Hello, I am new in this forum. I will be on vacation in Northern Spain this summer and plan on visiting Garabandal with my family (on our own, not as part of pilgrimage). This will be our fist visit and I wanted to know if we can find anyone in Garabandal who can guide us in English or French? Are the masses in Garabandal in other languages other than Spanish? What about confessions? Can we find priests there who speak other languages? It seems from the Garabandal parish that everything is in Spanish. Any tips you can give me to plan this visit would be so appreciated. Thank you & God Bless, Andree
Hi Andree, this sounds like a great trip you will be taking! I would love to visit Garabandal some day too. Can I ask you to document your trip with photos to share with us here on the forum? I'd love to see them and to hear about your journey.
Thomas, I'd be happy to talk about our visit and put photos here when we return from our trip early September.
I was there last April with a group from Ireland. Here's my tips: 1. Wear good walking shoes as the walk up to the pines is rocky if going by the 'callejo' route. There is an easier way to go but you'll find this when you visit. 2. The different pilgrimage tours bring their own priest and have their own mass in the village church. But it's not exclusive, you can go to these masses too. You'll be more than welcome to sit in. Masses start at 9.30am and go on to about 7pm as far as I can remember so you'll have a lot of choice. 3. Same with confessions, but just ask the group can you get confession before you sit in. 4. There are two gifts shops in the village. One run by Conchita's cousin (or then again, it might be Conchita's late brothers wife). 5. Check out the Pasada Amelia, it's a guesthouse run by Jacinta's sister, Amelia. You can organise lunch and dinner there. There isn't any place as far as I'm aware where you can just pop in for a bite to eat. 6. There are two bars there. One in the hotel but my fav is the 'hole in the wall' beside the church. It's run by Elizabeta! 7. Please pm me if you want further info, I'll be only too happy to help out.
Thank you for your helpful reply, which I just realized was posted! I'll write to you privately for more information, if I can figure out how to do that easily.
OK well I can`t figure out how to pm you, is this done through your profile or these a PM button somewhere that I am missing?
On the top right-hand corner in between the Notifications flag and your Profile button, there is an icon that looks like an envelope; hover over that envelope and a small window will appear which says Conversations. On the bottom right of that window there is a link which says Start a New Conversation. Click on that and it brings you to a page where you can start a private conversation with another forum member or members.
This is some limited info I have : GBL-Hotels It is owned by Conchita's sister in law " Paquita". The phone number is 011-349-427-27-095. http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotels-g642215-San_Sebastian_de_Garabandal_Cantabria-Hotels.html Pousada San Miguel Hotel -Jacinta’s brother,Miguel Gonzalez http://www.ourlady.ca/faq/hotel.htm
I don't mean to intrude in Andree's thread, but I am planning a trip to Garabandal in October this year, can one of you tell me if that is a good time to go? My other choice is December, would that be a better time to go?
I visited Garabandal with my family in August, which was a wonderful visit with my graces for us all. I posted about this visit in the thread about Garabandal objections, probably not the best place, so I'm posting the info again for anyone interested. It was a huge gift to visit this Holy place with my family. The town was very calm, and we saw no more than 10 pilgrims. I went into the church a few times and at each time, saw people in there that I later saw at work in town - a man I later saw on a tractor, two workman on the roads, local shop owners, and the lady who runs Hotel Vega (Mari Loli's sister) and others... It seemed like a town where locals still revolve around the Church. Only two boutiques in town, both very quiet and we were alone in both shops. We walked to the pines alone, stopping at the chapel and other points along the way to pray, again on our own. At the pines, we were alone except for a young Spanish girl sitting on a bench talking with a priest. We had the Holy place almost to ourselves and were able to pray in silence and without distraction from others. Just before leaving the pines, a workman arrived with his leaf blower to clean the place and came to us to apologize in advance for the noise he was about to make - he too, obviously respectful of the holiness of the site. Garabandal is a breath of fresh air in terms of shrines for its peacefulness, its non-commercial environment and the most simple lives of the villagers whom I saw. We also saw the grocery truck arrive in the village, which was great to see because it's another sign that the town hasn't grown enough to have its own grocery store! There are several other significant religious sites in the area, which we were able to visit, including Santo Toribio, a beautiful monastery, home to the world's largest relic of the Cross, venerated at the masses in the monastery on Sundays. One of the monks in the monastery, Beato, wrote and illustrated a famous commentary on the Apocalype, and copies of the work can be seen in the cloister. There is also Cavadonga, where the reconquest of Spain from the Muslims began in 722 with the victory of a small Christian army over a much larger Muslim one, with the help of Our Lady of Cavadonga. There is a Holy Cave there dedicated to Our Lady of Cavadonga, who is much revered by the Spaniards. Cavadonga is absolutely gorgeous, with the basilica in the mountains and definitely worth the visit. While there, we felt very much in communion with persecuted Christians and prayed to Our Lady of Cavadonga, who is also called Our Lady of Battles. In the same area, there is also the Crucifix of Limpias, which we visited when we left the area (it's 1.5 hrs from Garabandal) and the Sudarium in Oviedo, which we didn't get to unfortunately. So many Christian treasures in Spain and graces for pilgrims who can visit them.
To all, I would greatly appreciate any "detailed information" of hotels and restaurants ,because people always ask me for names, prices,location ,phone numbers. Thank you.
Glenn, we didn't stay in the village but ate at the Vega Restaurant which I recommend. The meal was good and the price was very reasonable (about 50 euros for five three-course meals plus bottle of wine) The place is owned by Mari-Loli's sister who speaks some English. I don't remember the address, the but Hotel Restaurant is one of the first buildings on the right as you enter the village.
I visited Garabandal last year towards the end of October and it was a glorious day and a very quiet visit. I loved it, it was perfect. But we didn't find a restaurant except to have a coffe. Thank God we brought our own lunch since we knew it is a VERY small village. December might be tough weather wise -cold and humid, and even more deserted.
Well, dear friend, I did not get to go this October, my health has not been good. But thank you for letting me know about December. I am retiring in two weeks, so my husband and I won't be tied to a schedule anymore. He and I want to go to Fatima and Lourdes on the same trip. Perhaps next Spring, if our Lord wills it. Thank you so much for your advice.
