Ourense hospitaleros?

[alansykes]

I am hesitant to post this, but I have stayed three times in the last three years in the lovely albergue at Ourense, and on each occasion the hospitalero has been the worst one on each camino.

So I thought I'd check here whether other people had had similar experiences before writing to the xunta to complain.

When I say it was the "worst" one on each camino, I mean the only one that was an unpleasant experience. The hospitalero/a is usually a pilgrim's first important point of contact in a new village/town/city: a sort of ambassador for the place. Normally they are utterly delightful, giving advice, information and chat after what has often been a long day. They come from disparate backgrounds, providing the passing pilgrim with an amazing cross-section of Spanish society - in the last year I've met hospitaleros who were tourism officers, sports hall janitors, a mayoress, student volunteers, monks, parish priests, nuns, a police chief, ayuntamiento officials, bar keepers, a crown prosecutor, somebody from the protecion civil and a gaita expert. All of them were polite, interested and helpful.

In Ourense, three years running, I have met (different) hospitaleros who were brusque to the point of rudeness, utterly indifferent and largely unhelpful.

I wouldn't be posting this if it was just me, but the Sevillano couple I stayed with in Ourense earlier this month were also shocked by his bad attitude, saying he was also the worst they'd ever come across, having made their first camino in the 2004 Holy Year.

 

[Deleted member 3000]

I do not remember it as memorable. I got good directions to a good restaurant!

 

[grayland]

I think I can agree with Allan. Late August of 2013 in Ourense.
The hospitalero was very disconnected and on the edge of rudeness, as Alan posts. As I remember it...his official "post" is in a booth much like a post office employee or a guard booth. Very abrupt and official with not a hint of smile.
I do remember others remarking on it and how it was different from the earlier parts of the VdlP.

It was full and very crowded which may have added to the attitude of the "host".
Ed

 

[peregrina2000]

Hi, Alan,
I've had the same impression, even though one year one of those blase indifferent hospitaleros started talking to me at great length about his job, which he told me he found totally boring but it paid the rent. Seems it is a municipal job, so my guess is that it's used as an opportunity for patronage, because after all the skill set is pretty minimal, so just about anyone's son or daughter would qualify. Maybe I'm way off base here, but I couldn't identify any reason why this guy would have gotten the job if it had been awarded on a merit basis. The only other albergue in Galicia where I've found similar treatment was in A Laxe, though I did manage to get a smile out of the hospitalera when I told her I knew there were blankets in the cabinet behind her because she had given me one several years earlier. At least someone cleans the albergue in Ourense, not always the case in A Laxe.

And out of curiosity, is the cloister next door to the albergue open? I had heard that it was going to open about a month after I last went through and that's well over a year now.

 

[peregrina2000]

Oh, how could I have forgotten? I'm assuming you haven't ever stayed in the albergue in Lugo, Alan. Talk about officious, indifferent, and generally unpleasant!

My edit: Sorry, this was rude of me. I can only imagine what my personality would be like if I had to deal with a house full of pilgrims every day. But I do think you have a point, Alan.

 

[Rebekah Scott]

This makes me sad. I was hospitalera at Ourense in August 2006, back when the Federation staffed it with volunteers. It was an exciting and demanding gig -- Spain was in the midst of a horrible heat wave, the pilgrims were whacked on arrival. The place itself is tough to work in, because sounds carry so strangely in there. The drains are unreliable, and the kitchen stove had only one working burner... And then huge forest fires started, and burned right into the edges of the city, and then the Red Cross took over half the albergue so firefighters from outside provinces could sleep there! What a trip! Not long after, the city took over the running of the place.
So what you see is probably, as Laurie said, the outcomes of patronage. The uninspired, cranky "jobsworth," phoning it in each day.
It's a lovely city, and a nice facility. Too bad the help is so unhelpful!

 

[Deleted member 3000]

Too bad the help is so unhelpful!

I agree, but I deal with it by not expecting any hand holding from hospitaleros. It is impossible to be disappointed if expectations are zero. After all, no one is on this earth to serve me (except me).

 

[alansykes]

I agree, but I deal with it by not expecting any hand holding from hospitaleros. It is impossible to be disappointed if expectations are zero. After all, no one is on this earth to serve me (except me).

Very true, but my point is that the fact that virtually all other hospitaleros are so helpful, kind and polite makes the contrast so great when you meet one who isn't. It would do Ourense's reputation no harm, and cost it very little money, to send its hospitaleros on a week's training in Fuenterroble, say, or Grañon, which I hear is highly regarded.

 

[Deleted member 3000]

It would do Ourense's reputation no harm, and cost it very little money, to send its hospitaleros on a week's training

Or critics on the Forum could volunteer for a couple of weeks each year...

 

[Rebekah Scott]

I've trained a lot of hospitaleros. We don't take em if they don't want to be here -- I don't imagine a hired funcionario would get much out of it. Hospitalero-ing, on the surface, looks like a no-brainer kind of job. But if you do it right, it can be pretty exhausting.

 

[Al the optimist]

I for one have never thought it a no-brainer. It looks mentally and physically exhausting.

 

[karenhypes]

Rebekah is correct. When my wife and I served for 17 days at Albergue San Miguel in Estella (May 2011), it was as exhausting a time as I've ever spent, BUT, it was probably the most rewarding 17 days I've spent as well. When you volunteer to serve as a hospitalero, you don't do it for a vacation, you do it to serve other pilgrims and give back a little bit to the Camino. I also agree with Falcon, ie. we never had great expectations for a Hospitalero, so when we did have a positive experience it was usually a volunteer, not an 'employee.'

Dayton and Karen,
London, Canada

 

[LTfit]

I

I am hesitant to post this, but I have stayed three times in the last three years in the lovely albergue at Ourense, and on each occasion the hospitalero has been the worst one on each camino.

So I thought I'd check here whether other people had had similar experiences before writing to the xunta to complain.

When I say it was the "worst" one on each camino, I mean the only one that was an unpleasant experience. The hospitalero/a is usually a pilgrim's first important point of contact in a new village/town/city: a sort of ambassador for the place. Normally they are utterly delightful, giving advice, information and chat after what has often been a long day. They come from disparate backgrounds, providing the passing pilgrim with an amazing cross-section of Spanish society - in the last year I've met hospitaleros who were tourism officers, sports hall janitors, a mayoress, student volunteers, monks, parish priests, nuns, a police chief, ayuntamiento officials, bar keepers, a crown prosecutor, somebody from the protecion civil and a gaita expert. All of them were polite, interested and helpful.

In Ourense, three years running, I have met (different) hospitaleros who were brusque to the point of rudeness, utterly indifferent and largely unhelpful.

I wouldn't be posting this if it was just me, but the Sevillano couple I stayed with in Ourense earlier this month were also shocked by his bad attitude, saying he was also the worst they'd ever come across, having made their first camino in the 2004 Holy Year.

I must admit that I tend to agree with you Alan. In October of this year the hospitalero was not very pleasant and seemed more interested in watching a movie on his laptop than tending to the pilgrims. He seemed familar to me but I can't be 100% sure whether he was the same one that was there the last time I passed through July 2013.

But we are actually talking about 2 very different situations: the volunteer hospitalero/a and training which Reb is referring to and the "hospitaleros/as" (I don't mean to be negative here) in Galicia who are funcionarios.

 

[Alan Pearce]

I stayed at Ourense in 2011 and the hospitalero could not have been more hospitable or welcoming. On the other hand, I have encountered the hospitalero at Lugo, and can only repeat everything that Laurie said about him!

Be brave. Life is joyous.

Alan

 

[Rebekah Scott]

In the last couple of days we've had genuine winter pilgrims in the house. They remind me of why I like winter pilgrims so well. They don't expect anything at all, and they are used to sleeping wherever they can find to lay their heads. They don't expect a warm welcome, meal, or bed, because they don't always find one. And when they do, they are very happy indeed.
To them, the Camino is what it is.
I like that.

 

[Kerrnell]

I am hesitant to post this, but I have stayed three times in the last three years in the lovely albergue at Ourense, and on each occasion the hospitalero has been the worst one on each camino.

So I thought I'd check here whether other people had had similar experiences before writing to the xunta to complain.

When I say it was the "worst" one on each camino, I mean the only one that was an unpleasant experience. The hospitalero/a is usually a pilgrim's first important point of contact in a new village/town/city: a sort of ambassador for the place. Normally they are utterly delightful, giving advice, information and chat after what has often been a long day. They come from disparate backgrounds, providing the passing pilgrim with an amazing cross-section of Spanish society - in the last year I've met hospitaleros who were tourism officers, sports hall janitors, a mayoress, student volunteers, monks, parish priests, nuns, a police chief, ayuntamiento officials, bar keepers, a crown prosecutor, somebody from the protecion civil and a gaita expert. All of them were polite, interested and helpful.

In Ourense, three years running, I have met (different) hospitaleros who were brusque to the point of rudeness, utterly indifferent and largely unhelpful.

I wouldn't be posting this if it was just me, but the Sevillano couple I stayed with in Ourense earlier this month were also shocked by his bad attitude, saying he was also the worst they'd ever come across, having made their first camino in the 2004 Holy Year.

We were in Ourense in September this year. He was very rude and we ended up staying in a hotel. Such a shame as we had looked forward to such a lovely old hostel to stay in. It really does take the shine off a day when you meet some-one like that.

 

[nalod]

Alan sorry to hear that you had many bad experiences there. I was lucky stayed 16 March 2012 very helpful, got totally lost on leaving the city about 4 km took the left hand route and went around in a circle for two hours.
Dermot

 

[alansykes]

got totally lost on leaving the city about 4 km took the left hand route and went around in a circle for two hours.
Dermot

I've got badly lost on that stretch, and the steep hill is pretty daunting as well - luckily last month I did it on a Sunday, so there weren't nearly as many cars going full pelt down the relatively narrow stretch. I've taken the left out of Ourense three times and gone right once, and next time I'm definitely going to try the right again, as I think you get out of the dreary suburbs, off tarmac and into countryside much more quickly.

 

[grayland]

Or critics on the Forum could volunteer for a couple of weeks each year...

Many of us ("critics") do serve as hospitaleros and volunteers on the camino.
I know Alan has served as both a hospitalero and Amigo and in other ways, as well.
Many others in this thread give back as volunteers.

 

[nalod]

Alan I took the left. After a few kms I was on the footpath in a small housing estate when I had to get off the footpath because of a white car parked at an angle. After a few kms more I noticed that I had not seen yellow arrows for quite a while. In my virtually non existent Spanish i asked for directions. I walked into the amazing wood, with trees that looked like sculptures, I may attach one or two. I kept walking further and went into a small housing estate with a badly parked white car on the footpath. Yes!

In the end I stuck to the main road, I did see what was most definitely an incorrect arrow. It had not rained since I left Seville about four weeks earlier, that day it rained all day, it was March 17th St Patricks day. It remined me of home in a way that I did not want.

On a different note I intend to do the Levante or Sureste in April. Written to Valencia Amigos for their English guidebook. Have hardly any Spanish, which will be a problem. Have posted on Levante forum.

Sorry for going on a bit of a tangent maybe it is symbolic.
Dermot

 

[Steeltown Pilgrim]

I am hesitant to post this, but I have stayed three times in the last three years in the lovely albergue at Ourense, and on each occasion the hospitalero has been the worst one on each camino.

So I thought I'd check here whether other people had had similar experiences before writing to the xunta to complain.

When I say it was the "worst" one on each camino, I mean the only one that was an unpleasant experience. The hospitalero/a is usually a pilgrim's first important point of contact in a new village/town/city: a sort of ambassador for the place. Normally they are utterly delightful, giving advice, information and chat after what has often been a long day. They come from disparate backgrounds, providing the passing pilgrim with an amazing cross-section of Spanish society - in the last year I've met hospitaleros who were tourism officers, sports hall janitors, a mayoress, student volunteers, monks, parish priests, nuns, a police chief, ayuntamiento officials, bar keepers, a crown prosecutor, somebody from the protecion civil and a gaita expert. All of them were polite, interested and helpful.

In Ourense, three years running, I have met (different) hospitaleros who were brusque to the point of rudeness, utterly indifferent and largely unhelpful.

I wouldn't be posting this if it was just me, but the Sevillano couple I stayed with in Ourense earlier this month were also shocked by his bad attitude, saying he was also the worst they'd ever come across, having made their first camino in the 2004 Holy Year.

I stayed there early Oct. 2014-the hospitalera was efficient, charming and helpful. Also passed by in the spring and the albergue was closed due, I am told, to " local politics ". Perhaps there are issues which are affecting staff.