Albergue kitchens closed down

Camino Chrissy said:

I have not read this entire thread and I have never cooked, nor participated in cooking a meal prepared in an albergue kitchen.
I did notice in Galacia, that several Xunta's I stayed in had beautiful modern kitchens with stainless steel countertops, but I observed they were void of ant pots, dishes and silverware making the kitchens useless to pilgrims wanting to prepare a meal or heat up a cup of water.

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I have just finished the CP, and stayed in several albergues along the way, including Xunta albergues. All that I stayed at had kitchens in some form or other. The municipal and Xunta albergues had microwaves, but neither had any preparation, cooking or serving equipment, utensils, etc. Other albergues did provide these things, but it was a bit hit and miss. This, I might add, was no different to my experience on the CF, CI and walking to Muxia wherever I used Xunta and municipal albergues in 2014 and 2016.

I carry a 500 ml collapsible silicon cup, which can withstand temperatures up to about 300 degF. It is quite feasible to boil water in this, although probably I wouldn't use it in a microwave. I also carry a pocket knife and a spork. With these I find it perfectly feasible to prepare a packaged soup or other hot beverage using the cup. I don't suggest anyone needing to prepare their own food for dietary reasons would survive on this, but it meant I was able to get myself something more substantial to drink when I got into an albergue if there was no other cooking equipment.

CaminoJoy123 said:

Good point. People may need to travel with a pot, a lid, utensils.

You would need microwaveable containers if you were cooking microwave meals from scratch.

Did you find those good kitchens randomly or did you search first? Was this in 2022? Did you try to operate the stoves just to see if they really worked?

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No, I only peeked into those kitchens and saw they were modern and spotless. I looked in a few drawers (out of curiosity) and there was nothing in any of them.
Since I do not cook on the camino, it didn't matter to me personally, but I thought it odd.