Like everything else, the pandemic effectively shut down pilgrimage on the Camino de Santiago over the past 15 months, aside from a soft reopening for Europeans last summer. With Europe finally reopening, to varying degrees, the smoke is starting to clear. And, to my great relief, much of the pilgrim infrastructure is bouncing back, with scores of albergues already open and welcoming pilgrims.
One of the responsibilities that comes with writing a guidebook is tracking updates. We keep a running list between new editions over on the Northern Caminos site. The challenge we faced this year was how to integrate the countless COVID-specific updates that are essential for this year but may have no lasting relevance moving forward. In the end, we decided to keep this information on separate tracks. Long-term updates are still included on NC. Meanwhile, we’ve developed different spreadsheet for the stuff that has immediate relevance.
We kept it simple. We reached out to every accommodation that we track on the routes we’re responsible for–the Camino del Norte, Primitivo, Inglés, and Mar–and we asked them to answer just a few questions: 1) Are you open now or planning to reopen in 2021? 2) Are you operating at reduced capacity? 3) Have you changed your prices? 4) Any advice for 2021 pilgrims?
As that information comes in, we’re sharing it out in these spreadsheets:
- Camino del Norte Accommodations Updates
- Camino Primitivo Accommodations Updates
- Camino Inglés & Mar Accommodations Updates
While the response rate hasn’t been ideal (we’re around one-third at this point, after two calls for news), some trends have emerged in the feedback from Spain:
- A clear majority of accommodations are keeping their prices consistent with pre-pandemic levels. This was a surprise to me, given how long they’ve been shut down and how (for albergues at least) they’re currently operating at reduced capacity
- While a majority of private albergues are open, the situation with municipal albergues is much more varied. Municipals in the Basque Country are currently all closed. In Galicia, the Xunta just reopened half of its albergues, though all at significantly reduced capacity. Some municipals in other places have announced they won’t reopen in 2021, while others are targeting a July 1 reopening
- Hotels are generally unscathed when it comes to room capacity, though food services are more restricted
The most consistent advice offered by accommodations is that 2021 pilgrims should reserve ahead, especially if they’re hoping to stay in albergues. For many pilgrims, this is a change. Some hate the idea of having that kind of structure, preferring to take each day as it comes. For others, it represents a logistical challenge. How the heck can you go about making and managing all of these reservations?
If you’re in that boat, the rest of this post is for you. For years now, I’ve been leading high school groups on pilgrimage, and that group experience has necessitated making a number of reservations in Spain, Italy, and France. Even when walking alone in France, it’s far more customary there to book ahead, especially if you’re requesting meals. So, I’ve had a lot of practice. Here’s what I’ve learned…
I’m seeing many pilgrims translate “reservations required” into “well, off to Booking.com then!” And that’s certainly a good resource. Some albergues and hotels now will direct you there for reservations and in those cases you have no other option. One of the things I like about Booking and other reservation sites is that you often get a free cancellation option, until just a couple of days before, so you can have confidence without total commitment. That flexibility is helpful.
However, you’ll often pay more for the convenience of Booking. It’s not a free service; we pilgrims are just blind to the expense it poses to accommodations. You will often get a cheaper rate by booking directly, with albergues and hotels alike. With hotels, in particular, you might be able to get a pilgrim discount by booking directly. Beyond that, many accommodations only make a portion of their beds/rooms available on Booking, so you might trick yourself into believing that everything is filled up, when in reality spaces are still available.
Try emailing accommodations directly. (I’ve included email addresses for every place on the list.) Put the date you’re targeting in the subject line, for ease of reference (you’ll potentially be sending a lot of these emails, after all). Be very specific in your requests to minimize follow-ups. Do you want a bed or a private room? Is it just you or others? Just one night, right? Will you have a local phone number or whatsapp? Include it if you do; give them a heads up that you don’t if you won’t, because they will ask for that.
It’s fine if you don’t have any facility with Spanish/French/Italian/whatever. I use Google Translate for all of my French communications and I’ll polish up my Spanish and Italian. It works great, especially if you a) keep your sentences short, b) limit your clauses, and c) avoid any colloquialisms.
Depending upon the place, you might receive a request for a deposit. In France, it’s quite common to have a gite ask for a deposit to be made by personal check. Every single time I’ve responded to politely note this was going to be challenging to pull off as an American, the gite has quickly waived the requirement. In other cases, it’s possible to make a deposit via paypal or a credit card.
Typically–and especially if you don’t have a phone or are unable to make a deposit–the place will ask you to reconfirm a day or two in advance and also to let them know if you’re running late. “Late” varies from place to place, but it’s usually around 3-5pm. I often have some long days, so I’m always sure to alert the albergue/gite ahead of time if I anticipate a later arrival. Email might work for confirmations, but it’s quite common in France to ask your host one night to phone ahead on your behalf to the next gite, and you may be able to solicit the kindness of your hospitalero/a in Spain as well, especially if they aren’t busy at the moment.
Remember that all of these accommodations have taken a financial hit over the last two years and every unfilled bed this summer is a real loss. If you make a reservation, they’re counting on you to fill it. There’s a lot of trust involved in a non-Booking reservation and every hospitalero/a has stories to share of pilgrims making several different reservations on a given day, in order to give themselves flexibility at the expense of the albergues involved. If your plans change at all, you’ve got to alert the albergues as soon as possible.
