Hi!
I'm David and I'll be walking the Camino Ingles in a few weeks time. I just wanted some feedback from vegetarians as to how easy/ hard it is to eat in cafes and restaurants whilst avoiding meat
Hello, I’m David as well!
I’m not veggie, but I don’t eat a great deal of meat.
Life for vegetarians and vegans in Spain and Portugal has (IMHO) improved significantly in the last decade. Whilst sometimes the vegetarian option might be ‘the only option, but without the meat’ you’ll often find a range of suitable choices.
Last year in Spain and more recently in Portugal I was struck by the number of places offering vegan alternatives; so you can double that for veggie.
The only word of caution I’d add is that ‘una ensalada mixta’ will often come with a sprinkling of tuna (more as a seasoning than anything else) - so ‘ ensalada mixta sin atún’ is a phrase to memorise.
(I used to have a factory in Scotland where, on eating in the canteen the ‘menu del dia’ was often a ‘mince round’ (a plate pie of minced something). On asking for the veggie alternative and after some consultation with the cook I was told that ‘we can cut one in half if you like’. )