Overview: Cami de Sant Jaume (Huesca)

A modern route enabling pilgrims from Barcelona and central Spain to journey to the Camino Aragonés and then the Camino Francés under their own steam. Montserrat, the shrine of the Moreneta (the Black Madonna), is the traditional starting point.

The route. There are two routes: the more frequently travelled follows the Ebro up through Saragossa and joins the Camino Francés at Logroño. The other, which I took, splits out of Tárrega and goes up through Balaguer and Huesca, and then joins on to the Camino Aragonés.

Length. The route to Jaca (strictly, San Juan de la Peña) from Montserrat is over 300km long and takes between two and three weeks to walk (excluding rest days).

Waymarking. The route is very unevenly waymarked. While local volunteers have done their very best, especially around centres such as Huesca and Igualada, there are significant stretches without any yellow arrows and even, in at least two places, misleadingly placed signals.

Terrain. The route is divided between footpaths and farm roads and, to a lesser extent, paved provincial highways. On stretches, it passes over Cañadas (historic drove roads).

The trail through Catalonia and into Aragon passes through significant stretches of agricultural land and orchards with, sadly, trees too small to provide one with shade. Crossing the Sierra de Loarre entails a stiff climb to the majestic Mirador de Buitre overlooking the Mallos, and then passing through the Foz de Escalete to the Embalse de la Peña below. From the station at Santa María de la Peña, one can take the local train to Jaca, or traverse the Sierra de la Peña to the monastery of San Juan de la Peña.

Weather. Typical Spanish continental weather for the most part. There will be mountain weather from Montserrat to Igualada and out of Loarre to Jaca. Consult with locals if you have any doubt at all, especially between Loarre and Jaca, where there is almost no shelter or refuge; and pay close attention to their advice. Elsewhere, weather similar to that between Burgos and Astorga on the Camino francés - extremely hot in the three summer months.

When to go. This is Spain – this route can be walked all year long, but July to early September is extremely hot and long stretches of the route have absolutely no shade. I would think that spring and autumn are best. In early September, I was twice picked up by the police who were concerned about walking distances in the heat of the day. Be very careful about the Sierra de Loarre in snow or bad weather: there are only a very few mountaineers’ shelters. You may want to take the train from Riglos to Jaca instead. Note that, in September and October, hostales and casas rurales often close to enable their staff to take their holidays.

What to see. Barcelona: an extraordinarily vibrant cosmopolitan city with historical associations, remarkable history, and amazing galleries. Montserrat: a breathtaking mountain monastery with memorable views, and a world-renowned choir school. Igualada and Tárrega: charming Catalan towns with cheerful squares. Huesca: historical centre. Loarre: pleasant mountain village with the monumental Castillo de Loarre. Jaca: an historical market and university town, with restaurants and bars. San Juan de la Peña: an utterly breathtaking and majestic mountaintop monastery, justly a World Heritage Site.

Where to stay. Accommodation is adequate, but can be pricey at times, especially in touristy areas such as Loarre. Hotel/hostal accommodation at intervals of 20-30 km. No network of free or cheap pilgrim refugios - with exceptions in Tamareite de Liteira, Cervera, Monzon and Huesca. Often bars or restaurants will have inexpensive rooms on their upper floors, or the owners will helpfully call around to find you a bed. Staff in ayuntamientos and local police can be delightfully warm and ready to be of assistance.

Distinctive features of the route. Very quiet and peaceful with very few pilgrims. Would appeal to those seeking solitude and undiscovered Spain. I only saw two other pilgrims (Austrians on bicycles) in almost three weeks of walking; however, locals knew about the Camino and were uniformly hospitable and helpful. Their dogs are NOT accustomed to pilgrims, and walkers must be sensible and careful.

Aside from the Sierra de Loarre, walking is fairly easy if at times boring. Getting lost is a perpetual worry owing to sparse (and occasionally unhelpful) waymarkings.  Local volunteers did heroic work in and out of cities, but some rural stretches need serious attention.

Cyclable almost all the way. No major industrial towns to negotiate - delightful mediaeval market towns in Catalonia and picturesque if poor and dusty towns and villages in Aragón.

Barcelona to Jaca can be walked in just over 18 days, an ideal pilgrimage for the lover of solitude.

Guide books. The Barcelona-based Association have produced a guide, which would have been very useful if I had but remembered to bring my copy. Their website (www.camisantjaume.com/) also has a pdf of an account by a young pilgrim who did the route last year– the only one with an account of the traverse of the Sierra de la Peña, and which provides excellent details..

Useful websites

www.balmat.es/rutasall.asp?id=35 provides a very useful guide (in Spanish) to the Catalan stretch– the first eight days, as far as Alfarrás.

Another interesting (Spanish) website is: http://www.terra.es/personal/jucasel/Camino/etapas98.html

The Huesca association provides a very useful document (http://personal.telefonica.terra.es/web/jmata/asociacion/caminocatalan.htm) as well as difficult-to-read but fairly accurate maps found at: http://personal.telefonica.terra.es/web/jmata/asociacion/mapasweb/pages/01.htm

The Barcelona Amics are at http://www.amicsdelspelegrins.org/ where there's a summary of the route and list of facilities.

There's also a guide at Mundicamino http://www.mundicamino.com/rutas.cfm?id=49

 

Language.

While it is not impossible to take this route without much Spanish I would suggest that prospective pilgrims learn as much as possible before they set out. French is a useful backup language, but English is extremely rare.

Thanks to Austin Cooke, Coordinator, Ottawa Group, Company of Pilgrims, January 2008 (whose fuller account of his own experience of walking this route is in the CSJ Library). Also to Peter Robins for additional information.