Pilgrim Etiquette

A few rules of Pilgrim and Albergue Etiquette. 

Please do your best to play by these rules. It will help make your experience a happier one.

1. You are the foreigner - do not criticize the people, their way of life, their towns, their food, their religion etc. James A. Michener said: “If you reject the food, ignore the customs, fear the religion and avoid the people, you might better stay at home.”

2. A bed in a church or municipal shelter is a privilege not a right and should be treated as such. Give a generous donation; be gracious and helpful to the hospitalero (volunteer host) and other pilgrims. (We are paying your lodging so you don’t have to worry about this. But if you decide to return to the Camino on your own at a later date, and many do, please give generously.)

3. If you are able-bodied and have scored a lower bunk, give an elderly or obviously suffering pilgrim your lower and take the upper one. *

4. Use just one bunk. The surrounding bunks are not for your overflow goods. *

5. The space under the bunk generally is shared by both occupants. * The chair next to the bunk is also shared.

6. Don't put your backpack on the bed; it's probably been on the ground, in bars, on the street, in fields, near fountains, and in seen or unseen manure, etc., throughout the day. I do not like to put my pack on the ground, either. Bedbugs travel on the floor. I find a chair and if there is not one, I often ask for one. I often take a rope or bungie cord and hang my pack from the bedpost.

7. Share clothesline space. If things are filling up, adjust your laundry so others have some room too. Consider taking your own little clothesline. Try Rick Steves’ website for travelling elastic lines. They’re great! Take safety pins to hang clothes so they don’t blow or “walk” away.

8. If you are cooking a meal in the albergue kitchen, offer to share – communal cook-ups are great fun and if you can, leave some 'long life' food behind for the next pilgrim. The next person to arrive might need it if they have not been able to buy food en route.

9. Practice kindness. Share some plaster, food, or water. If you see someone in distress, ask if they need to share their troubles. Then, if you can do so, offer help.

10. Don’t expect special treatment, and you will be pleasantly surprised when it comes your way.

11. Put phones and alarms on vibrate or turn them off at night, so as to not disturb or wake up your fellow pilgrims.

12. If you must make a cell phone call after 9:30 pm at night, go outside away from the windows where weary pilgrims are sleeping. Some people are here to escape the electronic world!

13. If listening to a personal stereo or mp3 players in bed at night - please turn the volume down. Others around you should not be able to hear your music.

14. If you plan to leave early, prepare your things the night before, to minimize the racket you’ll make when you get up. DO NOT PACK IN PLASTIC BAGS. They rattle and wake everyone up. Use cloth bags or nysil bags, if you like to separate your items.

15. When leaving or walking through a village very early in the morning, do so quietly i.e. soft voices, carrying those clicking sticks aloft. Other pilgrims may forget, and it’s ok to politely remind them if you feel like it.

16. If you tend to snore, don’t drink a lot of wine in the evening. It makes you reverberate.

17. Wear earplugs so the unavoidable disturbances by others will not drive you to distraction.

18. Don’t leave your litter on the floor. Wash up what you dirty. Clean up after yourself. There is no maid to wash your dishes, pans, or cutlery.*

19. Take short showers to save a little water for later arrivals. *

20. Don't steal the toilet paper. 

21. If you have a cold or flu, go to a private room in a hostal for a few days. No one will be happy sleeping in a dorm with a sick person. It could ruin someone’s Camino. *

22. Do NOT leave your toilet paper along the Camino! How would you like it if I squatted in YOUR front yard and left my paper in a pile? This is a HUGE issue with me! Ladies are the culprits, for the most part. Please purchase a special handkerchief for urinating along the way. You can keep it in a baggie and wash it out each night. OR, carry a baggy for dirty paper and throw it in the nearest trash. You will see a LOT of TP along the path. It’s a disgusting habit. Please do not do it. Be a good guest and carry your litter out with you, even if others do not.

23. Try to do your toileting in the hotel before we leave. If you must use the toilet along the way in a bar, BUY SOMETHING – even if it’s just a coffee or a pack of gum.

24. If you see a receptacle in the bathroom for paper, USE IT. Put your dirty paper in the bin, not in the toilet. These are very old plumbing systems and get clogged up easily by the 100’s of pilgrims passing through the villages. Flush ONLY bodily business and toilet paper down the toilets. Sanitary napkins and tampons go in the trash receptacle, NOT in the toilet.

25. Have patience with shopkeepers and hoteliers. They are sometimes frustrated. People from all over the world are speaking to them in different languages. They are doing their best. Smile and be kind whenever possible.

26. You are in Spain. People speak Spanish there. They do not always speak or understand English. Sometimes if you ask them, “Do you speak English,” they will say no, even though they may understand you. They are shy. Saying a phrase in English and then saying it s.l.o.w.e.r. and LOUDER doesn’t make it any easier to understand. (You wouldn’t believe how many times I’ve seen this done!) Try to learn some basic phrases in Spanish or ask someone for help. Sign language works in a lot of cases… point to the item you want. There will be lots of pilgrims on the road and many will be able to help you.

27. NO TOCA LA FRUTA! “Don’t touch the fruit!” I will tell you this more than once. In many of the small village stores, they get one or two boxes of a particular fruit. They do not allow you to poke and prod and squeeze the fruit like we do in the USA. POINT to the fruit you want and let the shopkeeper give you one. The fruit is generally organic and so maybe not as pretty as you’re used to, but it is almost always sweet and good! In fact, I’ve never gotten a bad piece of fruit.

28. That said, in the larger cities, in the markets, you CAN pick up your own fruit if there is no attendant. You will put it on a scale and weigh it (there are photos on the scale to help you). It will spit out a sticky tag that you will then put on the fruit or the bag so the checker knows the price. We’ll show you how to do this if we’re nearby.