under my shirt/T.shirt. The bag stays with me during the night as well. Cash and change is kept in a small purse in my pocket and can be lost/stolen with few consequences. I unfortunately learnt this arrangement in India in the 1970's where you were always in danger of being robbed, not by the locals so much, as your fellow travellers! Peace and Love being more a facade than a reality. Anyway I hope this may help.
 

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