Ernesto.IT
Active Member
- Time of past OR future Camino
- 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018
After I walked over 40 km from Xátiva to La Font de la Figuera, I was given the key by the town hall to the albergue municipal (which is completely free). As you can see from the first photo it looks a beautiful building from the outside. Once inside my opinion changed. I tried to have a shower but the water wouldn't go down the drain so I had to stop, no toilet paper (luckily as a pellegrino I had my own), the door of the bathroom wouldn't lock. The bins were full-up despite a notice asking all pilgrims to empty the bins before they leave. It's a nice Kitchen but there was barley any utensils (just what you see in the photo). I went to the sleeping area and was horrified by condition of the mattresses because of the problem with bed bugs we have on the Camino. Plus the risk of falling off as the mattress over-hanged the solid base underneath (you can see in the photo) . I couldn't really see myself laying on one of those because even the edges of the cement bed where it joins the wall had cracks in.
At that point I went to the town hall to notify them of the condition but by that time it was closed. So I went to the local Police to ask who was responsible for the albergue, the answer was "we are". They hadn't been there recently so I asked if they would come with me to see the condition of the place. I praised the building to the Police and that it would only take a bit of looking after to make it right at that I was told the person looking after it comes just once a month. They told me that no-one speaks to them so they were unaware of the situation. They noted all the problems and promised to talking to the town hall. I told the Police after walking so many kilometers a pilgrim is happy to pay 7, 10, 12 euros to be able to use the premises rather than have the place free but unusable, and that we are pilgrims and not animals.
They told me they'd take me to a different place which would cost about €25 but on arrival I was asked €40. That was too much so I asked the Police to take me back to the albergue municipal. To avoid the possibility of any bed bugs I spent the night sleeping on the kitchen table.
So if anyone has stayed there from June onward I would love to know if they really have done anything at all.
Ultria
At that point I went to the town hall to notify them of the condition but by that time it was closed. So I went to the local Police to ask who was responsible for the albergue, the answer was "we are". They hadn't been there recently so I asked if they would come with me to see the condition of the place. I praised the building to the Police and that it would only take a bit of looking after to make it right at that I was told the person looking after it comes just once a month. They told me that no-one speaks to them so they were unaware of the situation. They noted all the problems and promised to talking to the town hall. I told the Police after walking so many kilometers a pilgrim is happy to pay 7, 10, 12 euros to be able to use the premises rather than have the place free but unusable, and that we are pilgrims and not animals.
They told me they'd take me to a different place which would cost about €25 but on arrival I was asked €40. That was too much so I asked the Police to take me back to the albergue municipal. To avoid the possibility of any bed bugs I spent the night sleeping on the kitchen table.
So if anyone has stayed there from June onward I would love to know if they really have done anything at all.
Ultria