Wow. Forest fire closes Napoleon route.

[aliciag56]

ℹ Reabierto hoy y mañana el tramo del #CaminodeSantiago . Saint Jean Pied de Port y el Puerto de Lepoeder - Canal Peregrino

Los bomberos han conseguido dar por estabilizado el incendio forestal declarado este sábado en una zona de hojarasca en el paraje de Bentartea, en Valcarlos, cerca de la frontera con Francia.

canalperegrino.org

Dry conditions remote location. Would be interested in hearing from any pilgrims in the area. I'm 10 days out and long since left SJ.

 

[Tincatinker]

The fire centre seems to be the Col de Bentarte and adjacent to the Route Napoleon. The Route would have been closed to Pilgrims from 1 November anyway.

I'll comfort myself with the thought that this was a spontaneous conflagration and not sparked by some Pilg's discarded fag-butt or an ill advised attempt to make a brew.

Strange, when the route is routinely closed due to the ever present threat of heavy snow - perhaps the Lyke Wake Dirge has it right:

This one night, this one night
Every night and all
Fire and sleet and candle-light
And Christ receive thy soul

 

[JLV]

I could be wrong with my limited Spanish. However what I gather from the news post, if your going through Valcarlos you might find the route is closed.

 

[aliciag56]

I could be wrong with my limited Spanish. However what I gather from the news post, if your going through Valcarlos you might find the route is closed.

I'm not getting that. Just the Napoleon route which closes soon anyway. Open to being corrected though

 

[Tincatinker]

I could be wrong with my limited Spanish. However what I gather from the news post, if your going through Valcarlos you might find the route is closed.

"However, it has been necessary to close the passage of the Camino de Santiago through the area to avoid incidents due to smoke inhalation. People who walk the Camino from Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port to Roncesvalles should do so via Valcarlos."
The route via Valcarlos remains open. Will have been a compulsory disposition from Tuesday anyways. The Benta Ardandegia will be welcoming pilgrims once again

 

[JLV]

I apologize, My Spanish is very limited.

 

[Kathar1na]

Read the actual Twitter feed of Bomberos y Bomberas – Suhiltzaileak - @bomberos_na and
of 112 Sos Navarra / Nafarroa - @112_na and the timeline. These are the Twitter handles of firefighters and emergency services for the Valcarlos/Roncesvalles area.

Route Valcarlos:

• has been open all the time and continues to be open throughout the coming weeks and months

Route Napoleon:

• was closed on Saturday 29 October 2022 (fire, smoke)
• is open on Sunday 30 October 2022 and on Monday 31 October 2022
• is closed from Tuesday 1 November 2022 until 31 March 2023 (seasonal closure).

See also this year's official announcement from the regional government of Navarra:

Limitado por seguridad un tramo inicial del Camino de Santiago desde el 1 de noviembre hasta el 31 de marzo

<p>En concreto, se trata de la variante este del Camino Francés a su entrada por Navarra, entre Saint Jean Pied de Port y el Puerto de Lepoeder</p>

www.navarra.es

 

[Kathar1na]

BTW, what you also see in the Twitter feed of the local emergency services 112 Sos Navarra / Nafarroa - @112_na:

• Yesterday (29 October), they tweeted a severe weather warning from AEMET saying that the level of risk of forest fires was extreme or very high ("extremo" o "muy alto") in all of Navarra.
  
  
• Today (30 October), they tweeted a severe weather warning from AEMET saying that as of 3 pm there is a risk of heavy rain (acumulación de precipitaciones) in three areas of Navarra that include the Valcarlos / Roncesvalles area.

They advise people to stay up to date as to these warnings.

 

[Tincatinker]

I apologize, My Spanish is very limited.

So is mine. I must admit I delved deeper, and tried a few of the online translators, because, like the Napoleon, the route via Valcarlos passes through the Puerto de Ibañeta which seemed to be the fire centre. It seems to me now that Ibenata / Col de Bentata is the control-centre not the fire centre which was further to the north and east of the route.

 

[Ianinam]

I am in Roncesvalles at the moment. Yesterday (Saturday) pilgrims came in late in the afternoon. They had walked up the Route Napoleon, were stopped by polica at Arisson because of the fires. Some pilgrims called a taxi to bring them back to Saint-Jean-Pied-Port, or even directly to Roncesvalles, but other pilgrims decided to walk back to SJPdP and walk the Valcarlos route! So these pilgrims walked 35-37 kms in total. Amongst them was a Belgian family with a 9 years old boy!
Tonight we have heavy rain and thunder and lightning, so the fires will have stopped by now