Day 24 - Foncebadon to Molinaseca

July 02, 2025

Today was the day for us to visit the Cruz de Ferro, the Iron Cross. As we had gone as far as Foncebadon last night it was a short trek uphill to this special place.

But first we were supposed to get breakfast at our Albergue, however the bar area wasn't open so we strolled down the road to a nearby Albergue and grabbed some food and coffee as the sun rose in front of us.

We had been woken by birdsong and the sound of cowbells in the field beyond the window. Martin said the last time he had been through Foncebadon it was almost all ruined buildings, but almost the whole town has been renovated and it is now a thriving little community.

Approaching the Iron Cross was very emotional. This is the point at which we were to leave our stones we had brought with us. It is a symbol of unburdening yourself or lightening your load. Many pilgrims bring their stone from home and many write names of loved ones on them.

After the Iron Cross, we walked through the hills, we were often above the clouds and the views were spectacular.

Finally we were descending and reached Acebo, about 10km from our start. By this stage Mitch's feet needed respite, so we ordered drinks and crepes amongst other things and Mitch booked a taxi to our destination. Poor Fiona who had felt ill since last night and so hadn't eaten either dinner or breakfast decided to go with him.

With a total descent for the day of over 1000m, from Acebo to Molinaseca we still had over 500m descent to do in a distance of 8.4km so it was pretty treacherous at times and the knees were screaming!!

About 3km in we passed through the ill tiny and beautiful village of Reigos de Ambros.

Finally Molinaseca came into view and after a few more twists and turns we reached the bridge over the Rio Meruelo into the town. The have a great system where they bring up a gate in the river to dam it and turn it into a swimming pool.

Unfortunately Fi and Mitch had not been able to get into the accommodations, so they were sitting having a drink by the river. We joined them for food and drink and then headed to the hotel.

It is an old traditional Casa Rural for pilgrims. It appears to be run by an old woman on her own and it is a little bit Miss Havisham! The downstairs room looks like this...