20 km Zafra to Villafranca de los Barros

I woke up a few times last night to what sounded like rain, but hoped was just a noisy radiator. It was rain. At breakfast it was raining steadily, so we lingered over breakfast and by 10 am it had passed. Never saw another drop and the temperature was just right for walking.

Last night my right shin just at the top of my boot felt sore,as though it was bruised. It bothered me all day today, so I'm trying to stay off it tonight. Tomorrow's walk is 27 km, and I'm hoping it heals some overnight.

We're all in the same hotel again tonight. The lack of cheap refugios has a few people on edge. All of them have walked the Camino Frances that enters from France and traverses northern Spain to Santiago. I guess they assumed the lodging would be the same. That route has gotten quite popular over the last 25 years and there is a much more extensive system of refugios. Some towns have a few to choose from, and they only cost a few euros per night. Plus, there are more towns along the route so it is easier to taylor stages to ones liking. The Via de la Plata, though equally ancient, has only recently been revived. That is part of the reason we chose this route. The camino frances has become, as they say here, massificado or saturado. At high season, its neessary to rise before daybreak to get to your destination in time to find room at the inn. And you're competing against "Pilgrim Lites" who travel in groups and send one person ahead in a taxi with all the luggage to stake!
claims for beds. Felix said that at one departure point last year, 400 people left in a single day. I'm sure there are people in front and behind us, but there are only 9 people in our cohort. My guess is that the Via de la Plata will rise in popularity as more people flee the crowds up north. I fear the VDLP will also suffer from its own success eventually, but in the short run, a bit more traffic would spur some needed development.