Post Restant in Santiago and other cities

[wayfaring stranger]

Hi Folks...

Good day to you all.

A question about post restant in Santiago and other places enroute:

The first time I mailed a box of extra stuff to Santiago, I was told that the box could sit there for 30 days until I collected it. And so it turned out: The box was indeed waiting there when I arrived 3-4 weeks later.

A few years later I tried to do the same thing with the post office in Irun. Thinking to start the C.d. N from there, I sent my camino kit on ahead about 3 - 4 weeks before I was due to start. However, when I got there, it was long gone. The folks in the post office said they could only keep stuff for 15 days. (Fortunately there is a big Decathalon store in Irun and I was able to replace everything in one morning.)

Does anyone know what the current situation with post restant is now? Is it 30 days for Santiago, and 15 days elsewhere..? Has it changed recently? Considering the numbers of pilgrims around these days, I could see how the post office may have decided to reduce the holding period.

Many thanks for your insite and advice.

WF

 

[linkster]

I am going to ship some stuff to Ivar from this forum for safe keeping until I arrive.

 

[KinkyOne]

Hi Folks...

Good day to you all.

A question about post restant in Santiago and other places enroute:

The first time I mailed a box of extra stuff to Santiago, I was told that the box could sit there for 30 days until I collected it. And so it turned out: The box was indeed waiting there when I arrived 3-4 weeks later.

A few years later I tried to do the same thing with the post office in Irun. Thinking to start the C.d. N from there, I sent my camino kit on ahead about 3 - 4 weeks before I was due to start. However, when I got there, it was long gone. The folks in the post office said they could only keep stuff for 15 days. (Fortunately there is a big Decathalon store in Irun and I was able to replace everything in one morning.)

Does anyone know what the current situation with post restant is now? Is it 30 days for Santiago, and 15 days elsewhere..? Has it changed recently? Considering the numbers of pilgrims around these days, I could see how the post office may have decided to reduce the holding period.

Many thanks for your insite and advice.

WF

When I asked in Correos they told me it would wait two weeks, maybe a day or two longer, depends on weekends in between. I think Saturdays also counted as working days but Sundays not. Every year my mom send me three or four boxes to a place I calculated depending on my walking stages and never had any problems with 2 weeks time-frame.

 

[Anemone del Camino]

Two weeks is standard, 30 days in Santiago. When I sent something to Santiago from Canada, I added the date the person collecting the parcel would be there, in case the 30 days were up before he showed up, hoping for a bit of kindness from the staff.

This being said, Correos has a new service. But I get the feeling you have to mail from within Spain. 15 first days your things wait for free, after that it's 1€ per day. So great if you land in Madrid for example and want to do a bit of site seeing and catch up with your Camino gear after that.

http://www.elcaminoconcorreos.com/en/envio-maletas.php

 

[SYates]

Still the easiest solution to send things ahead to Santiago: http://www.casaivar.com/luggage-storage-in-santiago-de-compostela/index.html

Buen Camino, SY

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

I wish I knew enough to send to Ivar. It would have saved me a bit of worry. In 2015, 10 days into the camino I sent myself a package to general delivery in Santiago with Correos knowing I was a pilgrim. I think I had 30 days to pick it up. I picked it up 48 days later (there were a few incidents that slowed us down.) But I checked with local post offices along the way for them to check with Santiago and kept them notified of when we were expecting to complete the camino. BTW, I didn't run into any English speakers at the various post offices. I found it easier talking face to face with rusty Spanish in the local post offices than over a phone to Santiago.