Pilgrimage Day 15 & 16: Sevilla to Santiago de Compostela, Spain

I hiked mainly on trails and gravel roads with rocky sections. As usual on the Vía de la Plata, the sun is strong all day long; the last part can be very tiring in high temperatures. At the Alcántara reservoir, in the bed of the Tagus River, there is a pilgrims’ hostel (closed since 2022 due to lack of concession). This stage is 33.1 Km long and strenuous, crossing more mountainous and rugged terrain than the previous stages. Later on the day I come in an dagerous situation with a Sheep guard dog.

I spent most of the day on gravel roads through Mediterranean forest and scrub, finally descending to Cañaveral, a town with all services.

The next day was a steep climb to Alto de los Castaños and then a path through beautiful meadows to Grimaldo, a small village 600 meters from the official route away. At this day I only walked 8 Km.