mfmarotto
New Member
- Time of past OR future Camino
- Frances (09/2016)
Frances & Portugues (06/2019)
I wish I had read the reviews before deciding to stay here, and want to share this now because I'm horrified at this experience - it doesn't at all encapsulate the spirit of the Camino, and as a woman, I did not feel safe here. I want other woman to be aware
The man who works there (I presume the owner) yelled at me really intensely on two occasions, and grabbed my arm. What instigated this? With my little Spanish, I could understand at 21:15 at night that he wanted to turn the lights off in the common area. I tried to ask him if I could still sit there, even with the lights off and keep speaking to my dad on the phone. He started raising his voice at me, and I could only understand that he was suddenly yelling "no es su casa!" - I kept calmly telling him I didn't understand overall, and tried to ask the clarifying questions I knew how to say in Spanish (like, can I sit here? is it okay if I talk to my dad here? do I need to move?). His rage got so strong so fast (within 20sec) that that another pilgrim ran out to see if everything was okay and looked at me shocked (the owner could not see this other pilgrim from where he was).
Worse, he yelled even louder at me the next morning when I tried to approach him to make peace, telling him that I barely speak Spanish and couldn't understand what he was saying the night before. Not only did he start to really yell at me, but he got in my face and grabbed my arm, to which I said "DON'T TOUCH ME!" strongly in English, and he took a step back. Not 20 seconds later, he reached out to my arm again, and again, I said strongly, "DON'T TOUCH ME". As for what was said, I again and again, was telling him that I didn't understand ("no comprendo"), and the only thing I understood from the exchange was that he was very upset I brought pizza from the pizzeria in to eat for dinner... turns out they have a "no outside food" rule - however, when speaking with the other pilgrims who stayed there that night, I learned that not one of us had ever been informed of that, nor were aware. Not only that, but as I ate my pizza the night before, the man walked by me multiple times and never said a word, nor any nonverbal indication that he had a problem with it. However, this man seemed to be so upset about this particular part, that he even grabbed the pizza box from the trash and wagged it in my face.
I was terrified in this situation in the morning, and shocked - I very quickly backed out of the hostel as he yelled out the door at me and I walked away. Not only did I feel unsafe here, but this man has no business working in hospitality. I have walked the Camino four times now, and have never experienced something like this. I've also traveled for years on end, and have never seen someone who works with tourists behave so aggressively like that. Yes, I'm in Spain, and yes, English isn't the language, but I was clearly trying to communicate with him in Spanish, and didn't understand. Rather than be understanding of that, or offer to use Google Translate, this man quite literally flew off the handle.
(On smaller side notes... multiple other pilgrims and I all agreed that we were very underwhelmed by the "welcome" we got from the woman who checked us in. We all felt more like an inconvenience in her day than anything else. We all also agreed that it felt like a rip off to pay 20 EUR for a bunk bed the night, and if you wanted to do laundry, pay 11 EUR(!!) more... this place truly felt the opposite of so much of what the Camino is supposed to be.)
The man who works there (I presume the owner) yelled at me really intensely on two occasions, and grabbed my arm. What instigated this? With my little Spanish, I could understand at 21:15 at night that he wanted to turn the lights off in the common area. I tried to ask him if I could still sit there, even with the lights off and keep speaking to my dad on the phone. He started raising his voice at me, and I could only understand that he was suddenly yelling "no es su casa!" - I kept calmly telling him I didn't understand overall, and tried to ask the clarifying questions I knew how to say in Spanish (like, can I sit here? is it okay if I talk to my dad here? do I need to move?). His rage got so strong so fast (within 20sec) that that another pilgrim ran out to see if everything was okay and looked at me shocked (the owner could not see this other pilgrim from where he was).
Worse, he yelled even louder at me the next morning when I tried to approach him to make peace, telling him that I barely speak Spanish and couldn't understand what he was saying the night before. Not only did he start to really yell at me, but he got in my face and grabbed my arm, to which I said "DON'T TOUCH ME!" strongly in English, and he took a step back. Not 20 seconds later, he reached out to my arm again, and again, I said strongly, "DON'T TOUCH ME". As for what was said, I again and again, was telling him that I didn't understand ("no comprendo"), and the only thing I understood from the exchange was that he was very upset I brought pizza from the pizzeria in to eat for dinner... turns out they have a "no outside food" rule - however, when speaking with the other pilgrims who stayed there that night, I learned that not one of us had ever been informed of that, nor were aware. Not only that, but as I ate my pizza the night before, the man walked by me multiple times and never said a word, nor any nonverbal indication that he had a problem with it. However, this man seemed to be so upset about this particular part, that he even grabbed the pizza box from the trash and wagged it in my face.
I was terrified in this situation in the morning, and shocked - I very quickly backed out of the hostel as he yelled out the door at me and I walked away. Not only did I feel unsafe here, but this man has no business working in hospitality. I have walked the Camino four times now, and have never experienced something like this. I've also traveled for years on end, and have never seen someone who works with tourists behave so aggressively like that. Yes, I'm in Spain, and yes, English isn't the language, but I was clearly trying to communicate with him in Spanish, and didn't understand. Rather than be understanding of that, or offer to use Google Translate, this man quite literally flew off the handle.
(On smaller side notes... multiple other pilgrims and I all agreed that we were very underwhelmed by the "welcome" we got from the woman who checked us in. We all felt more like an inconvenience in her day than anything else. We all also agreed that it felt like a rip off to pay 20 EUR for a bunk bed the night, and if you wanted to do laundry, pay 11 EUR(!!) more... this place truly felt the opposite of so much of what the Camino is supposed to be.)