Help Needed for Accommodation in Caracena and Fresno de Caracena!!

[mick53]

We are currently walking the Lana and at Mandayona. Prefer these days to get a room rather than rely on finding space in tiny albergues. We have stayed in 3 so far, varied from good to basic (worst 4 beds, no blankets, no pillows, no heating but no cost!).

Will be doing the stage to Fresno de Caracena in 3 days.

Thanks to those who provided info but current problem is:
- Fresno de Caracena Albergue is described as basic, no beds! Will ring to see if improved. No other accommodation can be found in the town.
- Caracena has been recommended as an alternative as bar has (had!!) access to a basic Casa Rural - reported as recently as June 2023. Have rung the number and had a WhatsApp conversation. Seems it may be under new management and not offering rooms any more. Hard to get precise reasons with my poor Spanish.

The is a CR la Caracola in Caracena, +34 609 28 16 56, but they say they have no room that day. Appears to be a different Casa to the one reported in other posts.

So, still looking around at options including skipping that stage.

 

[Donovan]

Thanks to those who provided info but current problem is:
- Fresno de Caracena Albergue is described as basic, no beds! Will ring to see if improved. No other accommodation can be found in the town.
- Caracena has been recommended as an alternative as bar has (had!!) access to a basic Casa Rural - reported as recently as June 2023. Have rung the number and had a WhatsApp conversation. Seems it may be under new management and not offering rooms any more. Hard to get precise reasons with my poor Spanish.

The is a CR la Caracola in Caracena, +34 609 28 16 56, but they say they have no room that day. Appears to be a different Casa to the one reported in other posts.

So, still looking around at options including skipping that stage.

Mick,
Fresno de Caracena albergue was reported closed last year. I think that’s still the case.

Aurora, who owns the albergue and hotel in Retortillo de Soria, may have information on what’s happening in Caracena. Like you, the last reference I saw to the accommodation attached to the bar was in June last year when it was freshly opened.

It would be a great pity to miss the walk along the Caracena gorge, it’s a highlight of this camino. When I walked this route last May the bar accommodation in Caracena hadn’t yet opened so I walked to Fresno de Caracena and arranged, through Aurora, for a taxi to meet me there and take me to Esteban de Gomaz.

Taxi in San Estaban - Ricardo Mate +34 626 99 85 89 or 626 99 85 89. Ricardo told me he regularly ferries pilgrims from Fresno.

 

[HeidiL]

In a similar situation some years ago, I phoned the ayuntamiento a couple of weeks in advance and asked very, very politely if they knew about anything. We slept indoors that night, in the guest room of a friend of a friend of a friend of the employee I talked to.

 

[peregrina2000]

My understanding is also that there is no accommodation at all in Fresno de Caracena. There used to be some basic acogida but I have heard repeatedly that it is not available now. Last year, I spoke with the wife of the mayor who said in no uncertain terms that there was nowhere in town for pilgrims to stay.

The Caracena bar/restaurante (which is an excellent restaurant, btw, full on weekends with day-trippers) is a mother/son operation. Mom operates the bar, son Rodrigo is the chef. Rodrigo is also the owner of the casa rural. We stayed there last May. I sent him a WhatsApp message to ask about what’s going on. He told me that the Casa Rural is not available now because he has hired someone to work in the restaurant, and that person is living in the house. But that if you have a sleeping bag, you can sleep on the floor of the bar. His number is 609 44 82 19. You can send a WhatsApp message. If your Spanish isn’t good, it’s probably better to write.

I join the chorus of those who say It would be a real pity to skip the stage. Caracena is a lovely little village, with a very nice romanesque church and a castle a few minutes up the hill with great views over the awesome canyon that the Camino goes through.

The taxi option is a decent one as well. I would walk from Retortillo to Caracena (either 15 or 23 km, depending on whether you take the 8 km GR 86 diversion from Retortillo, eat in Caracena and explore, and then have the taxi from San Esteban come pick you up. (The taxi could also pick you up in some of the towns further along from Caracena if you want to walk more kms), which are Carracosa de Abajo (5.5 from Caracena) or Fresno de Caracena (3.5 km from Carracosa). You can then decide whether to skip those stages between pick-up and San Esteban, or whether to have the taxi take you back to where he picked you up the day before so you can “walk every km.” San Esteban de Gormaz is a nice place with some very nice churches, a castle, plaza with some life going on.

I had a blog on FindPenguins, which you can see here.

Good luck and let us know what you do.

 

[peregrina2000]

And I just got a P.S. from Rodrigo to say they have mats if you need them (esterillas in Spanish).

It’s easy for me to say since I slept in the comfortable Casa Rural, but this town is so wonderful that if you can tolerate it, I would highly recommend the mats on the floor of the bar.

I’m just waiting for @C clearly, who is not anywhere near as hyperbolic as I am, to weigh in with her impressions of Caracena - the late afternoon after the “crowds” had left, going into the church, sitting on the hillside and watching the shephards (husband and son of bar owner) bring their flock down.

And the icing on the cake — walk up to the castle, and continue beyond the castle and then turn around and look back. You will have an incredible view of the castle perched on the edge of the gorge, just amazing.

 

[C clearly]

I’m just waiting for @C clearly, who is not anywhere near as hyperbolic as I am, to weigh in with her impressions of Caracena

Ok, ok... Caracena was one of my favourite experiences on any Camino - in particular, the moment when I heard distant tinkling of sheep bells, and looked up in delight to see hundreds of sheep crossing the valley and entering the village where we had just finished a gourmet meal and seen a Romanesque church and castle ruins.

 

[peregrina2000]

So, still looking around at options including skipping that stage.

So, @mick53, what did you end up doing?