- Time of past OR future Camino
- Aragon/CF 08, Arles 10, Le Puy 12, Geneva 14, VdlP 15, Norte/Primitivo 15, VF 17, Levante 18, Moz 19
I hope this summary of my recent Ruta de la Lana will be useful to someone.
Like many of us, I was more than ready to get walking again, despite the continuing pandemic, so when I felt it was safe enough for me to travel to Spain and walk, I started November 11th, though this was a little later in the fall than I normally start a 685 km walk. Starting this late meant it was ever so cold in late November and December in the central high plateau. I got as far as Atienza on December 3rd.
So here are some notes, mostly an outline of my stages, accommodations, and other useful items. Distances are approximate. All accommodations were arranged by phone 1-3 days in advance. Initially I was concerned that many albergues would be closed, but in fact the only albergues I found closed because of the pandemic were in Novelda and Alpera.
My resources were Kevin O’Brien’s very useful Walking Guide of September 2018, the Spanish language Camino de la Lana guide published in 2019 by the Alicante Amigos del Caminos de Santiago (spiral bound, heavy, 150 pages with some information on accommodation, phone numbers, distances, notes on villages and towns), the online 250 some page document by the same Amigos, with very detailed trail directions in Spanish and maps, and another good source of information on accommodations. I also took notes on many of the accounts on this website.
Stage 1: Alicante to cemetery at edge of city. 5 km (and one way by city bus). I flew into Alicante in the morning, jet-lagged and foggy, found the centrally located Hotel Cervantes and checked in (but next time would choose Albergue Juvenil La Florida as it looked pleasant and is more in keeping with my budget), got my first sello just after the noon mass at the Basilica de Santa Maria de Alicante, and then chose to take bus #4 (stops in front of the post office near the railroad station) to the municipal cemetery in the afternoon and then walk back back to my hotel, to make the next day shorter. I was pleased to find the grave of Spanish poet Miguel Hernandez, and equally pleased to rest in the little bar opposite, Bar Los Cipreses, and have a cafe con leche and a pincha de tortilla de patatas. Stopping in that bar made me feel like I had started my camino. The reason I felt compelled to get the first 5 km out of the way was that I had an 11am appointment the following morning at the office of the Asociación de Amigos del Camino de Santiago de Alicante with Federico Ramirez to bring him a U.S. credential and a patch from the Anchorage Chapter of the American Friends of the Camino, and I knew if I left Alicante at noon, it would be hard for me to walk the 24 km to Orito. I am a slow walker and the days are short in November.
Stage 2: Cemetery to Orito. 19 km. After my meeting, I again took City Bus #4 to the cemetery and continued on. Just to show how desperate I was to walk a Spanish camino again, I admit I was perfectly happy to brave the short stretch of busy highway with no shoulder just past the cemetery, and to walk through the industrial area with its odd smells and blowing plastic bags. All I really saw were the butterflies and wildflowers. The section of what resembled our U.S. southwestern badlands, with a stoney path, deep brown gullies and scrub brush was beautiful. In Orito, I needed to wait about an hour for hospitalero Raul to arrive, but it was a pleasant wait in the small park in front of the Casa Del Peregrino, 15 E. Bar Nuevo nearby looked permanently closed. I had emailed Raul in advance, and texted him the day before as a reminder. The large room had 3 beds, one space heater which was good enough to dry a few clothes, and a shower with lukewarm water, despite waiting more than an hour to heat it up. I chose Orito instead of Novelda because the albergue in Novelda was covid-closed, and also because of my late start. I thought Orito was a pleasant, well-laid out town.
Stage 3: Orito to Petrer. 21 km. I had read in numerous blogs that pilgrims enjoyed staying in Hotel Fuente el Cura in Sax but on their web site they had no availability and were super expensive. So I aimed for Petrer, following the yellow arrows to Elda and then cutting over to its adjoining town, Petrer. I had been told by the Caudete hospitalero that the Petrer albergue was open, and after 5 phone calls (2 to the policia, 2 to different hospitaleros referred to me by the policia, and a call to the tourist office), I believed it was. It was a little odd because each person I called told me to call someone else. Finally someone told me to go to the police station in Petrer once I arrived, (Avenida de la Libertad, 32) so I did this. Their first question was: had I called ahead of time to set this up. When I confirmed that I had called in advance, the policeman on duty called a couple of numbers and Israel arrived quickly to drive me in to the center of the old city, just two blocks below the castle, opposite the cathedral and a block from the tourist office to show me the municipal/parroquial albergue, free: one small very clean bedroom with 2 beds, sheets, blankets, pillows, 1 chair, and adjoining bathroom with hot water. It is right next to a Caritas office which is where Israel went to turn on the hot water; I think it is used for a variety of purposes. I was not given a key - just told to leave the door ajar until bedtime, and to close the door when I left in the morning. I felt very comfortable. Israel was great. He gave me advice on dinner - a restaurant at the nearby square in front of the church, and I felt well taken care of. There was nowhere to leave a donativo and I forgot to ask.
Stage 4. Petrer to Villena. 23 km. Staying in Petrer I felt off the camino, with no arrows that I could find. I walked in the direction of Elda, found what turned out to be the correct bridge over the river, followed an arrow or two uphill on the highway to one of its hairpin turns where I turned right and then sharp left up a trail to the top of the ridge. There were no arrows here so I assume this was not correct, but a young man out walking his dog, described a route up to the ridge, and then told me to head down to the railway tracks on the other side where I would pick up my camino. This worked, though I am sure it was a circuitous route. It wouldn’t have worked if it had been misty. This was one of the few times I didn’t find the arrows. (Other times were in towns, but I am used to that.) In Villena I easily found the Pension La Casa de las Aromas, 46E, as it was more or less on the camino route through town. This is a kind of fancy place, a lovely renovation of an old house. I thought the owner had told me a pilgrim’s price of 36E, but at time of payment it was 46E. I would have found something less expensive, but I was still jet lagged and was just pleased to have a good bed, and deal with my blisters.
Stage 5. Villena to Caudete. 15 km. As others have noted, at this point, the Ruta de la Lana begins to feel a bit more rural and beautiful. Caudete was wonderful: the great Albergue de Peregrinos Santa Ana, 8E, on top of the hill, adjoining the chapel of Santa Ana, great hospitaleros (young Javier, the older Miguel, and Juaquin, the president of the local association, who came by to visit in the evening, and was informative and charming.) As I was walking alone, I had the whole building to myself. The two bunk beds upstairs in the room with the beautiful view had had their upper mattresses removed to limit the number of people. There was one bed downstairs, so capacity was three. The shower was super hot. The small kitchen was off-limits, a covid change. This was the first albergue that felt like a real pilgrim albergue. They had just opened October 18th after a long pandemic closure. A late afternoon dinner at bar El Chato was perfect and not far away.
Stage 6. Caudete to Almansa. 27 km. Bar La Luchy, on the camino, opposite the bullring on the way out of the town of Caudete, was open early. Another nice day of walking. I had stayed with the sisters in Almansa when I walked the Levante in 2017, so it felt like coming home to stay with them again at the Convento Esclavas de Maria, 7E. I admit I was completely lost in Almansa. Despite google maps, and a paper map from the tourist office, I could not orient myself.. I was trying to get advice regarding my suboptimal cell phone and visited 3 phone stores, as well as a grocery store and the tourist office, so had plenty of opportunities to get lost. I just kept asking directions for the Plaza de la Constitución and found my way back to the convent from there. I usually have a good sense of direction and had read directions from previous threads on how to get to the convent. Chalk it up to continuing jet lag.
Stage 7. Almansa to Alpera. 23 km. A more beautiful quiet day of walking, and a repeat of a day from my Levante camino walk: civil war bunkers, rabbits, walking along the edge of a plowed field parallel to the railroad tracks. I had called earlier and knew that the albergue in Alpera was closed. The Ayuntamiento folks said it was because of the continuing pandemic; Antonio, the hospitalero of Alatoz refuted that information and said it was because there was no one to take on the responsibility of running the albergue municipal of Alpera. At any rate, it was closed, and I stayed at the Hostal El Cazador, 21 E for a single room (including breakfast) which was fine. A fellow pilgrim walker knocked on my door late at night, an elderly Colombian/Spanish missionary who was lonely walking the Levante, and I learned the pilgrim price is quite variable at the Hostal El Cazador.
Stage 8. Alpera to Alatoz. 25 km. So this was the day when the one other pilgrim I met, decided to leave the Levante and join me on the Ruta de la Lana as he disliked his solitary walk. A beautiful day of walking. Alatoz is a small community of 500 people, with no bars, restaurants or tiendas open the day we arrived. The loss of bars open daily was pandemic related. We were told one still opens on the weekends. This was in November and maybe other months are different. The albergue is in the polideportivo at the top of the village, Albergue Municipal, Donativo. Antonia, the wonderful hospitalero arrived promptly. The room was huge with 4 beds, sheets, pillows, blankets, great heat, and hot showers in the unheated bathrooms. Antonia, when he heard the Columbian pilgrim did not have food with him, brought us a large bag of great snacks and returned at 7pm to drive us back to Alpera for a meal at the Hostal El Cazador.
Stage 9. Alatoz to Casas Ibanez. 29km. No coffee as no bars open in Alatoz. We did have a coffee and the best tortilla espanola I have ever had at the Centro Social bar at the entrance of Casas del Cerro at 15.5 km. This was the amazing day when, after 17 km, we walked down into the gorge of Alcala de Juzar and up the other side to the castle and on across the vineyards to Casa Ibanez. Following the yellow painted tips of the metal supports in the vineyards made for good trail finding. We were told that Casas Ibanez no longer had a municipal albergue, but the lack of one was not pandemic related. Hotel Aros, 28E for a single room was grand. And then Antonio showed up as promised at 7pm to drive us back to a gourmet restaurant overlooking Alcala de Juzar, lit up at night, for one of the best meals I’ve ever had. I did not feel quite like a pilgrim, but I loved it. Antonio, a physician on a year of medical leave, was a great conversationalist, as best I could tell with my limited Spanish, and we talked pilgrimage.
Stage 10. Casas Ibanez to Villarta. 27 km. Coffee and tostadas at 7:30, ordered the night before as the Hotel Aros bar doesn’t officially open until later, was great. Another day of fields, brown in November, and vineyards with seemingly ignored ripe and rotting grapes on the vines, punctuated by small towns where figuring out how to leave town on the camino was a challenge. My cell phone was not able to use wikilocs most days, so I was challenged. Villarta does have an acogida for pilgrims, a room in the library building. It had one blanket on the floor and an adjoining bathroom. I did not ask about heat, but the room felt warm. The key is in the bar opposite, on the camino route. We did not stay there, as my companion did not have a mat for sleeping on the floor. Instead we went to the rooms above the Los Tubos Restaurant, 25E each for a two bed room, where the main advantage was a small tienda a block away. If alone, I would have slept in the library building room.
Stage 11. Villarta to Campillo de Altobuey. 30.8 km. Los Tubos was not open for breakfast.. A day of undulating countryside, encina holm oak trees, pine groves, plowed fields, vineyards and almond trees. We had coffee and food at the bar of Hostal Pepe in Graja de Iniesta at 10.3 km. The polideportivo was open at Campillo de Altobuey, but again, my companion wanted more comfort, so we ended up staying in a holiday bungalow, 25 E each for 2 people with 2 bedrooms, 3 beds, heat, hot shower, and kitchen located near where we entered town. This was arranged by Maria, who works at the polideportivo. This was the point where I realized I needed to break with the missionary pilgrim and walk my own camino. So the following day I was on my own again, and he hitchhiked home to Valencia to find more fertile ground for his missionary work.
Stage 12. Campillo de Altobuey to Paracuellos de la Vega. 17 km. The only bar open early with both coffee and toast I was in the main plaza in the centro social bar, though there were probably others. This was a day of walking in the cold mist and fog through farmland. Paracuellos had a population of 80, and only 4 schoolchildren. The woman who runs the only bar has a casa rural, Casa Rural Mirador del Castillo, 20 E (which included lots of breakfast supplies). I arrived the one day of the week that the bar was closed, but she made me a coffee and poured it in a bottle for me to heat up in the microwave for the morning, and gave me a container of milk, bread and magdalenas. She took me to the tienda opposite so I could buy some supplies for dinner and the next day. She was very kind and thoughtful. Her casa rural slept 10, had heat, and a full kitchen. It was very comfortable, if a bit cold and she was kind and helpful. Her husband had walked some of the Camino Frances years earlier. I enjoyed this little town, and appreciated that visiting the castle didn’t require climbing to the top of the town.
(I think I have reached my word limit, so to be continued.)
Like many of us, I was more than ready to get walking again, despite the continuing pandemic, so when I felt it was safe enough for me to travel to Spain and walk, I started November 11th, though this was a little later in the fall than I normally start a 685 km walk. Starting this late meant it was ever so cold in late November and December in the central high plateau. I got as far as Atienza on December 3rd.
So here are some notes, mostly an outline of my stages, accommodations, and other useful items. Distances are approximate. All accommodations were arranged by phone 1-3 days in advance. Initially I was concerned that many albergues would be closed, but in fact the only albergues I found closed because of the pandemic were in Novelda and Alpera.
My resources were Kevin O’Brien’s very useful Walking Guide of September 2018, the Spanish language Camino de la Lana guide published in 2019 by the Alicante Amigos del Caminos de Santiago (spiral bound, heavy, 150 pages with some information on accommodation, phone numbers, distances, notes on villages and towns), the online 250 some page document by the same Amigos, with very detailed trail directions in Spanish and maps, and another good source of information on accommodations. I also took notes on many of the accounts on this website.
Stage 1: Alicante to cemetery at edge of city. 5 km (and one way by city bus). I flew into Alicante in the morning, jet-lagged and foggy, found the centrally located Hotel Cervantes and checked in (but next time would choose Albergue Juvenil La Florida as it looked pleasant and is more in keeping with my budget), got my first sello just after the noon mass at the Basilica de Santa Maria de Alicante, and then chose to take bus #4 (stops in front of the post office near the railroad station) to the municipal cemetery in the afternoon and then walk back back to my hotel, to make the next day shorter. I was pleased to find the grave of Spanish poet Miguel Hernandez, and equally pleased to rest in the little bar opposite, Bar Los Cipreses, and have a cafe con leche and a pincha de tortilla de patatas. Stopping in that bar made me feel like I had started my camino. The reason I felt compelled to get the first 5 km out of the way was that I had an 11am appointment the following morning at the office of the Asociación de Amigos del Camino de Santiago de Alicante with Federico Ramirez to bring him a U.S. credential and a patch from the Anchorage Chapter of the American Friends of the Camino, and I knew if I left Alicante at noon, it would be hard for me to walk the 24 km to Orito. I am a slow walker and the days are short in November.
Stage 2: Cemetery to Orito. 19 km. After my meeting, I again took City Bus #4 to the cemetery and continued on. Just to show how desperate I was to walk a Spanish camino again, I admit I was perfectly happy to brave the short stretch of busy highway with no shoulder just past the cemetery, and to walk through the industrial area with its odd smells and blowing plastic bags. All I really saw were the butterflies and wildflowers. The section of what resembled our U.S. southwestern badlands, with a stoney path, deep brown gullies and scrub brush was beautiful. In Orito, I needed to wait about an hour for hospitalero Raul to arrive, but it was a pleasant wait in the small park in front of the Casa Del Peregrino, 15 E. Bar Nuevo nearby looked permanently closed. I had emailed Raul in advance, and texted him the day before as a reminder. The large room had 3 beds, one space heater which was good enough to dry a few clothes, and a shower with lukewarm water, despite waiting more than an hour to heat it up. I chose Orito instead of Novelda because the albergue in Novelda was covid-closed, and also because of my late start. I thought Orito was a pleasant, well-laid out town.
Stage 3: Orito to Petrer. 21 km. I had read in numerous blogs that pilgrims enjoyed staying in Hotel Fuente el Cura in Sax but on their web site they had no availability and were super expensive. So I aimed for Petrer, following the yellow arrows to Elda and then cutting over to its adjoining town, Petrer. I had been told by the Caudete hospitalero that the Petrer albergue was open, and after 5 phone calls (2 to the policia, 2 to different hospitaleros referred to me by the policia, and a call to the tourist office), I believed it was. It was a little odd because each person I called told me to call someone else. Finally someone told me to go to the police station in Petrer once I arrived, (Avenida de la Libertad, 32) so I did this. Their first question was: had I called ahead of time to set this up. When I confirmed that I had called in advance, the policeman on duty called a couple of numbers and Israel arrived quickly to drive me in to the center of the old city, just two blocks below the castle, opposite the cathedral and a block from the tourist office to show me the municipal/parroquial albergue, free: one small very clean bedroom with 2 beds, sheets, blankets, pillows, 1 chair, and adjoining bathroom with hot water. It is right next to a Caritas office which is where Israel went to turn on the hot water; I think it is used for a variety of purposes. I was not given a key - just told to leave the door ajar until bedtime, and to close the door when I left in the morning. I felt very comfortable. Israel was great. He gave me advice on dinner - a restaurant at the nearby square in front of the church, and I felt well taken care of. There was nowhere to leave a donativo and I forgot to ask.
Stage 4. Petrer to Villena. 23 km. Staying in Petrer I felt off the camino, with no arrows that I could find. I walked in the direction of Elda, found what turned out to be the correct bridge over the river, followed an arrow or two uphill on the highway to one of its hairpin turns where I turned right and then sharp left up a trail to the top of the ridge. There were no arrows here so I assume this was not correct, but a young man out walking his dog, described a route up to the ridge, and then told me to head down to the railway tracks on the other side where I would pick up my camino. This worked, though I am sure it was a circuitous route. It wouldn’t have worked if it had been misty. This was one of the few times I didn’t find the arrows. (Other times were in towns, but I am used to that.) In Villena I easily found the Pension La Casa de las Aromas, 46E, as it was more or less on the camino route through town. This is a kind of fancy place, a lovely renovation of an old house. I thought the owner had told me a pilgrim’s price of 36E, but at time of payment it was 46E. I would have found something less expensive, but I was still jet lagged and was just pleased to have a good bed, and deal with my blisters.
Stage 5. Villena to Caudete. 15 km. As others have noted, at this point, the Ruta de la Lana begins to feel a bit more rural and beautiful. Caudete was wonderful: the great Albergue de Peregrinos Santa Ana, 8E, on top of the hill, adjoining the chapel of Santa Ana, great hospitaleros (young Javier, the older Miguel, and Juaquin, the president of the local association, who came by to visit in the evening, and was informative and charming.) As I was walking alone, I had the whole building to myself. The two bunk beds upstairs in the room with the beautiful view had had their upper mattresses removed to limit the number of people. There was one bed downstairs, so capacity was three. The shower was super hot. The small kitchen was off-limits, a covid change. This was the first albergue that felt like a real pilgrim albergue. They had just opened October 18th after a long pandemic closure. A late afternoon dinner at bar El Chato was perfect and not far away.
Stage 6. Caudete to Almansa. 27 km. Bar La Luchy, on the camino, opposite the bullring on the way out of the town of Caudete, was open early. Another nice day of walking. I had stayed with the sisters in Almansa when I walked the Levante in 2017, so it felt like coming home to stay with them again at the Convento Esclavas de Maria, 7E. I admit I was completely lost in Almansa. Despite google maps, and a paper map from the tourist office, I could not orient myself.. I was trying to get advice regarding my suboptimal cell phone and visited 3 phone stores, as well as a grocery store and the tourist office, so had plenty of opportunities to get lost. I just kept asking directions for the Plaza de la Constitución and found my way back to the convent from there. I usually have a good sense of direction and had read directions from previous threads on how to get to the convent. Chalk it up to continuing jet lag.
Stage 7. Almansa to Alpera. 23 km. A more beautiful quiet day of walking, and a repeat of a day from my Levante camino walk: civil war bunkers, rabbits, walking along the edge of a plowed field parallel to the railroad tracks. I had called earlier and knew that the albergue in Alpera was closed. The Ayuntamiento folks said it was because of the continuing pandemic; Antonio, the hospitalero of Alatoz refuted that information and said it was because there was no one to take on the responsibility of running the albergue municipal of Alpera. At any rate, it was closed, and I stayed at the Hostal El Cazador, 21 E for a single room (including breakfast) which was fine. A fellow pilgrim walker knocked on my door late at night, an elderly Colombian/Spanish missionary who was lonely walking the Levante, and I learned the pilgrim price is quite variable at the Hostal El Cazador.
Stage 8. Alpera to Alatoz. 25 km. So this was the day when the one other pilgrim I met, decided to leave the Levante and join me on the Ruta de la Lana as he disliked his solitary walk. A beautiful day of walking. Alatoz is a small community of 500 people, with no bars, restaurants or tiendas open the day we arrived. The loss of bars open daily was pandemic related. We were told one still opens on the weekends. This was in November and maybe other months are different. The albergue is in the polideportivo at the top of the village, Albergue Municipal, Donativo. Antonia, the wonderful hospitalero arrived promptly. The room was huge with 4 beds, sheets, pillows, blankets, great heat, and hot showers in the unheated bathrooms. Antonia, when he heard the Columbian pilgrim did not have food with him, brought us a large bag of great snacks and returned at 7pm to drive us back to Alpera for a meal at the Hostal El Cazador.
Stage 9. Alatoz to Casas Ibanez. 29km. No coffee as no bars open in Alatoz. We did have a coffee and the best tortilla espanola I have ever had at the Centro Social bar at the entrance of Casas del Cerro at 15.5 km. This was the amazing day when, after 17 km, we walked down into the gorge of Alcala de Juzar and up the other side to the castle and on across the vineyards to Casa Ibanez. Following the yellow painted tips of the metal supports in the vineyards made for good trail finding. We were told that Casas Ibanez no longer had a municipal albergue, but the lack of one was not pandemic related. Hotel Aros, 28E for a single room was grand. And then Antonio showed up as promised at 7pm to drive us back to a gourmet restaurant overlooking Alcala de Juzar, lit up at night, for one of the best meals I’ve ever had. I did not feel quite like a pilgrim, but I loved it. Antonio, a physician on a year of medical leave, was a great conversationalist, as best I could tell with my limited Spanish, and we talked pilgrimage.
Stage 10. Casas Ibanez to Villarta. 27 km. Coffee and tostadas at 7:30, ordered the night before as the Hotel Aros bar doesn’t officially open until later, was great. Another day of fields, brown in November, and vineyards with seemingly ignored ripe and rotting grapes on the vines, punctuated by small towns where figuring out how to leave town on the camino was a challenge. My cell phone was not able to use wikilocs most days, so I was challenged. Villarta does have an acogida for pilgrims, a room in the library building. It had one blanket on the floor and an adjoining bathroom. I did not ask about heat, but the room felt warm. The key is in the bar opposite, on the camino route. We did not stay there, as my companion did not have a mat for sleeping on the floor. Instead we went to the rooms above the Los Tubos Restaurant, 25E each for a two bed room, where the main advantage was a small tienda a block away. If alone, I would have slept in the library building room.
Stage 11. Villarta to Campillo de Altobuey. 30.8 km. Los Tubos was not open for breakfast.. A day of undulating countryside, encina holm oak trees, pine groves, plowed fields, vineyards and almond trees. We had coffee and food at the bar of Hostal Pepe in Graja de Iniesta at 10.3 km. The polideportivo was open at Campillo de Altobuey, but again, my companion wanted more comfort, so we ended up staying in a holiday bungalow, 25 E each for 2 people with 2 bedrooms, 3 beds, heat, hot shower, and kitchen located near where we entered town. This was arranged by Maria, who works at the polideportivo. This was the point where I realized I needed to break with the missionary pilgrim and walk my own camino. So the following day I was on my own again, and he hitchhiked home to Valencia to find more fertile ground for his missionary work.
Stage 12. Campillo de Altobuey to Paracuellos de la Vega. 17 km. The only bar open early with both coffee and toast I was in the main plaza in the centro social bar, though there were probably others. This was a day of walking in the cold mist and fog through farmland. Paracuellos had a population of 80, and only 4 schoolchildren. The woman who runs the only bar has a casa rural, Casa Rural Mirador del Castillo, 20 E (which included lots of breakfast supplies). I arrived the one day of the week that the bar was closed, but she made me a coffee and poured it in a bottle for me to heat up in the microwave for the morning, and gave me a container of milk, bread and magdalenas. She took me to the tienda opposite so I could buy some supplies for dinner and the next day. She was very kind and thoughtful. Her casa rural slept 10, had heat, and a full kitchen. It was very comfortable, if a bit cold and she was kind and helpful. Her husband had walked some of the Camino Frances years earlier. I enjoyed this little town, and appreciated that visiting the castle didn’t require climbing to the top of the town.
(I think I have reached my word limit, so to be continued.)
. Another we must have on our list. This is a great resource. Muchas gracias 
