Dear Madam:

(From Rosa Urbión Izquierdo, General Director of Tourism, Junta de Castilla y León:)

Dear Madam:

We have received your letter, in which you talk about the difficulties in crossing National Highway 601 between the towns of Valdefuente and Puente Castro, in the province of León.

The Department of Tourism and Culture is responsible for tourist signage for municipalities of Castilla y León, as well as the Camino de Santiago, and the placement of signs on the town limits in the provinces of Burgos, Palencia and León.

Your letter makes reference to signage of highway, the responsibility of which falls under ther jurisdiction of the Ministry of Public Works; as of this date, we will pass your observations onto them.

Thanking you for your interest in the promotion of tourism of this Community.

Warm regards,

Rosa Urbón

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(As-of-yet unsent response:)

Dear Director Urbón:

Thank you for your letter of the 25th of September, in which you make reference to my letter sent in August. As much as I appreciate your response, I am concerned that you did not make reference to the core issue of my letter: the danger that pilgrims face crossing that highway.

This is not an issue of signage. The issue is that this a very, very dangerous stretch of road to expect bikers, walkers and horseback riders to have to navigate. There is no way the Camino de Santiago should run right beside a four-lane highway. Nobody's arguing that the signage is good - it's the best of all the four communities where the Camino goes - but the problem is that it's extremely unsafe to walk those 350 metres. The entry into León is one of the low points of the Camino and it shouldn't have to be.

We look forward to hearing of future initiatives, on the part of the Junta de Castilla y León, to improve and re-route this very dangerous part of the Camino.

Patricia Dawn Severenuk
SPANISHCYCLEPATHS.COM