Comillas to Colombres
Into Asturias
- Distance
- 28 km
- Climb
- 530 m up, 490 m down
- Ground
- 0 to 180 m
- Time
- 7 to 9 hours
- Difficulty
- hard
- Underfoot
- coastal, forest, paved, dirt
Where this day sits on the Camino del Norte
Above, the highest and lowest ground of each of its 34 stages. Below, the word each day is given.
From open-pilgrimages: each stage's highest and lowest ground and its interior theme.
The day
At Unquera you cross a small bridge and enter Asturias. The first town on the Asturian side is Colombres, founded by indianos — Asturians who returned from Cuba, Mexico, or Argentina with fortunes and built palatial homes in their native villages. The Archivo de Indianos (Indianos Archive) in Colombres documents this strange 19th-century diaspora and return. Before Colombres, San Vicente de la Barquera is one of the Cantabrian coast's most photogenic towns — a fortress church on a promontory above a fishing harbour, with the Picos de Europa visible inland on clear days.
What pilgrims often meet here
- San Vicente de la Barquera from the long bridge into town — the fortress church silhouette
- First sight of the Picos de Europa snow-capped inland
- Crossing into Asturias at Unquera with no fanfare — just a small road sign
- The colourful indianos houses in Colombres
The indianos left Asturias poor and came back rich. What do you carry back from your own long journey?
The ground
Leaves Comillas along the beach to San Vicente de la Barquera — a small fishing town with a 13th-century castle and a Gothic church on a rocky promontory — then climbs inland through Serdio, Unquera (where it crosses from Cantabria into Asturias), and into Colombres, the 'Indianos' village of Asturias.
The light
Sunrise and sunset in Comillas depend on the day you walk.
Walk it with Pilgrim
In Pilgrim's Honor mode you can walk this stage as it is drawn here, and save its maps for days with no signal. The morning opens with this day's word, Into Asturias, and its story. When you arrive, it asks the question above, and you can answer out loud. Your walk stays on your phone.
With Pilgrim on your phone, this opens the stage, ready to begin. Without it, you'll see the stage and where to get the app.