Day 11: Castro Urdiales to Rioseco

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Still recovering from yesterday‘s 29 km hike, we decided to have a semi-rest day by limiting our distance to 15 km. We arose at 6:45 and quickly packed up. Packing is becoming quite automatic with routines practiced repeatedly to avoid missing something critical and keeping the packing tight.

We walked out the waterfront and viewed the Santa Maria de la Asuncion Church perched over the sea. It was not open so we moved on, following the seaside community that seemed to still be asleep. Again we ran into Swiss pilgrim Esther and we both decided to go to a nice looking Bar at the edge of town for coffee and croissants. Then we headed out to follow the highway a bit and were thankful we could turn inland and get onto some nice quiet paths through tiny hamlets and agricultural grazing land for sheep and goats.

Seaside scene in Castro Urdiales
Bullfighting ring in Castro Urdiales features ”Mudejar” architectural ornamentation, which is a term indicating ornamentation developed in Islamic Al-Andalus region and then applied to Iberian Christian buildings in the 13th – 16th C.
We walk the highway along and expansive inlet from the sea.

After 10 km we came upon a small seaside community of Islas that had a bar, so we stopped for second coffee and tortilla (Spanish tortilla is like a thick omelette with eggs and potatoes). We headed inland along highway CA-151 which was much quieter and, thankfully, had a well-protected pedestrian path. We passed under the giant divided highway supports for the coastal freeway. Passing the supports, the path headed up onto a small road through hamlets and grazing land. We found a nice bench to take a break. There was no need to hurry given the short distance we had planned for the day.

Back on the road again, we completed the final 2 km by noon and walked into the small bar/ guesthouse. We were surprised that the proprietor said that the rooms were already made up and we could have our key now. It was a relief to have the room early in the day and to take a partial rest day.

A large fig tree seems to grow out of an abandoned VW van, but it’s just standing behind the rusting vehicle
A young cat rests on a roof of tiles and metal. So many ferile or outdoor cats here compared to the Basque region.
Bedsprings reused for the purpose of animal control, to keep grazing sheep on the correct land
Sheep and the sea.

2 thoughts on “Day 11: Castro Urdiales to Rioseco”

  1. Thomas B Hoeksema Sr

    So 29K is about 20 miles, right? That was a big day and you are wise to rest. I didn’t realize your Camino adventure would include so many ocean views.

    1. ebouwens

      It’s almost 20 miles, it’s about that time that every bone in the body starts to hurt. About the ocean views, that is particular to the North route of the camino, that goes along the coast. I think it is more mountainous and rigorous and probably fewer cultural sites.

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