From Grandas de Salime to A Fonsagrada - Viajes Camino de Santiago

Information

The stage starts in Grandas de Salime, following the road all the time, alternating with some paths and dirt tracks, all of them well signposted until A Fonsagrada. On the way up to the Puerto del Acebo you will find the village of Bustelo del Camín, the last Asturian village before reaching the 1,300 metres of the pass. The Autonomous Community of Galicia begins as soon as you start to descend from the Alto de O Acevo. You will find yourself in the middle of a large wind farm, after which you will find a continuous and gentle descent. It will not be difficult for you to deduce that you are in front of pure and hard mountain in which the high landscape value and the small population centres stand out.

We leave Grandas de Salime from the former collegiate church of San Salvador and cross the road that connects with A Fonsagrada, to head towards the street where the chapel of Carmen is located. The first kilometres are flat and without great difficulties, always close to the AS-28 road, which we cross several times, even walking along the shoulder of the road.

We pass through the villages of La Farrapa and Cereixeira, where there are a couple of bars: Casa Federico and La Parrilla. Along paths and trails, we reach the village of Castro, which has a youth hostel that admits pilgrims.

We continue straight on leaving on the right the ruins of the Chao Samartín castro, a Bronze Age settlement dating back to 800 BC and the access to its modern museum. We advance through a wooded area, passing by the rural hermitage of San Lázaro to rejoin the road again. From here the ascent to the Puerto de Acebo starts to become more evident.

In Peñafonte we will see the church of Santa María Magdalena, and next to it a shady fountain that will invite you to refill your water bottle.

We go up the slope of the Zarro mountain, a quite bearable stretch. We cross the road towards Bustelo do Camín, open a gate and take a path that goes through the gorse trees. The ascent to the mountain of A Curiscada requires more effort and even more to reach the wind farms in the Alto del Acebo, at an altitude of 1,130 metres.

After a stop to regain strength, it’s time for the descent. We leave Asturias to welcome Galicia with joy. We will see the first Galician indicator and we will notice a small detail: the shell is upside down. Now we must look at the open part of the shell, which is the one that marks the direction to follow. We descend the path next to the Venta do Acebo, whose opening hours are unpredictable.

We finally see A Fonsagrada in the distance. We continue along a path full of holly trees, honouring the place name. After a short climb, the track approaches the LU-701 road, running parallel to it. We cross the tiny village of Cabreira before reaching Fonfría. Half a kilometre from Fonfría we turn off to the left of the road and go down to Barbeitos.

If we get hungry we can stop at the Mesón Catro Ventos, where they make delicious grilled meats.

We continue along the right-hand side of the road, stop for Silvela and shortly after we turn off onto a path on the left-hand side of the road. We reach the hermitage of Santa Bárbara, and further on we reach Paradanova.

One last effort. Behind the chapel of the Holy Cross we are surprised by two signposts. In August 2017 the historic access road to A Fonsagrada was recovered, so we should not go out to the road, but take the path on the left hand side that will take us directly to the town. We ignore the signpost of Burón that invites us to cross the road.

In 2017, fortunately, the historical access road to A Fonsagrada has been recovered; therefore, we should not go out to the road, but take a path on the left hand side that takes us directly to the town, with a steep slope at the end. We have to ignore the signpost to Burón that invites us to cross the road. We finally arrive at the end of our stage, A Fonsagrada.

To consider

When we enter Galicia, we change not only the community but also the indications. In Asturias the famous scallops or shells signaled the way to follow by its narrow part while in the lands of the apostle we must be guided by the open part of the same.

In Paradanova, someone has indicated A Fonsagrada at the milestone that leads to A Pobra de Burón and there are already several groups of pilgrims who have got lost. Once in Paradanova, seeing the next village at a height of several hundred metres, we must follow the milestone on the left of the road coming from Grandas de Salime, and this road will take us straight to A Fonsagrada.