Via de la Plata

VIA DE LA PLATA

The ‘Camino Francés’ or the French route of the pilgrimage the Camino de Santiago – the Way of St. James is the most popular route and one that we did a few years ago. There are many different starting points for a pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela and now we are planning to tackle the one through the centre of Spain, the Via de la Plata. It begins either at Grenada or Sevilla, and as we are closer to the later where are camped in Conil that is where we are heading. The route to Astorga where it joins the French route was waymarked in 1991 with the familiar yellow arrows by Andres Munoz Garde, who made the route attractive in recent times. It has become more and more popular as hostel accommodation or albergues have been set up in church halls, sports centres and schools. The distance is about 1000 km and we plan to average 20 km each day, so the journey will take 50 days or a little more if we have rest days.

                                   

We have arranged to store our motorhome at the campsite in Conil for two months while we walk. It should be safe there as they have a secure area for caravans and motorhomes, and a number of people are using the facility. We will take the bus from Conil to Sevilla where we will spend the night before setting off on our pilgrimage the following morning. The first thing that has to be done when getting to the start is to obtain our passport or credentials from the Cathedral. This is a card that gets stamped at each overnight stop; this is then proof of our journey when we reach Santiago and qualify for a Certificate and also atonement for all our sins!

I am taking our iPad with me and the plan is to give a daily account of our journey on this blog, depending on the availability of Wi-Fi connections at some of the villages where we make our overnight stops.

Since before Christmas when we arrived in Portugal we have had only two days when it rained, the rest of the time it has been blue skies and glorious sunshine. Our hope now is that it can continue for another couple of months and we don’t have to battle in the rain.