The eclipse raises prices on the Camino de Santiago: up to €500 for a bed
This Wednesday, August 12, the Camino de Santiago is experiencing a day that will hardly be repeated again. Thousands of pilgrims will travel some of the Jacobean routes under a total solar eclipse that will cross much of northern Spain, but the astronomical event is also having a much less romantic consequence: In some places, finding accommodation has become a real odyssey and prices have skyrocketed.
The arrival of thousands of people specifically attracted by the eclipse coincides with one of the busiest tourist times of the summer and with the usual presence of pilgrims on the Camino. The result is extraordinary pressure on hotels, guesthouses, rural houses and other accommodation located in the areas from which the phenomenon can be seen.
The problem especially affects those who are doing the Camino these days and need to find a bed at the end of each stage. Some pilgrims have discovered that that night that they would normally resolve by looking for a shelter or a room has become one of the most complicated of their entire trip.
Pilgrims facing eclipse tourists
The phenomenon has even created a new category of travelers: the so-called “eclipsines”, people who have expressly traveled to the north of Spain to contemplate the eclipse.
Many reserved their accommodation months in advance. Others have arrived in recent days looking for places with the best weather and visibility perspectives.
The problem is that a good part of these places coincide precisely with territories crossed by the Camino de Santiago.
León and Burgos, two of the large cities of the French Way, are located in the zone of totality. Large areas crossed by other Jacobean routes in the north of the peninsula also do so.
The eclipse also occurs very close to sunset, which makes certain high, clear places facing west especially sought after spots.
Complete accommodations and extraordinary prices
The pressure on accommodation has been one of the most striking effects of the eclipse for months.
According to information published in the last few hours, in certain establishments the increases have reached extraordinary percentages, of up to 654 % regarding their usual rates.
There are also testimonies from pilgrims who are currently doing the Camino and who claim to have found numerous complete hostels and hotels around the area. 500 euros per night.
A pilgrim who travels the Camino del Norte recently explained that she had contacted seven accommodations for the night of August 12 without finding a bed. Faced with hotel prices that were around 500 euros, he even considered sleeping outdoors or modifying his route.
It is not an isolated case. For weeks, pilgrims preparing the Camino Primitivo, the Camino del Norte or the Camino Francés have been asking about the need to reserve specifically for the night of the eclipse.
Public shelters, a hope for the pilgrim
There is, however, an important difference that can work in favor of those who are really doing the Camino.
Some public hostels or those specifically designed for pilgrims maintain systems in which it is not possible to reserve months in advance. In these cases, places are allocated as walkers arrive or following the rules established by each establishment.
This can become today a small lifeline compared to hotels, guesthouses and tourist accommodations that have been there for months.
The situation recovers, curiously, one of the traditional characteristics of the Camino: not being absolutely guaranteed where you will sleep that night.
For many modern pilgrims, accustomed to booking each stage from their mobile phone, it can be an unexpected experience.
An eclipse that crosses the Camino de Santiago
The extraordinary demand has an explanation.
The total solar eclipse on August 12 crosses a considerable part of northern Spain and coincides with some of the most important Jacobean territories.
In Lion, totality will occur approximately between 8:28 and 8:30 p.m. and will last close to one minute and 44 seconds. In Burgos, another fundamental point of the Camino Francés, will reach approximately one minute and 45 seconds.
It will also be total in places linked to the Camino del Norte and the Primitivo, while Santiago de Compostela will be extremely close to totality, with a practically complete eclipse.
This means that some pilgrims will be able to experience something truly exceptional: start the day walking following the yellow arrows and end it watching the Sun disappear almost completely in the Camino de Santiago.
An unrepeatable day, but also complicated
The tourist dimension of the event is enormous. The Xunta estimates that the eclipse is related to more than 30% of the tourists who will visit Galicia during August, a figure that helps to understand the enormous expectation created around the phenomenon.
For hotels, restaurants and tourist establishments it can become one of the most economically important days of the summer.
For the pilgrim who did not know that his Camino would coincide with the eclipse, the situation may be very different.
Finding accommodation, moving between particularly busy locations or simply finding a quiet place from which to contemplate the sky can be much more difficult than usual today.
But those who already have their bed resolved will probably remember this stage throughout their lives.
Because walking towards Santiago always has something extraordinary. Doing it on the day the Sun disappears on the Camino will be a story that very few pilgrims will be able to tell.
