Bad Experiences

I would like to report the refugio in Santibanez de Valdeiglesia, (where there is only one refugio). This year it was absolutely filthy. The courtyard was full of garbage and in ill repair. The showers outside were very dirty. The person who is responsible for this refugio is very grumpy and not very helpful and does not show up until 9:00 p.m. He charges 4 € which is fine but please clean it up. Because I was there last year, I knew there was an upstairs but it was locked. Three pilgrims from Germany came in around 6:00 p.m., very tired and all the downstairs was taken. They were discouraged and thought the place was full and had nowhere to go. I happened to hear them and told them that there is an upstairs but we had to find the man in charge. The Germans give alot of money to support this refugio. Anyway, I went to the cafe next door and they phoned this guy and he came to open up. The upstairs could be very nice, lots of rooms and a full bathroom but it was filthy. Anyway, there was no where else to go, so we all made the best of things and had a nice time, anyway. I just thought you should know about it.

Two days later I was talking to two ladies from Vancouver and one from Australia and they mentioned the refugio at Santibanez de Valdeiglesia and here is their story. They arrived (three ladies alone) late around 6:00 p.m. and of course the door was open but no one was around. They stood around and waited for someone to show up. In the meantime, there was a gruffy looking guy, walking up and down in front of the refugio making angry gestures at them and talking loud in Spanish. Finally the man in charge arrived, crabby as usual and took their 4 € and they selected a room with their bunks. In the meantime, the man in charge went out in the courtyard with the other gruffy guy who was walking back and forth outside. The man in charge was picking up stuff in the courtyard and every time he went into the shed, the weird guy would go in front of the window where the three ladies were and unzipped his pants and would masturbate. My goodness, these ladies were so frightened, that they pulled a bunk bed in front of their door and stayed in that room until the morning. Then they got the heck out of there! They were the only pilgrims in the refugio that night.  This was very bad.

Also, in all the pilgrim books it says that there is no food at Santibanez de Valdeiglesia. However, for two years now I have been able to get a full pilgrims' menu from the owner of the café for 6 €. So this is a good thing to know. I took 10 people over to the café who were hungry and we order the pilgrims' menu for 10 to be served at 8:00 p.m.

By Pat Hohs