SERIOUSLY! The French have historically been wholly unable of holding ANYONE back from coming into their nation. Just read the history books. What makes anyone think they can stop 900 or any number of determined pilgrims who are determined to start their Camino and LEAVE FRANCE? I don't THINK so...
St. Jean Pied de Port is a beautiful town with wonderful people, and a lot to see, even as a tourist. When I start from there, I always stay two nights in rented accommodations before starting out. And I always start out mid-week, (Tuesday - Thursday) expressly to avoid the phenomenon that likely spurred this myth.
No, I submit this is an "urban myth." Yes, it is possible that the albergue at Roncesvalles COULD theoretically be oversubscribed, especially during the peak, summer season. Yes, it IS possible that one or more commercial tourist support services could have booked solid the remaining hostal and hotel spaces there. THAT is the emerging conflict along the Camino, in my view.
But as many other posters here have maintained, simply walking a few kilometers further opens many alternatives to spread the bubble out.
This said, the accumulated observations DO tend to support my "pig in the python" metaphor for how a crowd surge moves down the Camino. Learn form this, adapt, and overcome. Consider all lodging alternatives.
If the numbers continue to grow, I hope people living along the Camino, especially the Frances, intend to develop more albergues or hostal resources. The alternative is having one or more multi-national hotel concerns develop a ultra-low price chain of hostals along the Camino.
THAT can happen, and would result in the Disneyfication of the Camino. Never say never. Every local politician has their price.
A company wanting to build a chain of cookie-cutter, standardized, private albergues that optimize bed space at a reasonable cost, say €20 each night could be a winner. Heck, if I had the capital, I already have the business plan. I would do it, as it is eminently doable. So, never discount the possibility that Accor, IBIS, Holiday Inn, etc. will never come in and franchise standard properties. It can happen.
So, enjoy the
Camino Frances while you can. Adapt and overcome to unique and sporadic bed outages. Share a hostal double with another pilgrim. Reserve ahead private albergues and hostals. Stay slightly before or after the 33
Brierley stages, consider sharing a cab to go a couple of kilometers north or south of the Camino to a charming small private albergue not normally on your radar screen. Taxis cost about one euro per kilometer. It beats sleeping on a cold floor.
It is a fact of civilized life. Whenever too many people all want to do one thing, or head in one direction at one time, traffic jams always result. It is how you manage that condition that makes or break your individual experience.
When I commuted daily from Northern Virginia, into Washington, DC, to my former profession, I found that altering my departure even five minutes could avoid the traffic crush that came just after the morning traffic and weather reports on the TV.
That is why the news outlets always made the traffic and weather the very last thing in their broadcasts. They KNEW that their viewers, listeners would wait until they heard what the weather and traffic conditions were.
My adopting a position of simply not caring about weather or traffic, and teasing advertising commercial breaks, meant I could leave home about seven to eight minutes early and get through all the choke points before the coming behind me on the half-hour wave. Try it in your everyday life at home. It WORKS!
I hope this helps.
