Santillana del Mar to Comillas
Distance covered: 13.6 mi / 22 km
This mostly inland section of the Camino del Norte meanders from the medieval town of Santillana del Mar to the small ocean side town of Comillas.
After spending the morning taking photographs around the old town of Santillana del Mar, I eventually put my camera away and set out on the path towards Comillas. The morning was mostly uneventful, but the walking was pleasant, following along tree-shaded streets. Once I finally arrived in Comillas, finding an albergue (or hostel or even a hotel) with available beds proved to be quite difficult because of the weekend traffic. I ended up hitching a ride with a stranger, which wound up being a rather eventful car ride, which I’ll get into below.
If this is the first post you’re reading and want to start from the beginning, check out my Camino del Norte page, which features all of my Camino posts in chronological order. If you want to learn more about the Camino de Santiago itself, check out my post breaking down the basics.
Taking pictures around Santillana del Mar
Once I had eaten a quick albergue breakfast, I set out early and spent the morning exploring around the medieval town and admiring the architecture of the buildings. It’s easy to grow accustomed to seeing buildings like this every day, but I often imagine what these places must have been like just after their construction.
I spent most of the morning wandering the streets and taking photos, and I decided to finally set out towards the next town around 8:30. There weren’t many people out on the streets aside from a few maintenance workers touching up the cobblestone streets.
Setting out towards Comillas
Once I was satisfied that I had seen enough of the city, I followed the yellow arrows out of town and started the journey toward Comillas. Though much of this route followed along the road, the slow weekend traffic and clear skies made for a pleasant day of walking.
Despite several miles following roads and highways between villages, the shade from the trees lining the road kept things cool. I didn’t see too many cars that morning, and in general Spanish drivers tend to be conscientious of pedestrians. In many situations where I would never even think to cross the street in the U.S., drivers will often slow to a stop and wave me forward enthusiastically.
The marked trail meandered between several small villages with bars and a few small shops, so stopping for snacks, coffee, or drinks was easy. After the heat wave I experienced near Bilbao, walking in these cooler temperatures under clear skies was heavenly.
Stopping for a few photos in Bárcena
Despite spending much of the morning taking photos, I had to stop to get some shots of this church. It was right at the end of a long hill, so I needed to take a break anyway.
Spain is dotted with hundreds of little community churches like this one, with a small chapel and graveyard beside it. It was unfortunately locked up; otherwise I would have taken a few minutes to look around inside. Probably for the best, because I already spent more time there than I probably should have.
Passing through Cobreces
After a few hours of hiking, I came across this beautiful church in Cobreces, the Iglesia Parroquial San Pedro Advíncula, a pink and white structure in the middle of town. As I had already spent the morning taking photos around Santillana del Mar, I didn’t take the extra time to see if the church was open. I would have liked to see the interior, but I was already pushing my luck waiting this late in the day to find somewhere to sleep. I snapped a few quick photos and carried on.
Right beside the church, a massive iron statue had been built as an homage to the thousands of pilgrims that pass through the area each year. There were numerous signs and plaques along the way for pilgrims, but this massive rusty statue really stood out.
Arriving to Comillas
Finally, after several hours of walking, I got a clear view of the sea. Though it may look like the middle of the day in the above picture, it was somewhere around 6 or 7 pm by the time I made it to the albergue. I walked into the crowded building only to find out that they were fully booked, and I would have to search for other lodging.
Searching for a place to stay in Comillas
I figured I might try my luck at some of the private albergues, hostels, or even hotels near the beach, and absolutely nowhere had any spare beds for the night. Keep in mind, this was right after things were opening up after the pandemic, and people were really itching to travel. So I was faced with a dilemma: either backtrack to try to find a bed at one of the albergues I had passed, or push on for another 10 km to the next town.
One of the main issues with this plan was that by the time I made it to the next town, the receptionists may have already gone home. At this point I was really regretting leaving my tent in Bilbao. Not sure of my next moves, I went to a small bar to buy a coffee and think about the best course of action to take. Still hungry from walking all afternoon, I stopped at a supermarket to buy some food and found a quiet area with a park bench to quickly eat at. As I sat there snacking and thinking over my options, a woman came by walking two little dogs. Attracted to my food, one dog kept coming over and sniffing around. I told the woman not to worry, and we started talking a bit about my predicament.
I figured I would just speed walk to the center of town and take the bus and look for an available bed in the next town over, San Vicente de la Barquera. She was very insistent that she could take me, and even though I declined her offers several times, she eventually told me that she was already going that way, and it was really no trouble at all.
Admittedly the woman seemed a bit odd, but after thinking about it for a bit, I figured if it was on the way, screw it. Anything to get me to the next town a little quicker, where I could hopefully secure a bed before the albergue closed.
Hitching a ride with a stranger
The woman told me to wait there for a minute while she grabbed her car, and in a few minutes she pulled up in a boxy, dented-up coupe. I hopped into her front passenger seat with her dogs barking away in the back, and already I was thinking, “We’ll see if this was a good idea or not…”
A few seconds into the drive. it became abundantly clear that this was not, in fact, a great idea. The woman really did not seem to know how to drive a stick shift, grinding gears while shifting and trying to take off from a stop in second gear. She also did not seem too aware of what the lane lines were meant for, because she was swerving freely between them. Fortunately there were not many other cars on the road and we didn’t run into anyone.
In classic Spanish fashion, she attempted to maintain eye contact with me most of the time she was driving, while I was a little preoccupied with watching the road. Beyond the bad driving, her story also changed once we were about halfway there, and she kept asking me about the town and where to go. As you could imagine, I was a bit worried when she drove past the town and then plowed full speed over a curb while attempting to use a roundabout to turn around.
When we stopped at a red light on the outskirts of town, I figured this was as good of a spot as any, and thanked her for the ride, leaving a five-euro note on the seat. Based on the woman’s driving, I was not interested in seeing her parking skills. I hopped the small road barrier and made my way into town, glad to be out of that car.
Finding a bed at the albergue in San Vicente de la Barquera
Glad to have made it to San Vicente in one piece, I walked towards the albergue público high up on the hill in the center of town to see if they had any available beds. The receptionist seemed a little confused because it was quite late by this point, but I got one of the last free beds for 10 euros. I did the check-in paperwork and plopped my bag down beside the bunk in a dorm with eight other pilgrims in it.
Still a little wired from the coffee I had earlier and the interesting ride over, I went outside to a picnic table to finish my meal from earlier. I took a quick shower after that and jotted down some final notes about the day on a couch in the common area before heading to bed.
Final thoughts
With summer tourism kicking into high gear and the pandemic restrictions finally being lifted, I began to have some mixed emotions about the weekends. It seemed like everywhere I went would be overrun on Friday and Saturday night, which made securing a place to stay difficult. The major lesson I took away from this was that I would probably be best off getting lodging sorted out a little bit earlier, if at all possible.
The route was overall quite pleasant, without too much traffic or direct sun, and would have ended in a nice beach town if everything had worked out according to plan. I had a place to sleep, I made it there in one piece, and that was all that really mattered.
If you made it this far, let me know down in the comments if you would have accepted the ride or worked out another solution!
And as always, ¡Buen Camino!
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