- Time of past OR future Camino
- Frances 15,16,18
VdlP 23, Invierno 23, Fisterra 23
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Just a word from someone who is running a "for-profit" business. I guess many albergues/pensiones also are set up this way. It is legally not possible for us to have someone working for us under minimum wage and also to have someone work for us without a work visa.
I think this is different for a non-proifit, but I am not sure how that works.
I think this gives @Robo the clearest answer to his questioning, if not exactly his questions.This is quite true although in practice some non-donativos may "get-away" with having volunteers. Although I know Javi at Samblismo and have stayed with him twice (no volunteers at the time) I would personally not volunteer in a for-profit albergue. It is free labour.
Donativos have completely different rules governing them and depending on the autonomous region. Same holds true for an Albergue Turístico. I saw this when I had an albergue in Castilla y León and compared notes with friends who had one in Galicia.
Locals can cause trouble for you if you have a Albergue Turístico and do have volunteers. I've heard of albergue owners being denunciado to the local police for such actions.
Both HosVol and FICS are regularly in need of volunteers. I personally would start there. Help keep up the traditional
It doesn't matter if the albergue is a private (one's own home), municipal or run by a church, if it truly has a donativo status then as far as I understand the owner may have volunteers. Once you set a fixed price for a bed or a meal then the situation changes.So how would a private donativo albergue be defined? I know 2 owners of donativo albergues who also need to make a living out of it. So would that classify as a for profit? They both work with volunteers. And I have been a hospitalera myself at a private donativo albergue too (Reposo del Andayón in Cuerres on the Norte, not existing anymore).
How do we find out about HosVol training? Is there a link or application or ???There are various organizations which take volunteers. HosVol just has a larger number of albergues than most. There is the Confraternity of StJames from the UK which has two albergues. FICS serves 3 albergues and the contact to volunteer for them is @Rebekah Scott . There other organizations from various countries which provide volunteers for specific albergues or locations such as Roncesvalles and the Pilgrim office in St Jean. There is also the pilgrim office in Santiago. There isn't really a central location to volunteer.
Private albergues may seek helpers through organizations like Work Away.
We have volunteered with FICS and HosVol and enjoyed both experiences. With HosVol we often just tell them when we will be in country and they offer us an albergue. You can "request" a location, but we usually just go where they say there is a need. It's always been a good experience. The small towns have been our favorites. You become more of the community even in just 2 weeks.
We have only worked at donativos. We like those best, but some organizations do have a set charge such as Roncesvalles.
When you do the training you will get a list of organisations and their addresses.Dumb question time, sorry.
Pat and I are looking to start volunteering next year as hopefully I can start to ease back my workload.
We have booked into the HosVol training here in Australia.
Dumb Question Number 1.
Are there other associations/organisations that provide such training. The HosVol training is 'recognised' by quite a few Albergues/Groups, which is great. But it begs the question, what training is required to serve at others that are not listed?
Are there other organisation such as HosVol servicing different groups of Albergues?
Not being picky, the HosVol list looks great. Just curious.
Dumb Question Number 2. a.k.a. Dumber Question.
Are 'volunteers' only required at Donativo Albergues?
Seems to be the case in the ones I have stayed at.
I'm sure others of whatever 'type' have need of help at some stage, if only for the local team to have a break.
Can people enrol in a courser like this if they have no plans of being a hospitalero in the near future, but are interested in learning new skills? Or are you expected to be available at some point, given the shortage of hospitaleros?My partner Eileen and I are the Hosvol hospitaler@ trainers for Australia. As we are based in Sydney, that´s where we run courses although we can and do run courses elsewhere in Australia in conjunction with local camino groups. At present, there are still spaces free on the course in Sydney on January 27th and 28th. If you are interested, you can apply via the Australian Friends of the Camino website -
I have learned something new as I never realized that some donativos are privately owned.I verified that Albergue El Cruce in La Espina, although donativo, is private, and thus does not meet the requirement to take the training.
For sure. When I was staying at Casa da Fernanda on the Camino Portugues, it was donativo. This year the Albergue in Samblismo was a privately owned donativo.I have learned something new as I never realized that some donativos are privately owned.
If somebody meets the criteria, we would happily accept them on the course, although we would expect that they intend to work as a hospitaler@ at some point. Plans change, some are long term so don´t feel there is an obligation to work in the following year. This January, we are running another course in Sydney to meet demand, so there are places. If you are not sure, you can let us know and offer to defer if there is someone on the waiting list who is really keen.Can people enrol in a courser like this if they have no plans of being a hospitalero in the near future, but are interested in learning new skills? Or are you expected to be available at some point, given the shortage of hospitaleros?
(I totally understand if the course is for people who are really keen and ready to go)
“For profit” places that I know of would never use a reputable organization to get free helpers. They may grab a stray pilgrim here and there and let them stay to help but the owners of these places are rightfully under much scrutiny and in reality, the people that I know abide by the law and I know several of these type places.I think the difference between what @ivar said and what @David Tallan said is that one describes what the law requires and one describes the actual practices on the ground. It’s of course up to everyone individually to decide how they want to deal with the legalities, but I’ve heard @Rebekah Scott’s spin on this issue enough to know that I wouldn’t feel comfortable “volunteering” at a for-profit place.
Can people enrol in a courser like this if they have no plans of being a hospitalero in the near future, but are interested in learning new skills? Or are you expected to be available at some point, given the shortage of hospitaleros?
(I totally understand if the course is for people who are really keen and ready to go)
This is especially true if space is limited. It would be terribly unfortunate if a dedicated pilgrim could not attend training because that space was taken by someone attending just to have an experience.I was a HOSVOL volunteer trainer for three years. We called these students "workshoppers." The came to the training without any intention of serving... IMHO, they were wasting our time and resources. We are not in the weekend workshop "self-enrichment" entertainment business. We train people to volunteer in albergues.
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