The Way of Sant James

• He stresses that, with this infrastructure, Ourense has recovered a disused building in a strategic location that will allow pilgrims to enjoy the city during their stay
• He recalls that the network of hostels of the Camino make up 70 establishments throughout the various official itineraries
• He emphasises that the Vía de la Plata was the subject of improvement works in the last year and outlines the investment of close to 3 million euros in 2019 to improve, condition and signpost this route
• He guarantees the commitment to the cultural and tourism projects of the city, such as: the restoration of the Church of the Santísima Trinidad, in 2019; or the agreement with the City Council for the second phase of improvements in the surroundings of the Ponte Vella bridge

Ourense, 5 December 2018

Today, the President of the Galician Government, Alberto Núñez Feijoo, reiterated the commitment to the "best Holy Year of our history" and highlighted the launch of the new hostel in the city centre of Ourense, with a total investment of over 820,000 euros.

During a visit to the facilities, Feijóo asserted that this infrastructure, of 647 square meters and with capacity for 42 pilgrims, will contribute to making the city of Ourense more able to take advantage of the opportunity of the Xacobeo 21. He also recalled that the network of hostels of the Camino make up 70 establishments throughout the various official itineraries

The President of the Xunta stressed that this project complies with all the rules on accessibility, elaborating on the objectives of the Tourism Accessibility Plan of the Camino de Santiago. In addition, “with this infrastructure, Ourense has recovered a disused building in a strategic location that will allow pilgrims to enjoy the city during their stay”, he said.

In addition, he stressed that the building bears the name of Eligio Rivas Quintas, one of the pioneers in the study and dissemination of the values associated with the Camino, particularly, to the Vía de la Plata or Mozarabic route.

In addition to contributing to promoting the Vía de la Plata, Feijóo assured that, with this work, progress is being made on one of the objectives of the Master Plan of the Camino de Santiago, which pursues the diversification and value enhancement of all the Jacobean routes that run through the Region. On this, he recalled that this plan is dedicated, each year, to a Jacobean route and next year in 2019 it will be dedicated to the Vía de la Plata, which received over 9,000 pilgrims in 2018.

In this line, he stressed that this route, which has important natural and heritage resources, was the subject of improvement works in recent years, referring to improvements on the hostels of Bandeira, Lastres, Verin, Xinzo de Limia or Vilar de Barrio; or the investment of close to 3 million euros in 2019 to improve, condition and signpost along this route. "And we are also working on specialising this path for pilgrims on horseback", he continued, pointing out that, for this purpose, at Monte do Gozo a reception centre for pilgrims who arrive on horseback will be created.

Throughout his talk, Feijóo stressed that the province of Ourense has the best tourism demand trends in Galicia in 2018, with an increase in the number of travellers staying (5.7%) and also in the volume of nights.

The President concluded by guaranteeing the commitment of the Regional Government of Galicia to the cultural and tourism projects of the city and the restoration of the Church of the Santísima Trinidad, whose works will be carried out in 2019; or the agreement with the City Council that is being processed for the implementation of the second phase of improvements in the surroundings of the Ponte Vella bridge, with a budget of 1.1 million euros. "And we are working so that the Ministry honours its commitments of receiving the works and providing the Provincial Archive with equipment, and tendering the works of the Archaeological Museum," he concluded.