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Hi to all those who have done this route before.
This will be my first which will be the Franćes Camino. I've youtubed some pilgrims experiences for inspiration and ideas. On youtube, as its not mentioned in any guide book I've read, that the path is so close to a slaughter house that you can hear everything!!!!! Screams and shots etc... Does anyone remember this? What town its in? Is there a way to avoid it besides using head phones? Or is it in fact true?
Jules67:
I do not recall walking by a slaughter house on the Frances.
Ultreya,
Joe
I know I will not make myself popular with this post but I do not think there is anything wrong with a slaughterhouse close to the Camino.
The Camino is not a walk through a garden of roses but a walk through the good , the bad & the ugly. A metaphor of "Life as it is". Yes, there are the rolling hills of La Rioja, the grandeur of the cathedrals of Leon and Burgos, the shared wine or coffee in the albergues, the stunning views at O'Cebreiro but also the industrial estates walking into the bigger towns and yes maybe also a slaughterhouse...
Don't worry too much about it....It is all part of the experience.
Ultreïa!!
Thanks Sabine. I'm sure there's some around. I just wanted to know I'm not going to come across it. Hopefully your right and it's on another route.According to this link there is a slaughterhouse in Ponferrada. Don't remember it though...
http://www.galiciaguide.com/Stage-26.html
According to this link there is a slaughterhouse in Ponferrada. Don't remember it though...
http://www.galiciaguide.com/Stage-26.html
I'm hoping so but thanksI wonder if this has been a case of mistaken identity - the indoor pig farms can be pretty noisy and smelly and there are certainly a lot of those about in rural Spain.
Please only answer if you have the answer to my question.. I didn't intend this to be a debate.
I apologise for those who are offended by some of these comments.
You have to bear in mind, some people don't like this and some people don't mind listening or even watching animals being killed. Please be respectful and mindful of those who don't..
I'm sorry I asked the question...
But thank you to those who answered without provoking debate
I just can't resist.Molinaseca is very famous for manufacturing sausage.
See more--
http://www.embutidoselabuelo.es/
The town even has a famous sculpture of a giant sausage in front of the Hotel Floriana which the CF passes!
I never saw any public hunting preserves along the Camino Frances. Where would those be on the route? Also, to those not familiar with hunting, fear not if walking the Camino during the traditional fall hunting season. Nobody is roaming about randomly with a firearm shooting at whatever moves. That's pure BS. The hunting is done on private property, and they use dogs quite a bit to drive the deer or boars past standers who are posted up and stay there.I was actually more concerned with some public hunting preserves in the Camino...I just hoped that the pilgrim season were not still open.
Yes, and I'm sure that's what that was. Domestic hogs are a noisy lot and very vocal, especially when eating and pushing and shoving each other around.I wonder if this has been a case of mistaken identity - the indoor pig farms can be pretty noisy and smelly and there are certainly a lot of those about in rural Spain.
Tell that to @tyrrek who picked up some flesh wounds thanks to a Quail hunter while out litter-picking in the wilds of Palencia. The track through the Montes de Oca is a favourite stand for Boar hunters while the dogs work the forest. Happily they are all very Peregrino aware - and quite happy to share some coffee on a frosty morning.I never saw any public hunting preserves along the Camino Frances. Where would those be on the route?
"The smell of death and dung"?The YouTube video is 'I would walk...' By Alexandra Liss
It's around 56 minutes into the video.
Thanks
Nice. I'd be trying to solicit an empty stand and a rifle for the next hunt.Tell that to @tyrrek who picked up some flesh wounds thanks to a Quail hunter while out litter-picking in the wilds of Palencia. The track through the Montes de Oca is a favourite stand for Boar hunters while the dogs work the forest. Happily they are all very Peregrino aware - and quite happy to share some coffee on a frosty morning.
In the woods, before Hôpital Saint Blaise, in the Piedmont Way -you can actually see many wooden hunting stands. It is about pigeon and quail hunting, a very popular activity in French Pyrinees. The farmer that received us in Saint Just Ybarre had a lot of funny anecdotes about that. It is definitely a part of farmers culture.Shots? Screams?
I never saw any public hunting preserves along the Camino Frances. Where would those be on the route?
"The smell of death and dung"?
Sounds like a deer camp I used to go to years ago in Texas.
All bad jokes aside, what the poor naive woman was probably talking about is the cow dung that you frequently encounter on the Way as you pass through the villages. The locals raise milk cows and daily move them from point A to point B. As the cows walk they do what cows do, and take a dump. I never smelled "death" along the Camino and that comment by her is absurd. I never saw any slaughterhouses on the Camino and the cattle I saw were of the milk production variety, not beef cattle or beef cattle farms.
A lot of stories of walking the Camino tend to be exaggerated, and at times outright BS.
ultreia
and yes, a safe pilgrim is a passing automobile aware pilgrim....It is as when I walk alongside a paved road: I hope an expect that drivers go carefully -but anyway, I'd prefer to walk in a lonely, safer road.
@Jules67 , I think you have mis-heard and mis-interpreted one brief comment in one Utube post that has, incidentally touched a few of us today. Nevertheless, though there are indeed slaughterhouses in towns and cities along the Camino routes no-one can recall the camino path actually passing an active slaughterhouse. Whether that provides you sufficient comfort or not will depend on you. Livestock farming, slaughterhouses, butchers' shops and meat based meals are all part of the socio-political and geographic landscape of the camino. If proximity is the trigger of your distress then you can relax, in all our recall and my googling of licensed slaughterhouses in Northern Spain I cannot find an instance where you might be adjacent to such an establishment. Nevertheless they are part of the fabric of Spain as they are of every other nation and you may therefore find yourself within one block or two, upwind or down of a Matadero.Hi to all those who have done this route before.
This will be my first which will be the Franćes Camino. I've youtubed some pilgrims experiences for inspiration and ideas. On youtube, as its not mentioned in any guide book I've read, that the path is so close to a slaughter house that you can hear everything!!!!! Screams and shots etc... Does anyone remember this? What town its in? Is there a way to avoid it besides using head phones? Or is it in fact true?
And further, the reference to "the smell of death and dung" came into a thoughtful conversation about life and death and the meaning of it all. The woman did not seem traumatized; rather the experience had given her something to think about. That was part of the value in her camino experience.isn't that our beloved @Sagalouts participating in the conversation where the mention of the slaughterhouse comes in? RIP, amigo.
Sorry folks but I just love the smell of cow dung along the way, especially in Galecia!"The smell of death and dung"?
Sounds like a deer camp I used to go to years ago in Texas.
All bad jokes aside, what the poor naive woman was probably talking about is the cow dung that you frequently encounter on the Way as you pass through the villages. The locals raise milk cows and daily move them from point A to point B. As the cows walk they do what cows do, and take a dump. I never smelled "death" along the Camino and that comment by her is absurd. I never saw any slaughterhouses on the Camino and the cattle I saw were of the milk production variety, not beef cattle or beef cattle farms.
A lot of stories of walking the Camino tend to be exaggerated, and at times outright BS.
ultreia
Yes, that is so cool to watch and I love to see the working dogs with them. All business, and doing the things they were bred to do. That was always one of my favorite things to come across and a good time to stop walking for a few minutes and just take it all in.Sorry folks but I just love the smell of cow dung along the way, especially in Galecia!
And the women bringing in the cows.
It's like perfume to my nostrils!
Reminds me of my home long ago.
Shots? Screams?
I never saw any public hunting preserves along the Camino Frances. Where would those be on the route? Also, to those not familiar with hunting, fear not if walking the Camino during the traditional fall hunting season. Nobody is roaming about randomly with a firearm shooting at whatever moves. That's pure BS. The hunting is done on private property, and they use dogs quite a bit to drive the deer or boars past standers who are posted up and stay there.
Not quite true. Last November/December we had to walk through hunts often. Public hunting takes place along a lot of the camino. For instance, after Castrojeriz up on the Alto there were hunters on both sides of the way, often even on the way shooting. We had to walk through them, but to be honest they were very careful around us. Another time was descending to Cee and we were surrounded by shotgun blasts with hunters and dogs crossing the way often (they offered to give us a lift into town as it was raining)! This happened so frequently it became normal.
In 2015 a whole pack of wild boar, with young, ran across the Way around and through us pilgrims, they were being chased by hunting dogs and hunters with guns. This was in July.
Davey
Sorry folks but I just love the smell of cow dung along the way, especially in Galecia!
And the women bringing in the cows.
It's like perfume to my nostrils!
Reminds me of my home long ago.
Sorry folks but I just love the smell of cow dung along the way, especially in Galecia!
And the women bringing in the cows.
It's like perfume to my nostrils!
Reminds me of my home long ago.
Never saw JulzPlease only answer if you have the answer to my question.. I didn't intend this to be a debate.
I apologise for those who are offended by some of these comments.
You have to bear in mind, some people don't like this and some people don't mind listening or even watching animals being killed. Please be respectful and mindful of those who don't..
I'm sorry I asked the question...
But thank you to those who answered without provoking debate
I think this is a good explanation for what was a casual remark made by the interviewer. In the first instance, I have my doubts that any abattoir will smell of death, because no-one wants a carcass to start putrifying. I visited abattoirs regularly in my youth and occasionally since, and they certainly smelt of dung, perhaps of blood, but never of decay. I have smelt decay in dead animals that have been left to rot, and in mass burial sites following natural disasters like bushfires here in Australia. But none of the abattoirs I ever visited had that smell.I suspect that there are many people who walk the Camino are people who are unfamiliar with farming practices and the odours among other things that go along with it. Not to mention the fact that there is no one following along behind said cows with a wheel barrow and a shovel to clean up the leavings (watch your step, everyone!)
There were so many you can't count. Hunting fields, dog training fields, etc. Spanish word "caza" signals those.I never saw any public hunting preserves along the Camino Frances.
I've walked the Frances 4 times from Roncesvalles to Santiago. Never noticed a slaughter house along the trail.Please only answer if you have the answer to my question
I distinctly remember the slaughterhouse on the road before Ponferrada, because they were slaughtering pigs. The sound is enough to make you cry, which I did. I walked and cried right along with the screaming pigs.Hi to all those who have done this route before.
This will be my first which will be the Franćes Camino. I've youtubed some pilgrims experiences for inspiration and ideas. On youtube, as its not mentioned in any guide book I've read, that the path is so close to a slaughter house that you can hear everything!!!!! Screams and shots etc... Does anyone remember this? What town its in? Is there a way to avoid it besides using head phones? Or is it in fact true?
Sorry folks but I just love the smell of cow dung along the way, especially in Galecia!
And the women bringing in the cows.
It's like perfume to my nostrils!
Reminds me of my home long ago.
Me too! But it's just because Mama like Narragansett Beer and Pall Malls. Sigh. Those were the days.My parents ran small hotels with bars during my formative years.
To this day the aromas of stale beer and cigarette smoke make me give me twinges of homesickness.
Perhaps the OP could take the alternate route to Ponferrada if she wishes to avoid it.I distinctly remember the slaughterhouse on the road before Ponferrada, because they were slaughtering pigs.
I distinctly remember the slaughterhouse on the road before Ponferrada, because they were slaughtering pigs. The sound is enough to make you cry, which I did. I walked and cried right along with the screaming pigs.
The smell is bad too.
But I eat meat.
And I was one of those Americans you mention that try to tell myself it comes in the little plastic package and there was painless death involved. After a long and joyful life of eating chrysanthemums dipped in honey and sleeping peacefully each night in a giant doggie bed in a warm barn full of animals that talked to each other and a spider that wrote "Some Pig" in silk above his head, the large hog was distracted by chocolate and died with one shot to the temple and a smile on his snout.
So the Camino can be a slap in the Truth Bone, not very gently, to those of us who obscure reality for the sake of sleeping better at night. .
For those out there who think it's bad, hate me now if you don't already, but I've been on hand for the putting down of a hog for butchering and have even done in a few hogs myself, and there was no "screaming" (same with the cow I saw put down for butchering). Hog is alive and a second later he ain't. That's it. Now they do make a lot of noise just in their daily life as being a hog. The typical hog vocalization.I distinctly remember the slaughterhouse on the road before Ponferrada, because they were slaughtering pigs. The sound is enough to make you cry, which I did. I walked and cried right along with the screaming pigs.
The smell is bad too.
But I eat meat.
And I was one of those Americans you mention that try to tell myself it comes in the little plastic package and there was painless death involved. After a long and joyful life of eating chrysanthemums dipped in honey and sleeping peacefully each night in a giant doggie bed in a warm barn full of animals that talked to each other and a spider that wrote "Some Pig" in silk above his head, the large hog was distracted by chocolate and died with one shot to the temple and a smile on his snout.
So the Camino can be a slap in the Truth Bone, not very gently, to those of us who obscure reality for the sake of sleeping better at night. We need that.
And you told her about Santa and the Easter Bunny too, didn't you? Mean big bro. Funny but Mean.Excellently put Coleen, but it is not just Americans I assure you, it is the same here in the UK. Probably a 'civilized' western world thing. When my sister was 15 she did not know that roast lamb was a baby sheep, and my mum slapped me for telling her!
And you told her about Santa and the Easter Bunny too, didn't you? Mean big bro. Funny but Mean.
Hi to all those who have done this route before.
This will be my first which will be the Franćes Camino. I've youtubed some pilgrims experiences for inspiration and ideas. On youtube, as its not mentioned in any guide book I've read, that the path is so close to a slaughter house that you can hear everything!!!!! Screams and shots etc... Does anyone remember this? What town its in? Is there a way to avoid it besides using head phones? Or is it in fact true?
And the problem is? Unless you live on grass, you'll need food. Don't bite the hand that feeds you...Hi to all those who have done this route before.
This will be my first which will be the Franćes Camino. I've youtubed some pilgrims experiences for inspiration and ideas. On youtube, as its not mentioned in any guide book I've read, that the path is so close to a slaughter house that you can hear everything!!!!! Screams and shots etc... Does anyone remember this? What town its in? Is there a way to avoid it besides using head phones? Or is it in fact true?
Honestly though (...), I hope we can avoid these cruel slaughtering houses. I don't see the need for them; they simply kill innocent animals just for food. We don't need them at all, since all shops sell meat in sanitary sterile packings. That way we don't need to kill real animals. Peace & love.
Do you know that I think we should help the OP. If she is uncomfortable lets help.
Do you know, that I have never owned a TV in my life (I'm 50). I hate it. I hate it so much I will not enter a building, a friends or relatives house where they have it on. So on Camino I am the one sat outside in the rain with my coffee or beer. Have you tried to dodge TV in bars in Spain?! Near enough impossible.
Now you can give me all the lectures you like, but it makes me uncomfortable. Its my choice to sit outside too. I amuse my fellow pilgrims!
Also, I can't say I disagree with any of you, but we are all different. Yes the morals of modern meat eating and food production are an interesting discussion. But we are not really helping a fellow pilgrim out here are we?
And if anyone sees the tooth fairy, let her know she owes me a few quid.
Davey
Get real! Salami is a sousage; not an animal! As is choriso! Take a look at it: Is it an animal? No. Animals have four legs; chorisao/salami none! There are so many misconceptions at this: Jamon, f.ex. It is a slice of food, not an animal.I just ate Salami out of a very pretty plastic package. Hope no real animals were harmed in its production. Think Soylent Green!
Time your walk along the Frances well then - Leon has a morcilla festival in the autumnYou have me missing blood sausage as well. So much to like about Spain
Please only answer if you have the answer to my question.. I didn't intend this to be a debate.
I apologise for those who are offended by some of these comments.
You have to bear in mind, some people don't like this and some people don't mind listening or even watching animals being killed. Please be respectful and mindful of those who don't..
I'm sorry I asked the question...
But thank you to those who answered without provoking debate
When I was on the Camino in 2015 I stayed at the albergue in Ages. It just so happened that night they were having a street party of sorts in that small town. I think it was a collective birthday party for a few people. They invited all the pilgrims staying in the albergue(s) to join in. The albergues were not that full (and this was in July, so fear not fellow pilgrims, sometimes there is too much room at the inn's). There was wine, bread and they set up the grills and cooked up a couple of kinds of chorizo, including the blood chorizo as well as grilled hog snouts and ears. Delicious. It was so nice and the locals were so hospitable. One of my favorite towns on the CF and one of my favorite memories.So now we know who eats meat, & for the fun of it why don't we figure out where the pears come from or what beer is the best on tap. But let's start new threads. You have me missing blood sausage as well. So much to like about Spain
When I was on the Camino in 2015 I stayed at the albergue in Ages. It just so happened that night they were having a street party of sorts in that small town. I think it was a collective birthday party for a few people. They invited all the pilgrims staying in the albergue(s) to join in. The albergues were not that full (and this was in July, so fear not fellow pilgrims, sometimes there is too much room at the inn's). There was wine, bread and they set up the grills and cooked up a couple of kinds of chorizo, including the blood chorizo as well as grilled hog snouts and ears. Delicious. It was so nice and the locals were so hospitable. One of my favorite towns on the CF and one of my favorite memories.
Lets be clear that having watched the video link that you posted I could find no reference to an abattoir nor to there being screams and shots. However, if you are worried that about these specific things, I understand EU law has similar, if not greater, protections for animals to those in most first world nations. Amongst other things, the EU requires animals to be effectively stunned before slaughter. Under such circumstances, only a very few animals will squeal, bleat or moo, but clearly there is no guarantee of perfection in any practical system, and a small number might. And it seems to me that it would be very unusual for an animal to be stunned by a gunshot, although I understand that this might also happen for large animals as well when the regular stunning technique doesn't work effectively.the path is so close to a slaughter house that you can hear everything!!!!! Screams and shots etc...
.... never walked past a slaughterhouse? They are modern inventions, late 1700s, early 1800s and 1900s, I think. I don't know about the US or the UK but, strangely enough, in a number of European cities - including Madrid - such inner city municipial buildings are converted into huge cultural centres these days.
I know I will not make myself popular with this post but I do not think there is anything wrong with a slaughterhouse close to the Camino.
The Camino is not a walk through a garden of roses but a walk through the good , the bad & the ugly. A metaphor of "Life as it is". Yes, there are the rolling hills of La Rioja, the grandeur of the cathedrals of Leon and Burgos, the shared wine or coffee in the albergues, the stunning views at O'Cebreiro but also the industrial estates walking into the bigger towns and yes maybe also a slaughterhouse...
Don't worry too much about it....It is all part of the experience.
Ultreïa!!
we can also ponder the origins of the seedless grape.So now we know who eats meat, & for the fun of it why don't we figure out where the pears come from or what beer is the best on tap. But let's start new threads. You have me missing blood sausage as well. So much to like about Spain
Annie, maybe in Portland, but please don't put us all in the same boat of denial , where I live there are 3 private owned "slaughter houses" that process wild game , and home raised livestock of all kinds, plus I know several, myself included, that process our own game and farm raised pork, goats and lamb,I agree, Sabine. Many people in the USA have come to believe that meat comes in nice plastic wrapped packages.
The Camino, in many different ways, is a peek into the reality of farm life.
I didn't say they never walked past a slaughterhouse, and I know that it is a more modern facility that comes with larger cities and not small villages and towns. I was saying that I doubt they would have been offended if they had and the slaughter of livestock was part of everyday rural life (then and now). I know that not all livestock for consumption is processed at a slaughterhouse. It could be a barn. A tree. Anything. In south Texas and south Louisiana in the fall it's still traditional to slaughter a hog and process it at home. It's a social event, and everyone get's involved. When I worked in Afghanistan our Nepalese security guys frequently bought goats to slaughter and cook up on Fridays. It was a group effort. Sometimes we bought the goats (and the whiskey.... never walked past a slaughterhouse? They are modern inventions, late 1700s, early 1800s and 1900s, I think. I don't know about the US or the UK but, strangely enough, in a number of European cities - including Madrid - such inner city municipial buildings are converted into huge cultural centres these days.
I didn't say they never walked past a slaughterhouse, and I know that it is a more modern facility that comes with larger cities and not small villages and towns. I was saying that I doubt they would have been offended if they had and the slaughter of livestock was part of everyday rural life (then and now). I know that not all livestock for consumption is processed at a slaughterhouse. It could be a barn. A tree. Anything. In south Texas and south Louisiana in the fall it's still traditional to slaughter a hog and process it at home. It's a social event, and everyone get's involved. When I worked in Afghanistan our Nepalese security guys frequently bought goats to slaughter and cook up on Fridays. It was a group effort. Sometimes we bought the goats (and the whiskey).
Thanks Chris.Never saw or heard anything resembling a slaughterhouse on the Camino Frances (nor the Norte/Primitivo stretch!)
Dang you good. Nice investigative work.Sometimes google searches pay off and some times they don't. https://www.paginasamarillas.es/a/mataderos/leon/ponferrada/
The only active, licensed Matadero anywhere near the camino at Ponferrada is actually in Molinaseca, at Traversia Manuel Fraga 5. This is some 250 metres North of the camino route on a continuation of the LE-142 after pilgrims turn left onto the Puente de Molinaseca.
I hope this provides some comfort to @Jules67 who is unlikely to come within sight, sound or smell of the premises.
LOL!Dang you good. Nice investigative work.
but how does that explain the smell of "death and dung"? The "screams" of the doomed?
ha ha
Dang you good. Nice investigative work.
but how does that explain the smell of "death and dung"? The "screams" of the doomed?
ha ha
Sometimes google searches pay off and some times they don't. https://www.paginasamarillas.es/a/mataderos/leon/ponferrada/
The only active, licensed Matadero anywhere near the camino at Ponferrada is actually in Molinaseca, at Traversia Manuel Fraga 5. This is some 250 metres North of the camino route on a continuation of the LE-142 after pilgrims turn left onto the Puente de Molinaseca.
I hope this provides some comfort to @Jules67 who is unlikely to come within sight, sound or smell of the premises.
Margaret, you are always a wealth of knowledge! You amaze me!Molinaseca is very famous for manufacturing sausage.
See more--
http://www.embutidoselabuelo.es/
The town even has a famous sculpture of a giant sausage in front of the Hotel Floriana which the CF passes!
I'm puzzled by the suggestion that these premises are on the actual Camino route; though it is 5 years since I last walked through Molinaseca. At that time the route followed the Puente de Molinaseca and Calle Real (clue in the name) thereby avoiding the trucks on the LE-142 and passing instead several pleasant bars and comedors and also avoiding Snrs Frimols.Yes that's the one I found, see my post above. It's actually located a little further along the road on the way out of Molinaseca. The direct route along the road just passes the front of the factory, but the alternative off road path behind the buildings would probably come closer to any activities. Although as others have said, the descriptions of screams and shots sound like poetic license!
Thanks Hutton.Never saw Julz
Thanks Doug. My thoughts were the same re EU laws and I'm thinking it's probably blown out of all proportion. Don't get me wrong, I am a meat eater, lived next to a farm and suffered the smells on a daily basis.! I just didn't want to suddenly stumble such a work place if I could hear what was going on in there. Appreciate your feedback.Lets be clear that having watched the video link that you posted I could find no reference to an abattoir nor to there being screams and shots. However, if you are worried that about these specific things, I understand EU law has similar, if not greater, protections for animals to those in most first world nations. Amongst other things, the EU requires animals to be effectively stunned before slaughter. Under such circumstances, only a very few animals will squeal, bleat or moo, but clearly there is no guarantee of perfection in any practical system, and a small number might. And it seems to me that it would be very unusual for an animal to be stunned by a gunshot, although I understand that this might also happen for large animals as well when the regular stunning technique doesn't work effectively.
Clearly none of us can guarantee you won't witness inhumane animal treatment on your camino, but I don't think it is the issue you seem to think it might be.
I'm puzzled by the suggestion that these premises are on the actual Camino route; though it is 5 years since I last walked through Molinaseca. At that time the route followed the Puente de Molinaseca and Calle Real (clue in the name) thereby avoiding the trucks on the LE-142 and passing instead several pleasant bars and comedors and also avoiding Snrs Frimols.
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