This article in La Región.es interviews a local official who describes more improved routing on dangerous sections between Barco and A Rúa. I know that some who walked last year reported that a chunk of the road walk into A Rúa has been taken off the side of the road. It looks like there are some more improvements being made.
This is of course a good development, I think we can all agree that enhanced safety is a positive. But I think it is also a great indicator that the days of the Invierno being a backwater untraveled camino are coming to an end. Until a few years ago, very few people in these towns even knew there was a camino going through them. I was hugged in 2015 by a woman in a village who had never seen a pilgrim. To think that towns are spending some serious money to make the camino safe for pilgrims means that they believe that pilgrims are more than a flash in the pan.
So in some ways I’m torn — will the Invierno become like the Francés, 90% gravel paths wide enough to drive a car on? We have seen this coming, it will be so interesting to see how it goes this coming camino season.
This is of course a good development, I think we can all agree that enhanced safety is a positive. But I think it is also a great indicator that the days of the Invierno being a backwater untraveled camino are coming to an end. Until a few years ago, very few people in these towns even knew there was a camino going through them. I was hugged in 2015 by a woman in a village who had never seen a pilgrim. To think that towns are spending some serious money to make the camino safe for pilgrims means that they believe that pilgrims are more than a flash in the pan.
So in some ways I’m torn — will the Invierno become like the Francés, 90% gravel paths wide enough to drive a car on? We have seen this coming, it will be so interesting to see how it goes this coming camino season.