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The albergue near a brothel?

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HedaP

Veteran Member
Time of past OR future Camino
Frances starting SJPdP Sept/Oct 2015, April/May 2017
Does anyone know the albergue that is in a small town on the CF? It is near a brothel called something like El Club that is much favoured by truck drivers. Please note the later is an assumption based not on personal experience but on the parking lot. The albergue is relatively small with a few small dormitories and the double bunks have been converted into single beds by removing the mattress from the top bunk. What was the top bunk can be used a storage space. It has a nice garden and backs onto fields. Locals were collecting walnuts in a neighbouring field when I stayed there.
PS Apologies for the title of this thread but couldn’t resist. :D
 
Technical backpack for day trips with backpack cover and internal compartment for the hydration bladder. Ideal daypack for excursions where we need a medium capacity backpack. The back with Air Flow System creates large air channels that will keep our back as cool as possible.

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@HedaP I do not know the particular place you mean but walking the Via de la Plata in the past year I noticed quite a few similar establishments on the carretera sections of the route. Often on the very edge of town or in the middle of nowhere. The vast majority seem to have closed down and be up for sale. I did wonder if there had been some change in the law that forced these closures or if they were simply no longer money-making businesses?
 
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That was in Villamayor. The albergue is San Luis de Francia (as posted above) Great home cooked food from the lady's huge garden.
 
Agree with mspath above re: Albergue San Luis de Francia. There is a restaurant about .4km down the road. Been to both places twice. A waiter at the restaurant proudly showed me photos of Shirley MacLaine (with her bodyguard) at the restaurant when she was on the Camino in the early 1990's.
 
€2,-/day will present your project to thousands of visitors each day. All interested in the Camino de Santiago.
Perhaps this place is the Albergue San Luis de Francia in Villamayor del Rio near highway N120 just east of Belorado.

https://www.gronze.com/castilla-y-leon/burgos/villamayor-rio/albergue-san-luis-francia

Nearby but often boarded up is a sexy club; there are several such hot spots along the CF.

I remember a similar setup at Castildelgado. We stayed at the lovely little albergue Bideluz (enthusiastic five stars!). On the highway was the truck stop El Chocolatero, and across from it the sketchy-looking Club Galicia. In the Club Galicia parking lot was a small trailer whose occupant had hung out laundry to dry. I didn’t ask her occupation. :)

What odd memories one makes on the Camino!

https://goo.gl/maps/agFaKuoXVty
 
St James' Way - Self-guided 4-7 day Walking Packages, Reading to Southampton, 110 kms
On the highway was the truck stop El Chocolatero, and across from it the sketchy-looking Club Galicia.

I’ve stayed at El Chocolatero twice; it’s one of my favourite overnight stops on the Francés.
22 euros for a modern well-appointed single room with private bathroom.
The first morning I went in the bar looking for a coffee, and the only available seat was at the counter in the centre of a long row of truck drivers.
I happily took my seat, ordered my coffee, and thought . . . if only my husband could see me now . . . !
Jill
 
Me, too, I have been totally oblivious. Next time I will definately watch for anything with the word "Club" in it and forego staying at any nearby albergue! :eek:

I wouldn’t worry. I don’t imagine the patrons of the club are interested in pilgrims and we have safety in numbers. Besides, if you keep the albergue curfew you’ll never even see each other!
 
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During the Canaveral – Grimaldo section on the VdlP, you pass through the parking lot of a strip club/brothel. That evening I sent a photo to my wife and assured her that I did not stop there. She replied “But it looks so nice… .”
 

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Ideal sleeping bag liner whether we want to add a thermal plus to our bag, or if we want to use it alone to sleep in shelters or hostels. Thanks to its mummy shape, it adapts perfectly to our body.

€46,-
During the Canaveral – Grimaldo section on the VdlP, you pass through the parking lot of a strip club/brothel. That evening I sent a photo to my wife and assured her that I did not stop there. She replied “But it looks so nice… .”
"Good from a far but far from good" Steve. As the saying goes 'I don't care where you get your appetite as long as you have your dinner at home';)
 
Ideal sleeping bag liner whether we want to add a thermal plus to our bag, or if we want to use it alone to sleep in shelters or hostels. Thanks to its mummy shape, it adapts perfectly to our body.

€46,-
€2,-/day will present your project to thousands of visitors each day. All interested in the Camino de Santiago.
FYI ...We have a red light district in the area and one of the houses of pleasure is called " Croque monsieur ". This is also a well known name for a typical snack...but I digress ;)
I’m in a very quiet little bar in Castilblanco de Los Arroyos on the VdlP and you’ve just made me laugh out loud, startling the proprietress a bit. I’ll keep an eye out for Croque Monsieur’s and Croque Madame’s too!
 
St James' Way - Self-guided 4-7 day Walking Packages, Reading to Southampton, 110 kms
PS Apologies for the title of this thread but couldn’t resist. :D

Apologies also that we've all hijacked your thread :D.

What was the reason for your first post? I mean, why did you want to know where this brothel I mean albergue is? Just curious :D.
Jill
 
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Most "Clubs" are registered as hostels, too. Back before camino albergues proliferated, the occasional pilgrim spent the night in a hired room, claiming to never cotton-on to what went on elsewhere in the establishment until some later revelation.
 
The 2024 Camino guides will be coming out little by little. Here is a collection of the ones that are out so far.
Apologies also that we've all hijacked your thread :D.

What was the reason for your first post? I mean, why did you want to know where this brothel I mean albergue is? Just curious :D.
Jill
Don’t worry Jill, very early on @mspath provided the answer I was looking for which was the name of the town and/or the name of the albergue. :D A camino friend is planning to walk with her grownup daughter and we were trying to remember where this particular albergue was. I knew someone would know, thanks to the memorable local landmark. All the other posts have just been a bonus.:p:p:p
 
Most "Clubs" are registered as hostels, too. Back before camino albergues proliferated, the occasional pilgrim spent the night in a hired room, claiming to never cotton-on to what went on elsewhere in the establishment until some later revelation.
Yep the oohs and ahhs coming from next door was probably somebody nursing their blisters said no one ever :eek:
 
St James' Way - Self-guided 4-7 day Walking Packages, Reading to Southampton, 110 kms
Walking past a brothel is one thing, but how many of you have walked past women at the side of the road sitting under shade umbrellas, waiting for passing business? I have had at least two up close and personal encounters of that type, once on the Catalan and once on the Levante. It was a little awkward, to say the least, but I figured I couldn't just ignore them -- especially since we had been looking at each other for 5 or 10 minutes as I shuffled towards them. And you know, the smile and the humanity coming from those faces when I said hola, buenos días, was the same as what you see from the many people you pass while walking who wish you a buenos días and a buen camino. It made me think for a long while about how those women found themselves in that situation and why I was so lucky to be walking by.
 
Walking past a brothel is one thing, but how many of you have walked past women at the side of the road sitting under shade umbrellas, waiting for passing business? I have had at least two up close and personal encounters of that type, once on the Catalan and once on the Levante. It was a little awkward, to say the least, but I figured I couldn't just ignore them -- especially since we had been looking at each other for 5 or 10 minutes as I shuffled towards them. And you know, the smile and the humanity coming from those faces when I said hola, buenos días, was the same as what you see from the many people you pass while walking who wish you a buenos días and a buen camino. It made me think for a long while about how those women found themselves in that situation and why I was so lucky to be walking by.


Thank you!
 
Technical backpack for day trips with backpack cover and internal compartment for the hydration bladder. Ideal daypack for excursions where we need a medium capacity backpack. The back with Air Flow System creates large air channels that will keep our back as cool as possible.

€83,-
Laurie, you must have seen the girl on the Portuguese Camino, between Agueda and Albergaria.
You have to pass right by her when you cross the N1 to get to the Ponte Romano.
I always greet her, but she responds warily.
Even Brierley mentions her “. . . Venus tempting the modern traveller with her charms. The fishnet tights looked out of place on the Roman bridge but blended easily in the modern motel. I, too, sell myself every time I try and manipulate the universe around me . . . .”
 
To err is human to forgive is divine, but as a fella once said to me, do you have to be oh sooooooooooo human:D:D:D;)
 
The focus is on reducing the risk of failure through being well prepared. 2nd ed.
I walked by El Pecado a couple of years ago, next to a retirement home . . . wonder if they have a stamp for the Camino?

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Reckon you have to be a pecador to be a guest. Of course if you are a pescador, then the local fish market would welcome you. I think I'll do my next Camino with a more open eye. I now know what I've missed .
 
As a bicigrino I rode 70+ km from Carrion de Los Condes to Mansilla de Las Mulas...and attempted to check-in at the Hotel Bahillo...as I was standing at the front desk and watching the ladies walk past when I realized I was in the wrong place...note that the pictures are from the internet and this hotel looks completely different on the inside...and nobody is facing the camera.
 

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Walking past a brothel is one thing, but how many of you have walked past women at the side of the road sitting under shade umbrellas, waiting for passing business? I have had at least two up close and personal encounters of that type, once on the Catalan and once on the Levante. It was a little awkward, to say the least, but I figured I couldn't just ignore them -- especially since we had been looking at each other for 5 or 10 minutes as I shuffled towards them. And you know, the smile and the humanity coming from those faces when I said hola, buenos días, was the same as what you see from the many people you pass while walking who wish you a buenos días and a buen camino. It made me think for a long while about how those women found themselves in that situation and why I was so lucky to be walking by.

Some years back (I think 2009), I was walking on the Cami de San Jaume into Igualada through an industrial suburb--- the sort of place with lots of car dealerships-- and there were three women plying their vocation along a side road. One of them cheerfully asked me, who was walking with a pack, if I were interested in business. She was Bulgarian, and the other two from Central America. I declined, saying that I was on pilgrimage and really just interested in getting into Igualada. She was very persuasive, but I continued to decline, and then suggested that (this was at the time of GM's troubles) with her skills of salesmanship and her ebullience, she could likely save the US auto industry from its woes. The other two were visibly less cheerful about their lot, but I wished them buenos días as I passed, and they shyly returned the greeting. Many caminos ago, I learned from our Spanish hosts how it was never wrong to recognize each other along the way.
 
If you read the responses in order, by the time you read this, you realize the topic has changed a bit...but I searched my photos and found the 'club' that
I remembered passing as I walked from Granon to Belorado. It was all closed up and seemed out of place, compared to other villages and businesses along the way. I notice that there is a satellite dish, so I'm sure they watch a lot of sports at the club. :)
New Club on the way to Belorado.jpg
 
€2,-/day will present your project to thousands of visitors each day. All interested in the Camino de Santiago.
Going back to good old El Pecado in Aldea del Cano, this photo is not faked, just found the right angle for the arrow ;). The arrow is inviting us to sin!!! And the other photo shows how close the old folks' home is, back to back!

I remember the place opposite El Chocolatero (great hot chocolate, best ever!!!), and the abandoned one past Cañaveral.

1518167705466.png
1518167868857.png
 
This thread raises four questions in my mind. First, do these "clubs" have sellos for our credentials? Second, do the sellos contain artwork which depict the club's services? Third, can you get your credential stamped without utilizing their services? Fourth, would any such sellos raise eyebrows at the Pilgrims Office?
 
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Technical backpack for day trips with backpack cover and internal compartment for the hydration bladder. Ideal daypack for excursions where we need a medium capacity backpack. The back with Air Flow System creates large air channels that will keep our back as cool as possible.

€83,-
This thread raises four questions in my mind. First, do these "clubs" have sellos for our credentials? Second, do the sellos contain artwork which depict the club's services? Third, can you get your credential stamped without utilizing their services? Fourth, would any such sellos raise eyebrows at the Pilgrims Office?

The problem is they are not usually open at convenient times for the average pilgrim, I am afraid...
 
Talking about possible stamps, I would have loved to get the stamp of this restaurant near Isla, Asturias. It means, literally, "The man with the big belly and the female pilgrim". The sexxy pilgrim design is quite an achievement, really....


1518186128053.png
 
I have always wanted to fill a credential with sellos from these "CLUBS", perhaps in a spare credential. Not to go to the clubs mind you, but for the confused look and scrunched up face of the volunteer at the pilgrims office when they try to figure out if I've covered the last 100km adequately.

Having said that, can anyone confirm that they actually have sellos in the clubs? Anyone?
 
St James' Way - Self-guided 4-7 day Walking Packages, Reading to Southampton, 110 kms
I have always wanted to fill a credential with sellos from these "CLUBS", perhaps in a spare credential. Not to go to the clubs mind you, but for the confused look and scrunched up face of the volunteer at the pilgrims office when they try to figure out if I've covered the last 100km adequately.

Having said that, can anyone confirm that they actually have sellos in the clubs? Anyone?
They ought to have their business sellos for bills, contracts etc. So I guess it is possible although as already mentioned their opening hours might be a bit of a problem for pilgrims ;)
 
i missed so much om My Caminos, I did not sightsee, I wlaked, did not visit alll the churches and take pictures.
Personally I am delighted to have missed out on the other attractions of the camino. too :)
 
In another thread, https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/threads/the-t-s-bars-of-spain.47574/, there was the following,

Well, on that line of thought, there are supposedly at least two "puticlubs," aka "brothels" that cater to pilgrim needs and even provide a sello! One's in Logrono, the other outside Leon. Sorry, I don't have more specifics!

So when I walked the Camino Frances last Sep/Oct, I had my eyes open, but I did not really know what to look for, and did not see anything obvious. I did want to get a sello from the clubs, but that whole world is very foreign to me. And I also wondered what the reaction might be at the Pilgrim's office in Santiago if I had sellos from the puticlubs. Maybe this is just more incentive to return...
Buen Camino!
--jim--
 
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Technical backpack for day trips with backpack cover and internal compartment for the hydration bladder. Ideal daypack for excursions where we need a medium capacity backpack. The back with Air Flow System creates large air channels that will keep our back as cool as possible.

€83,-
Talking about possible stamps, I would have loved to get the stamp of this restaurant near Isla, Asturias. It means, literally, "The man with the big belly and the female pilgrim". The sexxy pilgrim design is quite an achievement, really....


View attachment 39297
Well of course that is exactly what I looked like as I trudged along in the August heat (and the August wind and rain).
 
. . . wonder if they have a stamp for the Camino?

View attachment 39141
Those of us who are not familiar with how European establishments should look outside (except for those inviting signs) might just go in and inquire if they have a stamp; which, if positive, ... "might as well have a sangria and patata frita" . Without those signs, they are restaurants or hostels.
 
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Talking about possible stamps, I would have loved to get the stamp of this restaurant near Isla, Asturias. It means, literally, "The man with the big belly and the female pilgrim". The sexxy pilgrim design is quite an achievement, really....


View attachment 39297
I remember passing this. I was bloody starving but the restaurant was too posh and too expensive.
 
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Last year I did the Portuguese way and I remember this one town that was fully booked. Lucky for us we did it cycling. So we found this hotel online. It was very nice and very private when we arrived. Once in the room we realised what kinda hotel it was. Round bed, Jacuzzi, open shower, condoms on the night stand a disco ball :p
 
Last year I did the Portuguese way and I remember this one town that was fully booked. Lucky for us we did it cycling. So we found this hotel online. It was very nice and very private when we arrived. Once in the room we realised what kinda hotel it was. Round bed, Jacuzzi, open shower, condoms on the night stand a disco ball :p
Saturday night fever all over again:eek:
 
@HedaP I do not know the particular place you mean but walking the Via de la Plata in the past year I noticed quite a few similar establishments on the carretera sections of the route. Often on the very edge of town or in the middle of nowhere. The vast majority seem to have closed down and be up for sale. I did wonder if there had been some change in the law that forced these closures or if they were simply no longer money-making businesses?


Club in Spain means brothel. Had to break it gently lovely young ladies who told me they were going clubbing in big city. Red faces but thanked me a few days later
 
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€149,-
You could add this ... spotted on the VdP between Cañaveral and Galisteo
I was walking the Via de la Plata recently, and yes, between Canaveral and Galisteo the Camino route goes right through the parking lot of the brothel/puticlub El Puerto. There were cars in the parking lot, so I stopped and rang the bell to see if I could get a sello. It was about 10 AM. Rang twice, and nobody answered. As I was walking away, a lady in a very nice black car drove up, down came the window and she said something to me in Spanish. I heard cuatro and houra, so I am pretty sure I was being told that they open at 4 PM. I suspect the ladies are inside sleeping (thus the cars), and the doorbell rings the manager's phone when they are not open.

Gerald Kelly's guidebook for the Via de la Plata calls it a "stripclub" and says that it opens well after pilgrims' bedtime. Not so sure - I never went to bed at 4 PM. But I also was not going to return to El Puerto from Galisteo after 4 PM.

Buen Camino,
--james--
 
The Camino has moved so far from its original religious roots and has become so commercialised that I wouldn’t be surprised if brothel visits didn’t become a legitimate and promoted part of the Camino experience in future.

Let’s hope this doesn’t creep onto the site. But the lines have been blurred in some other areasFor example to me some of the posts on equipment have been very close to crossing the line into advertising.

De colores

Bogong
 
On the Ruta de la Lana, opposite Hostal Pepe, Graja de Iniesta. It seems to have recovered from whatever effects the pandemic may have had on its business.

P1030052.JPG
 
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If members find this thread offensive, I'd be happy to close or even delete it, but caveat emptor - the topic is clearly announced in the title so no one has to read it if they don't want to. Brothels exist. It is a moot point whether or not they should, but they do. However, they are not always easy to recognise so it could be argued that the thread is saving pilgrims from an embarrassing mistake. It is also, admittedly, indulging those of us with a juvenile sense of humour. As for promoting the use of brothels, I think that is highly unlikely, but if a pilgrim should seek their services, that is entirely their business.

So consider this thread under notice. It may have served its purpose already, but I will leave it for a while in case anyone has a further comment they wish to make.
 
If members find this thread offensive, I'd be happy to close or even delete it, but caveat emptor - the topic is clearly announced in the title so no one has to read it if they don't want to. Brothels exist. It is a moot point whether or not they should, but they do. However, they are not always easy to recognise so it could be argued that the thread is saving pilgrims from an embarrassing mistake. It is also, admittedly, indulging those of us with a juvenile sense of humour. As for promoting the use of brothels, I think that is highly unlikely, but if a pilgrim should seek their services, that is entirely their business.

So consider this thread under notice. It may have served its purpose already, but I will leave it for a while in case anyone has a further comment they wish to make.
Entirely reasonable; but hopefully not on the basis of a minority. The subject matter is obvious as you say.

It is perhaps an unnecessary distinction; but many of the establishments referred to in the thread exist on a wide spectrum of the sex-industry and May not be accurately described as ‘brothels’. My recent venture onto the Portuguese had me in a Casa rural adjacent to a ‘club’ which -if it were functioning at all - only opened for business long after I’d retired for the night. It seemed to be an entirely respectable neighbourhood.

Everything under the sun exists in Spain and other European countries; there’s nothing special about the areas which somehow find themselves on a Camino route.
 
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