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Warning - Detour of Porriño almost wiped out.

Diogo92

Veteran Member
Time of past OR future Camino
C. Português 2013, 2014
C. de Fátima 2014
C. do Salnés 2015
Has the majority of the members of this Forum know (or at least the ones who walked, or are intending to walk the Caminho Português), the Caminho Associations and the Xunta had built a new alternative for pilgrims not passing through the old Industrial Area in O Porriño.

The thing is that, last Sunday (it made 1 week yesterday) almost everything that has been done untill that date, has been destroyed.

The plate that indicated the detour was burned down, the yellow markings were covered with black paint, and new fluorescente green/yellow markings were made, indicating restaurants, cafés and the Industrial Area.

For those who are going to walk this Caminho in a nearby future, take care, and don't be lost. I will update this post has soon has I can, with new informations.







 
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Camino Way markers in Bronze
The one from Galicia (the round) and the one from Castilla & Leon. Individually numbered and made by the same people that make the ones you see on your walk.
I walked there in may. The sign wasn't burned down then, but still it was very confusing (to me) what the new route was and what the awfull Porriño route was. Lots of arrows pointing left and right, up and down and in all different yellow-ish colors. What a mess.

But that burned down sign wasnt the only sign that said that there was a new route. I saw at least 3-4 smaller plastified signs/papers attached to poles and trees, informing pilgrims about how to avoid Porrińo.

I ended up on the industrial Porrińo path. How? No idea! Awfull road. Lucky for me it was on a saturday, so it was not busy at all, but walking there on a weekday must be even wors.
 
Thanks Diogo for the alert - ---
Signs are replaceable and arrows repaintable. The path has not been destroyed - it's a beautiful path through the woods, across streams ... and one ends up @ the Porrino albergue.
I attached an image of the map (taken in May 2014) - Albergues have small printed copies of that map available as well (at least they did in May).
Good luck - the new path is findable ... and very well worth it! was so very grateful to everyone who had worked on creating/signing that alternative!!
 

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For the pilgrims who use GPS, here it's the track: http://es.wikiloc.com/wikiloc/view.do?id=6770782


The problem is that the majority of the pilgrims are already going through the wrong way, and they miss the turn for the new way. And now, with those cafe and restaurants signs, they are all going to be attracted by that.

I hope that the Alcaide in O Porriño finally wake up, and see what it's passing around there. This it's a crime that should be punished. People who do this, should have their commercial licenses denied for 1 or 2 years, has a punishment for their actions.
 
 

The Albergues before Orbenlle/O Porriño, have maps and give maps and directions to these people. The problem is that if the main entry point it's not detected, people will miss the detour. And don't forget that if you turn right on that Citroen, or Peugeot stand, you will still get to the Industrial Area! Even those signs have been destroyed.
 
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Amorfati, thanks for the information. Do the maps exist in the local area or are they distributed for some distance ahead?
 

They are all being ripped off from trees. If you put a sign in there today, tomorrow it isn't in there. Every single day, those people go out and see if there are new markings and destroy them. The associations work with volunteers, who are not always avaliable. Café owners send their sons and friends to to these every
 
flewitheagles said:
Amorfati, thanks for the information. Do the maps exist in the local area or are they distributed for some distance ahead?
Click to expand...

Usually the Albergues have those maps. I know that in Ponte de Lima, Paula, Cristina and Ovideo will give you one, and all the directions that you need to know.
 
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We came from Valença so weren't in other albergues . I think we saw one albergue with opposite a kind of restaurant/bar where we drank a coffee and got a stamp so if this is the one it is good if they are willing to supply a kind of detour map. But who is steering this all ?
But anyhow it should be nice to find a map here on this forum to be prepared on beforehand.
 
Bad guys !
 

Rates, Barcelos, Ponte de Lima, Rubiães, Valença, Tui, all of them have it. Even the trekking shop in Tui, INERCIA, has them
 
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flewitheagles said:
Amorfati, thanks for the information. Do the maps exist in the local area or are they distributed for some distance ahead?
Click to expand...

You are most welcome!
I believe Diogo already replied/answered your question. Just to add: I photographed the poster of the alternative Porrino path onto my iPad - and used it often while walking that stretch. Was very helpful. Also shared it with other pilgrims i've met on that path.

And regarding those thug-aholics who keep destroying the info/posters etc ... they are just piling up heaps of 'bad karma' -
would it perhaps be useful writing notes/letters to the local Porrino coppers/police chief? or chamber or commerce? for them to step up patrols or write citations reg vandalism?
thoughts?

image: detour Path - O Porrino
 

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If that is their priority of the coppers, please do !
 

Nobody does a thing, and that it's the problem Even the Alcaide and the Xunta close their eyes to this sittuation.
 
What the people are not seeing is that, these things (markings in Galicia for every Caminho), are made with tax money. So, if people are destroying this, they are destroying what belongs to them. I have the same opinion has the guy who warned me about this situation... If pilgrims voted for the Alcaides and the Xunta Presidents, things would be different.
 
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Diogo92 said:
Nobody does a thing, and that it's the problem Even the Alcaide and the Xunta close their eyes to this sittuation.
Click to expand...
It looks like the alcaide and the Xunta possess the shares of the concerning enterprises !
 
Albertinho said:
It looks like the alcaide and the Xunta possess the shares of the concerning enterprises !
Click to expand...

Well, they both belong to the same political partie. But I believe that it's more the Alcaide than the Xunta, The Xunta has a lot of things to take care of. An entire region. The Alcaide only has the county of O Porriño.
 

Naturally, that would be the case (that things would be different if pilgrims had voting powers) - Could Spanish pilgrims be motivated to write to the officials? or would that be an exercise in futility? (the writing to the officials; not the asking of the spanish pilgrims)
i have those spiffy camino brochures from the Galicia bureau of something or other ... will send them a note.
Even the directors of the Xunta have supervisors ... will try to find out who those are ... and will send them a note as well.
 
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Diogo92 said:
Well, they both belong to the same political partie. But I believe that it's more the Alcaide than the Xunta, The Xunta has a lot of things to take care of. An entire region. The Alcaide only has the county of O Porriño.
Click to expand...
I remember last year the caminho path through Azinhaga (hey that 's not far from where you live-only 3 cigarettes if you smoke ) was detoured because of a conflict between some officials from that region !
 
Albertinho said:
I remember last year the caminho path through Azinhaga (hey that 's not far from where you live-only 3 cigarettes if you smoke ) was detoured because of a conflict between some officials from that region !
Click to expand...

Yes, I know, I warned everybody about that too
 
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Sorry Claudia. En España exista una palabra se dice " burocratia " If you write them a letter , the one who receives it and has to handle about it will say " ¿ porque yo tengo que hacerlo ? I worked some years in Spain. I know all about.
 
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Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece. We should form the "Club of the Bureaucrats"
 
Diogo92 said:
Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece. We should form the "Club of the Bureaucrats"
Click to expand...
The best is not to rely on those kind of what we call here "pocket fillers" but act with your own strenght !

So.
PILGRIMS OF THE PORTUGESE CAMINHO ! UNITE AND TAKE YOUR COPY OF THE DETOUR THROUGH O PORRINO !

And give our regards to the alcalde of o Porriño
 
Diogo92 said:
Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece. We should form the "Club of the Bureaucrats"
Click to expand...
unfortunately not limited to those countries - bureaucrats are equal opportunity offenders - that tribe exists everywhere.
yet - i had some good success with writing to their supervisors. Usually never deal w/ the 'offending' party directly, but the higher-ups.
Cheers ! C
 
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Thanks for the warning. Just yesterday I was copying down the detour on my map ready for my walk in Sept. I'm worried now. Are we best to just bus past that section. I hate busing if I don't need to but as I'm on my own I really don't want to be walking in circles.
 
You always can walk on the information,you gathered now and if it goes wrong you walk the ancient road on the industrial area and arrive in Porriño that way. It is shorter than the detour.
Walking from Porto to Vilarinho is worse .About that matter nobody complains on this forum in spite of some try to convince them to walk the safer coastal detour.
 
So who is doing this? Are they locals who want the pilgrims to walk past their shops/cafes/stores? Or are they just people who will do something to "stuff it up" for others? Not intending to walk this Camino but thanks all the same!!
 
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Saint Mike II said:
So who is doing this? Are they locals who want the pilgrims to walk past their shops/cafes/stores? Or are they just people who will do something to "stuff it up" for others? Not intending to walk this Camino but thanks all the same!!
Click to expand...
It probably are owners of shops/cafés /restaurants and stores because the problem is structural
 

No need to bus. You are not going to walk in circles. You either end up on the detour or on the old road and both end up in the same place.
 
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Dutch said:
No need to bus. You are not going to walk in circles. You either end up on the detour or on the old road end both end up in the same place.
Click to expand...
Ok so no ring a round the roses for me then.
 
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Fantastic Diogo92 I'm going to print it off now.
 

So true, the Porriño industrial path is a walk in the park compared to Porto - Vilarinho.
 
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Soon my wife,Pam, and I will be walking from Porto. We would be glad to help sponsor a sign that would direct pilgrims to the businesses on the industrial route. Could it be placed at the intersection where the rural path begins? Where could we direct the funds? Would this help all concerned ?....... Willy & Pam
 
Don't you mean a sign that would direct pilgrims AWAY from the industrial zone?
 
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Dutch said:
Don't you mean a sign that would direct pilgrims AWAY from the industrial zone?
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If there was a map/sign at the split that said "food HERE and lodging HERE" as well as showing the new path, maybe the business owners would stop changing the arrows.
 
I admit I wasn't clear, yes, if the sign was noteworthy, advertising the commercial route then the stores and cafes might not see it as an actual indication of the new alternate way. I appreciate the hard work people have invested in the new path and the impact it has on business which pilgrims have helped in the past. I am trying to think of a positive way to address both needs and for me to find the new alternative path. ......... Buen Camino............ Willy & Pam
 
Just to give a recent report on the marking of the alternate route away from the Industrial Zone . . . We were headed toward Porriño at the end of May 2015 , we found every waymark at the beginning of the detour painted over in black. Yellow arrows were painted to take peregrinos into the Industrial Zone. A car even stopped and the person encouraged us to keep walking toward the Industrial Zone. We needed a café break, so we headed up the hill to the Restaurant Orbenelle which is on the way to the Industrial Zone. Interestingly, after we ate, the person at the restaurant told us to keep following the arrows which directed us to the Industrial Zone. We knew that the detour was back along the river, so instead of backtracking to the painted over arrows, we jumped a fence and followed a path through the eucalyptus forest and eventually made it to the detour. So it seems that the tussle over the alternate route continues.
 
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I also walked last month (passing through on May 19) and the waiter we had at Orbenelle actually told us twice, both times in great detail, how to get back to the route to take the alternative route along the river, which he stressed was MUCH nicer than going through the poligono. I ended up walking through the industrial area, (I was meeting up with a friend and it was easier to locate me on that main road) and saw two different groups attempting to find their way back to the detour ... so it remains confusing, to say the least! And the walk through the poligono is a terrible slog, as everyone says it is. There are maps of the detour posted along the way, so snap a photo if you have the ability for reference, perhaps that would help?
 
Hi, I walked that section on May 24 and was aware of the confusion and the detour and still missed the first detour sign and ended up at the bar in Orbenelle. I was determined to find it so I went up the hill from the bar and wound back around to where I finally found the new detour. I almost turned back around because I didn't want to go too far out of my way. I finally found it and it was a very nice walk. There was still some pavement walking but not on busy roads. I also took the alternative route by the stream heading into Pontevedra. It was easier to find and also very nice. Dayton
 
I was walking from Tui to redondela June 2, 2015 and had a coffee break in the restaurant in Orbenlle. The restaurant owner pointed us to the alternative route and we followed the yellow arrows through the alternative route.
 
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I also stopped at the Restaurante Orbenlle for lunch on the second week of May. I was confused by the number of arrows and those that were painted over in black. The waiter at the restaurant told me to go all the way down through a forest trail. I enjoyed the walk and passed a few pilgrims as we walked under the shade.
However after the Velodromo I decided to go over the bridge and ended up walking on the side of a main road instead of the riverside trail (confused by the two arrows on the crossroads).
 
Lots of people make it to the Restaurante Orbenlle then find the way, perhaps with help from the people at Restaurante Orbenlle, to the new trail along the river. The waiter also directed me to the new trail, rather than "that ugly route along the industrial road". The funny thing is that the new trail actually also bypasses the Restaurante Orbenlle. The owner has also repainted the arrows to get pilgrims to their bar / hotel / restaurant.

For what it's worth, we did not have a pleasant experience at the restaurant. The food seemed overpriced and they were terribly rude to a South American pilgrim that we were walking with that day. It looked nice though and the owner was nice to the four Europeans who were in the restaurant at the same time.
 
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