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I first thought that this was written tongue-in-cheek. You can't truly expect albergue owners or a hospitalero to offer these items for sale. They are not a store. This is your problem, not theirs. If you find them essential take them yourself...
There is no "official" start. There are places where guide books, apps and websites start, but they are not "official." Gronze's first Norte stage is from Bayonne.
https://www.gronze.com/camino-norte
My Cicerone guide actually lets the Norte start at Irun bus / train station.
I think I understand where your idea about the 'outer edge of Irun' may have come from, because The Santiago bridge / river crossing to France is also often referred to...
That’s hilarious! It most definitely is something that can happen to us. We wandered around San Sebastián for an hour o find our Pension that was ten minutes away from the train station. Thank you for your reply re the start point.
There is no such thing as an official start...
Feeling sympathy though, I remember getting lost on my first day of my Norte as well, for some reason it took me 2 hours to find my way out of Irun town centre - I really have no idea what went...
There is no right or wrong answer to this.
But you asked "what would you do"?
The simple answer is: I'm there to walk, so I would walk.
What's 3 km more when you're going to walk 800.
Buen Camino!
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