So it's a bit of a surprise to arrive very close to the lovely city of León, where the architecture is wonderful and the tapas are unforgettable, and find yourself in the middle of a gap in a four-lane highway, where pilgrims are expected to dodge four lanes of heavy traffic, only to end up in the gutter of the other side, which is full of broken glass and more than one dead cat.
After walking across that stretch, you then resume the regular Camino path - but I will be DAMNED if I can figure out why the hell the Junta de Castilla y León thinks that it's basically OK to get pilgrims - who may not be walking all that quickly, who may be tired or have low blood sugar, and require them to dodge traffic which can be going as fast as 80 km/h.
So being basically North American (and having a genetic disposition to cause trouble and get things changed), I decided to send a photo of the situation to the EL PAIS newspaper, who have started a "send your photos" section. And damned if they didn't print it. Now admittedly, I got the name of the town wrong (it should be Puente Castro, not Puente Fitero) but hopefully this should get things changed, because really, it's only a matter of time before someone gets killed here:
http://www.elpais.com/yoperiodista/articulo/Periodista/Espana_Leon/N601/peligro/peregrino/Santiago/trafico/trafico/Camino/peregrina/peligro/elpepuyop/20070729elpyop_1/Ies
If you've done the Camino, have found yourself caught in this intersection and want to make a bit of noise to decry the situation, the person to write to complain about the situation is:
María José Salgueiro Cortiñas
Consejera de Cultura y Turismo
JUNTA DE CASTILLA Y LEÓN
Avenida Monasterio Nuestra Señora del Prado, s/n
47071 Valladolid
ESPAÑA
Ms. Salgueiro has just taken the position over from Silvia Clemente who was a very nice woman, but not necessarily all that interested in developing initiatives regarding green tourism....
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