Refuge, refugio, albergue (del peregrino), pilgrim hostel (click here to view video)

Refuge, refugio, albergue (del peregrino), pilgrim hostel – these are all terms for the pilgrim shelters along the various camino routes in Spain. If you can spare 10 minutes to watch the Youtube video of the DVD "Welcome", you will get a sense of what the pilgrim albergues are all about.

What are they? Where are they? What are they like? Are they all huge, noisy, crammed dormitories with snoring, snuffling pilgrims? What are the beds like, and the showers? Do they give you meals?

Pilgrim shelters - albergues - are places for pilgrims (not tourists) to sleep overnight while on their pilgrimage. Found in almost every town and village, they follow in the thousand year tradition of providing shelter to pilgrims on their way to the tomb of Saint James in Compostela.

They are found in restored churches, halls, renovated barns, private homes and many other structures. Some are open all year, others only in summer so always check your guide book before deciding on where to stay.

In Ribadiso do Baixo, also known by pilgrims as Puente Paradiso, there is an award winning albergue in the restored hospice of San Anton on the banks of the Rio Isa , which dates from the fourteenth century. It has modern ablutions, a washroom for clothes, kitchen, and in 2007 we found a new bar and restaurant right next door - business must be booming!

In Leon, one of the most cramped shelters but also one of the few that separates men and women, your hosts are the nuns of the Convento Santa Maria de las Carabjalas. You can attend a mass at 8pm and will have a blessing and breakfast before you leave in the morning. There is no kitchen but you can make tea or coffee in the common room.

In Manjarin, a donativo albergue, 10 people sleep in a small stone barn on mattresses laid out on a wooden platform. There is no running water, toilet or electricity. Tomas Le Paz is a Knight Templar who conducts a Templarios ceremony every morning at 11am (when it is 12pm in Jersualem). He provides an evening meal -cooked on a gas stove - and a breakfast. He also provides tea or coffee to passing and visiting pilgrims throughout the day.

In Hospital de San Nicolas, 10 people sleep on mattresses in the loft of a restored hermitage church. The monks wash the pilgrims' feet - following the tradition of Maundy Thursday when Christ washed the feet of his disciples - you have a pilgrim blessing and sing pilgrim songs at dinner by lamplight.

Some modern albergues are like university campus digs with all mod-cons including vending machines, cafeteria, bar and computer room for internet. Not much atmosphere and little camaraderie with other pilgrims.

There are over 120 pilgrim albergues (refuges) on the Camino Frances. Some are provided by the church, some by the local government or municipality; others are owned and run by volunteers from different Confraternities of St James around the world such as the 'donativo' Gaucelmo albergue in Rabanal which is owned and run by the CSJ - UK.

There are albergues that are owned by individuals or families who have devoted their lives to providing shelter to pilgrims, such as the refuge at Manjarin which is run by Tomas Martinez Le Paz, and Ave Fenix at Villafranca del Bierzo which Jesus Jato and his family have been running almost all their lives.

Most of the church, municipal and confraternity owned albergues are ‘donativo’ – donation. However, from 1 January 2008, all the municipal or church sponsored albergues in the Province of Galicia started levying a charge of 3€.

You cannot book a bed ahead at a church, municipal or CSJ owned albergue. These are run on a first come, first served basis. Most of these also don’t accept pilgrims with vehicle back-up, those who have sent their backpacks on ahead, or who have arrived by bus, train or taxi, and many do not accept large groups.
These albergues also have a ‘pecking order’ in that walking pilgrims take priority and pilgrims on bicycles often have to wait until evening before being told whether or not they have a bed for the night.

Many of the privately owned albergues have come together under the umbrella of an organisation called Red de Albergues Camino de Santiago. They publish an annually updated fold out list of all the albergues along the Camino Frances ‘donde el camino se hace reposo’ (where the camino sleeps) with the mileage between villages and towns, and symbols indicating whether the establishment has internet, a kitchen, laundry facilities, a bar or restaurant etc.

Their ‘Rules of Use’ are that the albergues are for the exclusive use of pilgrims on foot, bicycle or horseback who have the pilgrims’ credential. However, they also provide contact details for pilgrims wanting to send their backpacks on ahead. You can download a brochure from their website:
(Redalberguessantiago.com)

Some of the newer albergues offer single and double rooms, rooms for 4 people in 2 bunk beds with en suite bathroom, rooms for 10 people and dormitories that sleep up to 80 pilgrims. The charges vary from 5€ for a general dormitory to 9€ for a private room.

Few albergues offer any meals but some, in the more remote areas, offer a communal evening meal and, perhaps, bread, biscuits, tea and coffee for breakfast. These are either ‘donativo’ or for a few euros. Some that come to mind are Eunate, Villa Mayor Monjardin, Granón, Tosantos, Arroyo San Bol and Manjarin. Pilgrims might be asked to help prepare the evening meal and to wash the dishes afterwards.

Some albergues have kitchens although most of these are usually poorly equipped with shortages of pots and pans, crockery and cutlery. Most albergues have electricity and those that don’t, cook on gas stoves and eat by lamplight.

There are very few albergues that have single beds. Villadangos is an exception with beds in one large room and bunks in smaller rooms: Bercianos also has a room with beds and in Azofra - a large modern albergue - there are two beds per cubicle.

Most provide bunk beds in dormitories or rooms that sleep from 10 people to 200 people. None provide linen so sleeping bags or liners are essential. The majority offer blankets and some even provide a pillow.

There are a number of albergues where pilgrims sleep on mattresses on the floor. This, in my opinion, is often more comfortable than sleeping on a bunk bed especially if the mattress is soft or lumpy or if the bunk is a triple deck bunk!

All but the most basic albergues have showers, basins, toilets and wash tubs for washing clothes. Some provide washing machines and dryers. There are a minimal number of albergues that do not have electricity, running water or even toilets. (Manjarin, San Bol, Hospital San Nicholas, Convento San Anton). These, almost medieval refuges, are often the most spiritual, atmospheric places to stay.

Itzandegia at Roncesvalles is the first albergue a pilgrim will stay in along the Camino Frances in Spain. It is a large restored 12th century stone building with a vaulted ceiling that has 100 bunk beds, a heating system and hot water for the showers. It is necessary to show the Pilgrims' Credential and the inscription ticket at the entrance. Price: 5 euros. (They do not have blankets).

In Larrasoana the beds are in the old municipal hall as well as a second building not far away that caters for overflow numbers. The ablutions are in a pre-fab hut alongside the building.

There are two albergues in Pamplona – Paderbon which is run by the German St Jakob Association and for 4€ you can stay in a large modern albergue in the newly restored church of Maria y Jesus.

The albergue ANFAS outside Estella is run by people with special needs.

In Granón you climb a spiral stairway up a tall bell tower of the church and sleep on mattresses on the floor. The donativo albergue has a box with an inscription – “Give what you can – take what you need’. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEkftcdOmjk

Yellow Arrows lead the way along the camino paths and also in the towns and villages to the albergues.
Albergues close for most of the day so that volunteers can clean up and get it ready for the daily influx of new pilgrims. Most only open at about 2pm and you have to leave by 8am or 8h30 the next morning.
If you arrive at an albergue that is still closed, you put your backpack down on the ground in line and wait for the volunteer 'hospitalero' to arrive. Some hospitaleros ask you to take your boots off before entering the dormitories. You might also be asked to leave your walking sticks in a predetermined place.
You usually have to sign in by writing your name, age, nationality, starting place, whether you are walking, cycling etc. into a register. Your credential is stamped and you give a donation or pay the required amount.
You might be shown where the bedrooms and ablutions are, and you might also be told the rules of the house - lights out, time to vacate in the morning etc.
You mark your bed by unrolling your sleeping bag onto it. You leave your backpack next to the bed and go off to shower, wash clothes, find food or sightsee.
Shower and bathrooms are usually uni-sex. Two places I've stayed in did not have shower curtains or doors.
Most albergues have a curfew - 10h30pm or 11pm when lights are switched off and doors are locked. Pilgrims may only stay one night and the only exception might be if you are injured and cannot walk the next day.
Pilgrims staying in the albergues will have free medical treatment for minor injuries such as blisters, tendinitis or pulled muscles.

In most towns you have the option of staying in alternative accommodations such as small hotels, hostales, fondas (inns) or even up-market paradors. A single room in a small inn can cost from 20 - 30 euro: hotales from 30 - 45 euro: hotels from 45 - 60 euro.

Paradors are the state-run hotels that are found throughout Spain. In 2008, they range from 100€ a room to 500€ a suite. Many are restored medieval castles, Arab fortresses, palaces, monasteries and convents.

The Hostal de los Reyes Catolicos in Santiago was built in 1499 as a pilgrim hospice and hospital. It became a hotel in 1953 and is one of Spain’s most sumptuous state run Paradors. The cost of the rooms range from 210E to 525E per night. It retains the tradition of providing a free meal to at least 10 pilgrims each day.

Stone barn at Manjarin. Pilgrims sleep on mattresses on the floor

Modern albergue in Azofra: Kitchen, 2 beds to a cubicle, splash pool.

Albergue Vegetariano in La Faba run by a German 'hippie'.

El Parral - huts in the park in Burgos (A new albergue will open in the city in September 2008)

Albergue de Atapuerca. Small kitchen/no cooking/8 to a room: www.albergueatapuerca.com

Albergue San Javier in Astorga - noisy, wooden floors, nice courtyard, equipped kitchen, friendly hospitaleros

New, private albergue in el Ganso. Friendly owner, use of kitchen, 3 bed room downstairs, bunk beds upstairs, use of washing machine

Beautiful gardens - Boadilla - bunk beds or on mattresses in the loft: family run

http://www.boadilladelcamino.com/

Arroyo San Bol - very basic, bunk beds, no running water, medicinal spring, gas stove (no electricity) no toilet. New Knight Templar took over in 2008

New Terradillos de los Templarios albergue: Cafeteria, bar: 4 bed ensuite rooms cost 9 E: general dorm 5 E: www.terradillos-jdemolay.com

My favourite albergues? (Not the 'best' most upmarket, clean, modern, but the best for atmosphere, caring and spirituality.

*Eunate – meal by candlelight – walk around the church in the moonlight (Check opening times – sometimes is closed if there is no hospitalero)

*Granon – sleep on mattresses in the bell tower of a church – sing for your supper (Open all year)

*Tosantos – sleep on mattresses - pilgrim blessing in the attic chapel – pray for pilgrims who have left a prayer request (not sure of opening times)

*Arroyo San Bol - Run by Francisco, a Knight Templar – no running water, 1000yr old medicinal spring at the back, no electricity, no toilet –.(Open April – mid October)

*Convento San Anton – magical, basic albergue in the ruins of the San Anton convent (Open to end of September)

*San Nicolas - – sleep on mattresses in the loft of a restored church – communal meal cooked by Italian hospitaleros, pilgrim blessing includes washing of pilgrims feet (late June to mid-September)

*Bercianos – ancient straw and mud house, watch the sunset before being allowed to have a communal dinner
*Manjarin – Atmospheric albergue run by Tomas the Templar - basic, no running water, electricity or toilet. Sleep in a stone barn on mattresses – stay for the Templario blessing and ceremony at 11am. (Open all year)
*Villafranca del Bierzo - Ave Fenix run by the Jato family for almost 30 years – Jesus Jato is a healer. (Open all year)
*La Faba – Albergue Vegetariano run by a German hippie who sells incense and Eastern jewellery: pick the vegetables in the field next door and help cook the dinner.

el Camino de Santiago - 2002

El Camino de Santiago

We trained for months to walk the trail.
Got all the guide books in the mail
We knew that we would never fail
el Camino de Santiago

We caught the bus on our first day
to Roncesvalles, and I must say
that the twisting roads blew me away
el Camino de Santiago

Men and women in one dorm
In every single shape and form
Undressing in situ is the norm on
el Camino de Santiago

Thirty-nine years I have been wed
And no other man has shared my bed
But the man on top made my face turn red
el Camino de Santiago.

When the lights went out I prayed for morning
But I couldn’t sleep because of the snoring
And the bare-arsed man? I tried to ignore him
el Camino de Santiago.

When we reached Larrasoana the beds were full
“You can sleep on the floor,” said the mayor “if you will”.
The man in middle back-fired all night.
el Camino de Santiago.

By the third day we’d learned a thing or two.
If you wanted the laundry, shower or loo
You had to hurry to get into the queue
el Camino de Santiago

Some shower cubicles didn’t have any doors and
no hooks to hang clothes so they went on the floor
the water was freezing, my body felt raw.
el Camino de Santiago

On day number four, at last some sunshine
The Irache fuente offers water or wine
I think I’ll like the Camino just fine!
el Camino de Santiago

We’re now in wine country – in La Rioja
A ninety year-old woman offers figs, love & water
Saw Santiago Matamoros in the church of St James
El Camino de Santiago

Long shadows at daybreak, white trails in the sky,
Red poppies, green fields, and stork nests on high
And sunsets so beautiful they make you cry
el Camino de Santiago

Yellow arrows to follow day after day
Concrete stele with scallop shells showing the way
Vineyards, cherries, fields full of hay
el Camino de Santiago.

We met Germans, Italians, Carlos from Brazil
(the lady from Chile was awfully shrill)
Yanks, the French, a priest from Seville
el Camino de Santiago

Queso and pan and bocadillos too
This is the regular pilgrim’s food
A Menu del Peregrino is waiting for you
On el Camino de Santiago.

At days end I’m tired and just want to sleep
But first I have to attend to my feet
Blisters and plasters, a rub with Deep-Heat
el Camino de Santiago.

I have hair like straw and a pilgrim tan
Brown face, brown legs, brown arms and hands
We all look the same, each woman and man
el Camino de Santiago

I am sick of mud. I am tired of rocks.
I’m fed up with Compeed stuck to my socks.
Churches all look the same, Romanesque or Baroque
el Camino de Santiago

In Burgos the albergue’s in cabins - quite rough
But worse are the trees that shed thick, white fluff
I sneeze through the night – my sinuses stuffed
el Camino de Santiago

It is four in the morning; what is that racket?
A pilgrim is rustling a plastic packet
If I knew who it was I would give him a wack!
el Camino de Santiago.

At Hospital de Orbigo they abandon siesta
to celebrate an annual Medieval Fiesta
Then after Astorga the Marageteria
el camino de Santiago

Four days of flat walking on the meseta
with horizons that go on forever and ever
It’s raining and the path is getting wetter
el Camino de Santiago

It rained in the night and the path was slush
The pilgrims’ language made me blush!
One slipped and fell and said “Oh Fuck”
el Camino de Santiago.

At Manjarin the views are vast
and from Tomas the Templar a Gregorian chant
and the Cruz de Ferro, a famous landmark
el Camino de Santiago

Logrono, Najera, San Juan de Ortega,
San Anton, Fromista and Mansilla Mayor
Orbigo, Astorga, Villafranca del Bierzo
el Camino de Santiago

My mind switches off and I’m walking quite fast
I am part of the landscape, of present and past
Have I been here before - in a previous life?
el camino de Santiago

We meet different pilgrims everyday
My memories of those met before fade away
Are they ahead or behind? Who can say?
el Camino de Santiago

We entered Galicia at O’Cebreiro
The mist was so thick that it hid all the arrows
The first thing we saw was a Celtic Palloza
el Camino de Santiago

Past barnyards and farm yards, ankle deep in cow-shit.
Small hamlets, quaint houses and churches quite rustic
Corriedors through forests of Eucalyptus and oak
el Camino de Santiago

Got a sello at the barracks-like complex of Mont de Gozo
Everyone agreed that it was a real eyesore.
Then highways and traffic, the forests no more
el Camino de Santiago

No bagpipes to meet us, no cheering, no medal
We looked up in awe at St James’ Cathedral
We’d made it! We’d done it! We all felt the thrill.
el Camino de Santiago.

Climbed stairs to hug the saint above the altar
Touched the Tree of Jesse carved by Mateo the master
Entered the crypt to look at Saint James’ casket
el Camino de Santiago

A Santiago cross, a certificate, a book fill of sellos,
Souvenirs of the journey - Ultreya e sus eia
But memories remain my most valuable mementos
of El Camino de Santiago.

The lessons I learned are with me still.
Let go, be kind, don’t be critical.
We’re all pilgrims on our journey to heaven
along el Camino de Santiago.

2002

Pilgrim Memorials

This week a 60 year-old pilgrim, Paul Anthony Warsop, from Nottinghamshire in England had a heart attack and died whilst crossing the Pyrenees from St Jean Pied de Port to Roncesvalles. The report says that he was just 7km from Roncesvalles when he told his friend that he wasn't feeling well. He collapsed on the side of the road and although paramedics tried CPR for over half an hour he was pronounce dead.
Last year in April another Englishman died when crossing from St Jean. He was caught in a snow storm and although he was found a mere 50m from a road, he was suffering from hypothermia and died in the hospital in Pamplona.
There are many memorial plaques, statues and crosses to pilgrims who have died on the camino. If you scroll down a few posts on this blog you will a post on Memorials with
photographs of some of the memorials to pilgrims who died on the Camino Frances.
In medieval times, the pilgrim who died whilst on pilgrimage would have a safe passage to heaven, bypassing purgatory altogether.
RIP

None of us can believe that our walks are over

We are now in Pamplona and have just walked down the street where the bulls run during the St Fermin running of the bulls. At Santo Domingo do Silos, we attended the 13h45 session of the Gregorian chants and Finn was a little disappointed because it only lasted 15 minutes. However, we went to Vespers at 19h30 and heard a full session of prayers in Gregorian chants. Now we know why the monks at Silos are famous for their chants - it was absolutely beautiful. We decided to stay for the 9am mass as well and that too was a special treat. The Benedictine church has amazing acoustics and the gentle chanting echos through the aisle into the vault of the church. There is no ornamentation at all in the church. One large wooden Christ on the cross behind the altar is all that breaks the stonewalls. The altar is a grey granite with a simple white cloth cover. There were no chalices, cups or jugs on the altar. During the mass one of the monks collected the cups used for mass from a side granite server and these were returned straight after communion. There were about 24 monks at mass - 12 in white robes and 11 in black robes with one ‘new recruit’ in civvies. Finn and I decided to visit the museum and the cloisters - the most amazing 'narrative pillars' with biblical stories in stone on every pillar. One set of pillars are curved and when I asked the guy in the museum why he could not answer. The floors are a mosaci of pebbles and the ceilings beautifully pained. It is also a double storied cloister with a later structure built over the earlier one. We left Santo Domingo at about 10h15 and drove mostly along the N120 - the Camino road route - towards Pamplona. It was quite exciting to see peregrinos walking alongside the road on the asphalt trail and also when we stopped at Los Arcos we felt quite envious of the pilgrims walking through. We then followed the main roads up to Roncesvalles where we spent the night at the Casa Sabina Inn. The sun was shining, there were only 19 pilgrims registered at the albergue when we visited it to show Finn where we had slept the first night. The Dutch hospitalera told us that the refuge is closed from the end of October until May. We had a pilgrim menu at the Inn and then attended the pilgrim mass. We all went up to the altar for the peregrino blessing. It rained during the night and was very misty when we awoke this morning. We felt quite sorry for the pilgrims that were setting off down the trail in the rain. By the time we left the mist had cleared and the sun broke through. We drove over the Ibenta Pass to St Jean Pied de Port where we walked up a rather quiet and deserted Rue da Citadelle, visiting the pilgrim centre and having coffee at a restaurant next to the river. We did some sightseeing and left St Jean at mid-day.

We stopped once more in Roncesvalles (Finn can’t pronounce it properly so he calls it Rondebosch!) before driving on to Pamplona where we dropped off the car and checked into our hotel in San Nicolas, just around the corner from Plaza del Castillo. We walked around Pamplona for a couple of hours before having a picnic dinner in the hotel’s sitting room. We have tomorrow and Sunday free in Pamplona before we head off for the airport at about 6pm. None of us can believe that our walks are over - the last 7 weeks seem to have flown by so quickly. We will return to this internet cafe before we leave to give you the ‘last post’ from Spain.

Love to all,
S A M & Finn