Day 14 Mogro to Santillana del Mar

There are mixed views about this stage of the Camino del Norte. I started out late after a decent breakfast (although I was disappointed it didn’t include eggs from the free range chickens) which didn’t start until 9am, it felt very hot and the estuary where I’d swum yesterday looked dreamy with the tide in, extra.
The rolling countryside quickly gave way to urban roads, a long, very long, pipeline track and then a schlep along a busy road past the Portuguese owned Bondalti chemical plant. There were several route options all of which seemed to involve roads, I took the one that was most clearly marked.
Towns and cities on the Camino I’m discovering either appear misleadingly close or completely out of the blue. Today it was the latter when I finally walked into Santillana del Mar, no where near the sea so I don’t know why it’s called that. Jean Paul Sartre, among others, described it as the most beautiful place in Spain. Clearly a lot of people agree with him and it’s mobbed with tourists, probably outnumbering the 4k population by a factor of at least 10. It’s a medieval preserved village with a 12th century Colegiata de Santa Juliana which I will visit later when perhaps the crowds have dispersed somewhat.
Tomorrow I return to the sea.
Later…. The church was closing just as I arrived. I managed to get an early meal at 7.30 and feel I’ve stocked up on calories most which were, for once, protein. I felt tired today, I know I’m not eating enough. Even more people about so I’m blipping the chemical plant, all part of the Camino experience. I’ve since found out it focuses on the production of chlorine and caustic soda for the PVC market.
20k, apparently 440m ascent, all on roads so I didn’t notice it, a bunch of 8 inter generational Spanish pilgrims, and happy to see the pilgrim whose name and nationality I don’t know, carrying everything for wild camping and whom last saw outside the prison before the hairy cliff walk. We exchanged thumbs up, a hola and smiles.