La Laguna on the Camino
Laguna de Castilla, at about 1,150 metres, is the last village in León on the Camino. On the way out, a marker stone signals the entry into Galicia, and barely two kilometres remain to O Cebreiro. Some pilgrims sleep here so as to reach O Cebreiro at first light.
History
It is a small hamlet of shepherds and farmers that has always lived beside the Camino. Pilgrims rested here before the last climb to O Cebreiro.
The name refers to a lagoon or marshy ground, and the suffix «de Castilla» recalls that it is the last Castilian land before Galicia.
The village
The houses, of stone and slate, line both sides of the Camino, with stables and vegetable plots. It is common to meet cows in the street.
Services
It has a hostel with a bar and meals.
From here the last stretch to O Cebreiro begins, already in Galicia.
Nature
The hamlet is surrounded by oak woods, chestnut groves and high pastures, on the edge of the Sierra de los Ancares.
The views of the Valcarce valley from here, especially at dawn, are among the best of the climb.
In short
Laguna de Castilla is León’s farewell on the Camino Frances: a hamlet of cows and stone a step from Galicia.