On Fire

 I've been monitoring the fire situation in Portugal/Spain for almost three weeks.  Very hot, very dry and LOTS of fires.  Northern/Central Portugal, northern/northwestern Spain (including Galicia) are greatly affected.  Early in August the Portuguese government issued a proclamation closing off access to forest paths, which likely included parts of the Camino Portuguese.  In the last few days I've read of locations along the Camino Frances that I walked in 2019 that have been closed.  As of today you can't walk from Astorga to Ponferrada.  That's several days worth, including the Cruz de Ferro.  Casa Susi, an albergue in Trabadelo where I stayed, has posted pictures of the fire and smoke.

I get information from different sites.  I try to follow any locals who are currently on the trail, like on the local APOC chapter's Facebook page.  Another good source of info is the Camino Forum.  There's a couple sites (Gronze for one) that show where fires are located.

Here's a link to one of the posts on the Camino Forum:  Alert - No-one can move up from Rabanal today (Sunday Aug 17th 2025) | Camino de Santiago Forum

And a photo posted by Ivar, the Forum moderator, near El Acebo.  This would've been my 4th day on the Camino Frances coming from Leon.


Despite the "hot times" we're still a go.  Plans with the group are still on.  There's 3+ weeks to go so time for things to change for the better.


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