Albergue in Pobra de Brollón

[VNwalking]

I can't confirm this from my own experience until tomorrow, but a peregrina who's walking right now contonued on from Barxa de Lor and found that there IS an albergue in Poblon. I wasn't prepared to risk it and anyway am really liking Barxa...but for those out there in walking or planning mode (thinking of you, @Theatregal and @peregrina2000), hoping this news is useful...

 

[Albertagirl]

I can't confirm this from my own experience until tomorrow, but a peregrina who's walking right now contonued on from Barxa de Lor and found that there IS an albergue in Poblon. I wasn't prepared to risk it and anyway am really liking Barxa...but for those out there in walking or planning mode (thinking of you, @Theatregal and @peregrina2000), hoping this news is useful...

Thank you. This news is indeed useful. I am planning to stay in the polideportivo in Pobre de Brollon. This may be the albergue to which the peregrina was referring, as I came across a comment by someone who stayed there, who remarked that there are bunk beds. That, with the roof over my head and a toilet somewhere in the vicinity, is pretty much all that I need to accept something as an albergue.

 

[KinkyOne]

Thank you. This news is indeed useful. I am planning to stay in the polideportivo in Pobre de Brollon. This may be the albergue to which the peregrina was referring, as I came across a comment by someone who stayed there, who remarked that there are bunk beds. That, with the roof over my head and a toilet somewhere in the vicinity, is pretty much all that I need to accept something as an albergue.

Waiting for your first hand info.
This was the number I called in 2014: 982/430001 (a day in advance).
It's Ayuntamiento but nobody wanted to let me in because "jefe was on vacation"

So I booked a room in Pension As Vinas (closed now) and was never sorry for that. Possibly the best private accommodation for that money I have ever had on any Camino. But of course irrelevant for you now.

 

[VNwalking]

Doesn't matter anyway, because I'll be passing through on my way to Monforte. But I'll ask...

 

[FreeCat]

Hi.
In addition to the town hall phone, you can call this number +34 666 435 832.
2 days ago I talked to a friendly young man and he confirmed that the polideportivo (sports center) was available. This polideportivo it is located on the outskirts of the town and inside there is a space with bunk beds, toilets and showers.
He told me to call him a day before to confirm the arrival, and upon arriving in Pobra de Brollón call again to approach and open the door.
In a few days I will try to upload some photos.

 

[KinkyOne]

Hi.
In addition to the town hall phone, you can call this number +34 666 435 832.
2 days ago I talked to a friendly young man and he confirmed that the polideportivo (sports center) was available. This polideportivo it is located on the outskirts of the town and inside there is a space with bunk beds, toilets and showers.
He told me to call him a day before to confirm the arrival, and upon arriving in Pobra de Brollón call again to approach and open the door.
In a few days I will try to upload some photos.

That's nice to have first hand info. Please could you ask him if the albergue is available throughout the year or just in the summer time when the school is out?

Thank you very much and Buen Camino

 

[peregrina2000]

Hi.
In addition to the town hall phone, you can call this number +34 666 435 832.
2 days ago I talked to a friendly young man and he confirmed that the polideportivo (sports center) was available. This polideportivo it is located on the outskirts of the town and inside there is a space with bunk beds, toilets and showers.
He told me to call him a day before to confirm the arrival, and upon arriving in Pobra de Brollón call again to approach and open the door.
In a few days I will try to upload some photos.

Thanks for this info, @FreeCat Can you also confirm whether the space is only available when school is not in session? That is what many of us have been told, and that made sense when I was told that this albegue was in an old room in or near the school that used to be used by students from little towns who spent the week in Pobra and went home in weekends. But it doesn’t make as much sense if it’s in the polideportivo. Many towns have albergues in the polideportivo and they are open all year, so I wonder what is going on. After all people go to the polideportivo when school is in session and when it is not! Thanks, hope you can enlighten us!

 

[FreeCat]

Hello @KinkyOne and @peregrina2000.
We will arrive at Pobra do Brollón on the 12th. Once there I will talk to the young man to ask if the polideportivo will open every month of the year or only in summer.
I will also try to upload some photos of the space for pilgrims in the polideportivo.
I will keep you informed.

 

[FreeCat]

Hello @KinkyOne and @peregrina2000.

On August 12, two Italian pilgrims, my wife and I, stayed at the sports center of A Pobra do Brollón.
I could not meet the young man personally, which I finally discovered that he is the mayor, but I could communicate by phone and WhatsApp.
To the question about the future of the sports center hostel, he replied:
On the website of the Council is the information. The municipal hostel works until there is a private alternative, which for now there is none.

O concello da Pobra do Brollón conta cun albergue provisional solidario | Concello A Pobra do Brollón

I leave some photos of the space.

 

[KinkyOne]

From all the info you gathered I understand it's available whole year. That's exactly what @Charrito posted months ago. Now it's confirmed.
Good

 

[Charrito]

From all the info you gathered I understand it's available whole year. That's exactly what @Charrito posted months ago. Now it's confirmed.
Good

Trust in Charrito!

 

[peregrina2000]

Hello @KinkyOne and @peregrina2000.

On August 12, two Italian pilgrims, my wife and I, stayed at the sports center of A Pobra do Brollón.
I could not meet the young man personally, which I finally discovered that he is the mayor, but I could communicate by phone and WhatsApp.
To the question about the future of the sports center hostel, he replied:
On the website of the Council is the information. The municipal hostel works until there is a private alternative, which for now there is none.

O concello da Pobra do Brollón conta cun albergue provisional solidario | Concello A Pobra do Brollón

I leave some photos of the space.

Many thanks for clearing up the confusion. I was never doubting Charrito, it´s just that two people in town told me it was in the school when I passed by in July of this year.

So what I am starting to piece together is that the original spots must have been in the school, in a place where kids who had to board used to sleep during the week. That’s why the spot was only open when school was not in session. But now it is in the polideportivo and that removes the academic year problem! Great news, I know that many people in the town of Pobra are fully supportive of the albergue efforts (and a bit frustrated), but at least having the polideportivo guaranteed is a big plus.

 

[Charrito]

I was in A Pobra do Brollón last week and the whole town was closed (Fiestas), apart from Bar Avenida, which could only offer me a pincho of a dead canned piece of sardine!

I had just walked up from Pensión Pacita and it was really hot, but as I was staying for the night in Salcedo (A Salanova) I phoned José Luís, and he was there in 10 minutes to drive me to A Salanova. Lunch outside, beautiful room in the hotel part, a litre of his home-made wine which he kept in the fridge for me until the evening, swimming pool just for me all afternoon, a lovely evening meal, and then a long chat with some licor café outside. The only other guests were playing in the band down in A Pobra do Brollón, but they had all cleared off by 8 o'clock.

After breakfast he dumped me off in A Pobra again for the short trek to Monforte. Great place, great people, but obviously a bit more expensive than the Polideportivo.

In A Pobra I walked up to Pensión As Viñas when I got there and saw the 'Cerrado por Jubilación' sign outside. They still live there (there was washing hanging out to dry), but they weren't in.

 

[peregrina2000]

It looks like plans for a real albergue in Pobra de Brollón are moving forward. The local governing body is going to vote on the plan on Friday. So keep an eye out in the spanish press.

A Pobra do Brollón ultima la compra del edificio del futuro albergue de peregrinos del Camino de Invierno

El establecimiento tendrá capacidad para cuarenta personas y el gobierno local esperar poder abrirlo el año próximo

www.lavozdegalicia.es

Important bits of info here — a centrally located old building will be renovated to have 40 beds. The Xunta has given 150,000 euros, which leaves 110,000 still to be found (total project cost is 260,000).

For years, there had been talk about using the old Guardia Civil barracks right at the exit of town on the Camino, but that never went anywhere.

This will be the first municipal albergue on the Invierno, so maybe it will start a trend.

 

[Charrito]

It's such a pity that the marvellous Pensión As Viñas closed down in A Pobra.

To be honest, the cost of converting this old building into a 40-bed albergue seems to be way over the top. And the cost is ridiculously high! 260,000 euros???????

Even though next year is supposed to be an 'Año Xacobeo' (and they are still insisting on going ahead with this, regardless of what Covid-19 has in store), I just don't see how on earth they hope to use many of these beds.

A Pobra is becoming a bit of a ghost town, just like Puente de Domingo Flórez, where María and I stopped last week while walking some of the stages of the Invierno.

Anyway, good luck to them and the Xunta de Galicia.

 

[peregrina2000]

It's such a pity that the marvellous Pensión As Viñas closed down in A Pobra.

Like you, I am so sad about As Viñas. What a great little place and such wonderful people.

The price tag for the albergue does seem very high, but at least they are renovating something centrally located. 10 beds would seem more realistic.

I do think that opening albergues will stimulate traffic, and it is the quintessential chicken and egg problem. @Charrito, did you hear any other news about other albergues — there was supposedly something about to happen in Chantada, but that was further along than you made it this time, I think.

 

[Rebekah Scott]

One outstanding element of Pobra de Brollon (aside from As Vinas) is their summertime "Playa Fluvial!" They dam up the river to make a swimming pool with a flowing current. Big fun, a great place to cool off on a hot summer day if you can shove your way past the waves of kids.
I am told there's another one in San Clodio, too.

 

[Charrito]

One outstanding element of Pobra de Brollon (aside from As Vinas) is their summertime "Playa Fluvial!" They dam up the river to make a swimming pool with a flowing current. Big fun, a great place to cool off on a hot summer day if you can shove your way past the waves of kids.
I am told there's another one in San Clodio, too.

The playa fluvial en San Clodio is excellent, and much bigger than the small one in A Pobra do Brollón.

 

[Charrito]

Like you, I am so sad about As Viñas. What a great little place and such wonderful people.

The price tag for the albergue does seem very high, but at least they are renovating something centrally located. 10 beds would seem more realistic.

I do think that opening albergues will stimulate traffic, and it is the quintessential chicken and egg problem. @Charrito, did you hear any other news about other albergues — there was supposedly something about to happen in Chantada, but that was further along than you made it this time, I think.

This is what was published in La Voz de Galicia last year:

El bajo número de peregrinos frena la creación de nuevos albergues

Para esta primavera solo se prevé la apertura de un alojamiento en Monforte

www.lavozdegalicia.es

It's a bit like the film 'Field of Dreams': If you build them, they will come.

What comes first, though? The albergues or the pilgrims?

 

[VNwalking]

The albergues or the pilgrims?

Haha. Maybe the Brierley guide.

 

[peregrina2000]

The local council has endorsed the plan and bought the building. You can see a picture of it in the article linked here.

Plans are that the albergue will open sometime in 2021.

 

[Charrito]

Can’t see it doing much business.

 

[peregrina2000]

Looks like Pobra de Brollón will in fact have an albergue. Location, as far as I can tell, is right on the Camino.

From a January 2021 Voz de Galicia article.

Building has been purchased and the Xunta has given them 115,000 € to renovate.

If anyone has updates, that’d be great. Buen camino, Laurie

 

[ebrandt]

This is great news -- I hope it will be open in spring 2021!

 

[peregrina2000]

This is great news -- I hope it will be open in spring 2021!

You’ve lost a year, @ebrandt. You must mean 2022.

 

[peregrina2000]

Still no news on the albergue in Pobra de Brollón, but I have just come across some Wikiloc tracks for some Spanish peregrinos who walked the Invierno in November 2022.

They have a lot of good practical information (in Spanish) and a lot of nice pictures, which are tagged by location, so you know exactly where they were taken.

They recommend a casa rural that’s about 1 km out of Pobra de Brollón. I don’t remember seeing anything about this place on the forum, so add this to your list, future Invierno pilgrims. Unfortunately, though, it’s a whole house rental, so 4 people needed to make it worthwhile. In a pinch, I would try though, you never know.

Casa Rural do Hiebra,

casadohiebra.com

It’s about 1 km off camino, in the village of San Adrián. Maruxela is the owner, along with her husband. They also prepared dinner. Phone 678 79 56 74.

The person recording these tracks, screen name isanu, has a lot of good information on all of the stages of the Invierno. Strong recommendation for Casa do Hiebra.

I know there are some winter Invierno pilgrims out there, so you might want to take a look.

 

[Charrito]

Still no news on the albergue in Pobra de Brollón, but I have just come across some Wikiloc tracks for some Spanish peregrinos who walked the Invierno in November 2022.

They have a lot of good practical information (in Spanish) and a lot of nice pictures, which are tagged by location, so you know exactly where they were taken.

They recommend a casa rural that’s about 1 km out of Pobra de Brollón. I don’t remember seeing anything about this place on the forum, so add this to your list, future Invierno pilgrims. Unfortunately, though, it’s a whole house rental, so 4 people needed to make it worthwhile. In a pinch, I would try though, you never know.

Casa Rural do Hiebra,

casadohiebra.com

It’s about 1 km off camino, in the village of San Adrián. Maruxela is the owner, along with her husband. They also prepared dinner. Phone 678 79 56 74.

The person recording these tracks, screen name isanu, has a lot of good information on all of the stages of the Invierno. Strong recommendation for Casa do Hiebra.

I know there are some winter Invierno pilgrims out there, so you might want to take a look.

It's easily walkable from/to A Pobra.