Organised groups making "reservations" at municipal albergue

[Priscillian]

I've just been told that pilgrims were refused beds in two albergues in La Rioja (Navarette and Azofra) because backpacks had been dropped off by a "guide" for a group of 35 incoming (and supposedly very loud) Portuguese pilgrims with a bus de apoyo and there was no room. One other pilgrim said she got the last bed! They left the Camino in Burgos.
This practice HAS to stop! La Rioja in particular has always had a wonderful reputation of pilgrim welcome (think of Granon for a case in point). Organised groups and those with a coche are supposed to be the LAST on the list after walkers, bikers and those on horseback.
Anyone from the Amigos in that area who can investigate...?
http://www.pilgrimagetoheresy.blogspot.com

 

[sillydoll]

Were they private albergues or municipal? If they were private, anyone with can book beds in advance. The only criterion is that they have a credencial.

One can book ahead at Albergue El Cántaro and Albergue La Casa del Peregrino in Navarette as they are private albergues.
One cannot book at the big municipal albergue in Azofra - unless the municipality had Portuguese guests that night, they are entitled to use up beds in their albergue.

If the priest at Grañon wantes 20 beds for homeless 'visitors', he has the right to the use of those beds.

One needs to find out why or how an organised group was able to book out an albergue where bookings are not permitted. You can contact them here:
Ayuntamiento), 607 38 38 11 (Ángel)
Email: lomaa@hotmail.es
web: http://www.azofra.org

Let us know what you find out.

 

[jaws101]

We arrived at the albergue at Azofra on 25 April. Looking forward to sharing a double room (Married couple!) BUT were taken to the overflow prison cell-like accommodation. The reason was that a Portuguese van-supported group of 50 were there before us. Not only did they take up all the accommodation but they also turned the kitchen/dining area into a hospital/physiotherapy room. Eating your food whilst someone is having their blisters drained in front of you is not something you expect, and not something that should happen. We really think that this group (is it the same regular "commercially operated" group) should be "encouraged" to go elsewhere and leave the albergue for pilgrims arriving unsupported.

 

[Thornley]

Smaller albergues in the smaller towns.
We have found this method to be a wonderful way .
An example is when you see all the people stopping early outside Granon when a beautiful place awaits only 7km further.
We have stayed in both over the years and both were spiritual evenings with lovely company.
Take your time , allow 40 days and there will be NO crowds.
David

 

[WanderingChristian]

That's awful! The albergues are the descendants of the pilgrim shelters of medieval times, when peregrinos were almost exclusively on foot. If you've got a support vehicle and are part of an organized group, my "suggestion" would be to climb in and drive to a hotel that's a little off the route. That way, your group can stay together and drive back to where you left off the previous day.. Leave the albergues and private hostels along the Camino for walkers, cyclists and horseback riders. If I owned an albergue or hostel, there would be a sign on the door in multiple languages stating that priority would be given to the handicapped, walkers and cyclists. As far as using the kitchen as an ad hoc infirmary, YUCK!! It's a kitchen for a reason, people. If you need to administer foot care, take it outside or into the bathrooms. Would you like it if I used the kitchen table at YOUR house to tend to foot problems while you ate? I know this isn't exactly a Christian attitude to adopt here, but I'll come to the defense of people that are less fortunate.

Buen Camino,
8) WanderingChristian :arrow:

 

[mralisn]

This is awful news. Very unfair to those who walk the way. I am fortunate because I am usually finished by 14:00. However, in two Caminos, I have witnessed smaller groups of people exiting taxis and getting the last beds. One horrible experience was on the Camino Norte when an older couple would maybe walk one or two hours at most and then taxi to the next stop most people would want to rest. Then the man would act as if HE was the host and turn people away. It was disgusting. I walked 50k in one day just to get rid of them.

I think I will "leap frog" these groups this summer.

 

[Sojourner47]

If my memory serves me..in April I passed the municipal at Navarette (I stayed at El Cantaro), and there were large notices in the windows stating that, "only those walking or cycling - without support - were permitted to stay the night". So much for that.....

 

[Juliec55]

I just returned on June 10th from the camino frances. I started from Roncesvalles on the 29th of april. Walking to Zuberi we already heard rumblings that the Municipal alburgue was completo. When we arrived we were offered a mattress on the floor in the gymnasium of said Alburgue. It didn't take one long to figure out that the whole part of the albergue with the beds was full of Spaniards that were part of a tour group. This was confirmed when I saw them in the morning, leaving the Albergue and walking their backpacks across the street to a coach that was waiting for them. We then decided to only walk 15 km to Trinidad de Arre albergue the next day, thinking we would try and "leap frog " and not stay where this group of Spanish tourists were going. Well, we arrived at 12 noon - the time it was listed on the door as opening, no reservations allowed only to find that it was nearly full already, we were allowed in, only to find that the majority of beds were taken and the backpacks of more Spanish tourist were already on the beds. To add insult to injury, later on that night when we went to the restaurant that sold pilgrim meals, we were told when we arrived at 7:10 pm. that we had to hurry up as a group were coming in at 7:30 and no more pilgrim meals would be served. Again, in walk the spanish tourist group and we were asked to leave. I don't get it! Is the El Camino not a pilgrimage? If so, why are we pilgrims being asked to leave for tour groups. I can tell you at this time I was wondering what the heck I was doing on this so called Pilgrimage. Luckily as the week went on, the tourists disappeared and we only started to see none tourist pilgrims and it ended up being a wonderful experience. I think that if what happened at the beginning of my Camino continued though, I would have caught the next plane home.

 

[Thornley]

You walk The Camino as you live Julie.
If these tourists and alberque owners want to" bludge" [ freeload] on the pilgrims who walk this camino then maybe more should be said in our local papers.
I know here in Australia more are walking in the off season and in this i mean march /april and avoiding albergues.
They are giving their money to the private little homes that have a growing following .

** Another reason why Invierno will become popular.
Yes it is loosing its way a little.

 

[MiaDenver]

I understood all Spanish businesses of any type were required to keep a book of guest/customer complaints. Are municipal albergues exempt from this? Or are they purely a formality that nobody really follows up with? (and if so, why is my husband making me learn to ask for that book in clear comprehensible Spanish on the advice of business colleagues?!)
Would reporting these instances, with specifics of which albergues refused actual-on-foot-pilgrims in favor of bus passengers, to the Pilgrims' Offices along the way and in Santiago de Compostela have any effect?
I wish I could go at a different time of year and not have to worry about this but we're scheduled for mid August and don't have much flexibility.

 

[Juliec55]

Mia: If I were to do it again, at the beginning I would book a private Alburgue in Zuberi. We were walking down the hill from Roncesvalles, in the pouring rain, not enjoying ourselves at all, due to the traffic jam of pilgrims and as I said before already hearing that the alburgues were full. It was certainly not a bad experience sleeping on the floor of the gym, in fact quite the opposite as I had a nice warm sleeping bag. I understand the Spanish Tourists were absolutely overheated in their rooms so I think in the end I got the better deal. It was the anxiety that was ruining my walk down to Zuberi that was the problem. We did learn from this experience and got out our Brierly after our experience at Trinidad de Arre and pre booked in private Alburgues all the way. This way we could just take our time and "stop and smell the flowers" so to speak. This made for one of the most wonderful experiences of my life. Also the "bottle neck" of pilgrims started to filter away. Later on during my walk, I could walk for miles and see very few people, not until Sarria did this fiasco start again, but by then we were experienced and knew what we were doing and prebooked for a few days in advance. The private Albergues are nice, not much more in price 7-10 euros and actually the personal touch by some of the owner/hospitaliaros was something to behold. Ruitlan is one example. An Amazing place and many more I could mention. I only stayed in a couple of municipal Albergues and there was less of a personal touch in them, but they were okay. You will have a fabulous time if you do your research and plan well. I have to tell you, there were two of us who started in Roncesvalles and we met two friends in Burgos who joined us to Santiago. I have to tell you, none of us had blisters because we followed the advice on this forum, vaseline, sock liner, marino sock. Magic! It was amazing how many people with blisters argued that it wouldn't have worked for them. Do it!

 

[MiaDenver]

Thanks so much for the encouragement! We're using my husband's severance money to make our pilgrimage, so we have plenty of TIME (no pesky employment to come back to! sigh) but money is a concern, and I have nightmares of having to choose between spending all our money in hotels or making my 11 year old son sleep under a bridge.
And frankly my inner child is screaming "that's not fair!" for people to take a bed when they've been sitting on a bus all day instead of walking. It seems completely against the spirit of the thing.
Thanks for the vaseline, sockliner and merino wool socks tip, too. We've got the socks, but hadn't heard of the vaseline and sockliners!

Mia

 

[Thornley]

Mia it has been written 1000 times about vaseline.
It will be written also stop every 2---- 3 hours . They do in the army's of the world.
Maybe the pilgrims are stronger/more prepared when walking distances.
** Proud of you Julie .........wet feet .....blisters
If you hurry where are you going ????????????
We have walked Frankie , Le Puy , Portuguese from Lisbon and the Norte Julie and the rules have not changed .
You have made a wonderful contribution.
Why Hurry????????????????????
David

 

[Juliec55]

Thornley, I used to ask that question too. My two friends and I had such a fabulous time. We sang, we laughed, we danced. Stopped and picked the wild lavender by the side of the road, to put in our hats and pillows at night, stopped to call the horses over, pet the dogs, chat with pilgrims, go in to churches and just sit and contemplate for awhile. You can bet if we stopped for a cafe con leche we never left before 3/4 of an hour. I used to look at people and wonder what they were doing as they rushed along. As they say in life, it is the journey, not the destination.

 

[Priscillian]

To answer Sil's question from earlier on, I was told they were municipal albergues in both cases. It's bad enough that organised groups take over these places in July and August, but this...this has got to stop. In the last two weeks I've heard horror stories about the Camino Frances (theft, hooliganism, "pilgrims" forgetting they are pilgrims...) and I don't think I would ever walk it again, which is a shame as it can have a very special magic, especially "off season". It seems that the Camino and the obsession to "do" the last 100 klms to "collect a Compostela" has become the victim of its own success. :cry:

 

[Thornley]

Why not 200km for the Compostela Tracey

 

[Olivares]

I know this is a 2012 post, but there is more to this story because I have dealt with several baggage transfer companies in obtaining quotes and typically they have a list of the pick-up/drop-off places. I have never found a Municipal Albergue on any baggage transfer list nor any municipal albergue that accepts baggages in advanced that would commit a bed. Furthermore, their list often SPECIFICALLY states they will NOT transfer to Municipal Albergues as these establishments are not allowed to accept transfers.

It sounds to me arrangements were made in advanced and that the nature of the group has something to do with it. It is very apparent that the Municipality arranged for this group on that particular stop.

 

[JabbaPapa]

Why not 200km for the Compostela Tracey

All this would achieve is to make 200 KM of the Camino into a promenade for tourists rather than 100.

It sounds to me arrangements were made in advanced and that the nature of the group has something to do with it.

Same here -- it can happen sometimes, and besides : not every group travelling with a support bus and sending their packs on ahead and etc should be tarred with the same brush.

I can remember one particular group of French youth in 2005 who would tend to camp out in the grounds near the albergues, only using these for the shower facilities etc, and would stay only IN those albergues with very large numbers of beds where their presence was not disruptive. Their bus drivers / group leaders were also VERY respectful towards the foot pilgrims lugging their packs across half of Europe, and talking with them as well as with the young ones was pretty much like talking with any other peregrinos.

 

[Priscillian]

Thornley... JabbaPapa answered your Q for me. It doesn´t always have to be but the phrase (from a friend) "Glastonbury Pilgrims" unfortunately springs to mind.