The first phase of the activity was completed on the last Sunday of October.‘Know your Path, step by step’: a proposal to carry out the Winter Camino, organized by the City Council of A Pobra do Brollón through the Xunta's ‘O Teu Xacobeo’ plan.
Over ten Sundays, the participating residents of Guimarães will walk the Winter Camino from Nocedo (Quiroga) to Santiago de Compostela. The first five stages to Rodeiro, province of Pontevedra, were completed in September and October. The remaining five, between Rodeiro and Santiago, will be done in March next year.
In this first phase, an average of 40 people participated in each route; the majority were residents of A Pobra, as well as some participants from neighboring municipalities. ‘We consider the reception a success and it is in line with what we have been working on for a few years now to promote the Winter Way as an economic dynamizer for our Municipality. As part of this strategy, we are also looking to create a hostel in A Pobra to encourage pilgrims to stop and for the Way to have more impact on our community,’ says Mayor Xosé Lois Maceda.
The routes are free and include round-trip bus transportation, an official guide and an afternoon visit to a place of interest in the area near the end of each stage. The first five routes visited the Church of San Miguel de Eiré in Pantón, the Ecomuseum of Argeriz, the Pazo de Sabadelle and the Church of Ventosa, an unknown gem of medieval sculpture.
People registered with the City Council have priority, although participation is also open to people who are not registered until the bus seats are filled.
