Norte: Municipal albergues open for reverse pilgrims?

[Umwandert]

Dear forum users,

I have 2 weeks time in May and plan to hike part of the Norte. As I did Aviles-Santiago last year, I would like to go further to complete this camino. I read that the first week (Irun-Bilbao) is the most breathtaking part, followed later by the "Cantabrian tarmac hell" and the most unappealing section of the norte (Gijon-Aviles).

Since I won't reach Santiago this time, I thought about walking in reverse from Santander to Irun so I could finish with beautiful landscapes. Since I've learned to hike using GPS, hopefully it won't be too difficult to find the trail. As always, I plan a mix of different accommodations.

My questions:

Has anyone walked in reverse on the first half of the Norte recently? How was this experience? Have your motives often been questioned?

Will I be denied a place to sleep in donativos because I'm not going to Santiago and neither coming from Santiago, so I might not be considered a proper pilgrim? In this 8 years old thread, the answer was "usually not, but it can happen occasionally".

When I did the latter part of the Santiago in May last year, I heard from fellow pilgrims that most of the first half didn't require booking in advance, but there was a serious acommodation bottleneck at Deba and Markina-Xemein. Has anyone just walked by there and experienced problems? What was your solution?

I am grateful for your information. Thanks in advance!

 

[Arctic_Alex]

My fear with reverse walking is that I will run into all the faces that go with the flow. So I will see much more people than when I walked with the flow myself.
Nevertheless I will probably do the Inglés in reverse next year ... ;-)

 

[Umwandert]

I did Fisterra-Muxia-Santiago last year after the latter half of the Norte and ran into several hundred of people, which indeed was a little bit tiring. But I was fascinated with the whole experience. Of course, there is little or none socializing at all as you meet each person only once.

 

[Vacajoe]

As a hospitalero, i would not deny you if you had an active credential. Those walking reverse could
be returning from SdC or journeying to a different pilgrimage site such as Lourdes or Mont Saint Michel.

Having walked a reverse Camino, the route will seem much busier as mentioned since you’ll encounter everyone on that stage. When walking with the flow, you only see the ones you pass or that pass you. Expect it to feel much more crowded.