There was a beautiful sunrise at the albergue this morning and we had a communal breakfast.

There were 50 pilgrims staying last night but in summer they get up to a hundred.

After farewelling Padre Ernesto, it was time to hit the road.

Luckily at the last moment I saw one of my shirts still hanging on the clothes line from last night !

The first 6 or so kilometers are on bitumen heading towards the coast.

Looking back towards the albergue, at the top of the hill

On reaching the coast, the path follows the top of the cliffs.

Some of the cliffs have corn growing right up to the edge.

Walking on tbe edge.

Eventually the camino reaches a beach and then there’s a long walk down to Somo, across the river from Santander.

I walked for a while with Peter from the Netherlands , whose son is currently working on a farm back home in Australia.

We just missed the ferry to Santander and there was a half hour wait until the next one.

Arriving in Santander

There was a long and not very interesting walk through Santander and its suburbs, although I did drop in to get a stamp for my credencial at the Cathedral.

I’ve seen lots of unfinished houses, no doubt a result of the financial crisis here a few years ago.

I walked through the afternoon with Antonio who worked for years as a taxi driver in Barcelona. He picked up some Italian over the years which is handy when I don’t know a Spanish word.

We couldn’t find anywhere for lunch until he spotted a petrol station with a cafeteria. It was quite a nice €11 menu.

After the meal I took off a boot as it felt like my sock was scrunched up. However it was sand from the walk on the beach and I left a pile of the floor of the cafeteria, whoops!

After passing through some unpleasant areas

we finally returned to the countryside.

and arrived at the private albergue.

Tomorrow’s walk is mainly inland to the little town of Caborredondo.