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La Ultreïa: one hundred passes from Barcelona to Santiago-de-Compostela

Presentation

This permanent tour by the Club des Cent Cols (Hundred Passes Club) takes you over 100 (tarmac) road passes on a journey across the north of the Iberian Peninsula, from Barcelona to Santiago de Compostela (Santiago de Compostela), focusing on the Caminos (Ways of St James) encountered.

Minimum ascent: 26,000 m; Distance: approx. 1,850 km.

Traced by Bernard "Biki" Pommel (Cent Cols no. 3094).

Course

Profile

Accommodation

Registration form

Theme

The Club des Cent Cols, founded in 1972, is affiliated to the French Cycling Federation under no. 6384, offers you this permanent walk based on a simple theme: "One hundred passes to Santiago de Compostela", a route of 100 passes between the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona and the cathedral of Santiago-de-Compostela (Santiago de Compostela), the end of the pilgrimage of the same name.

This itinerary does not claim to be a "Way of St James", or even to follow one or more "Caminos". The primary objective is to cross 100 passes (90 on the linear route, 10 on short return trips).

As far as possible, however, the emphasis is on the various "Caminos" encountered, and their route is sometimes followed for several kilometres.

NB: "Ultreïa" (from the Latin ultra -beyond- and eia, an interjection evoking displacement) is an expression of joy from the Middle Ages, mainly linked to the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela. This rallying greeting for pilgrims to Santiago de Compostela means: to go further, higher.

The route book for the walk, provided to registered participants, contains additional documentation on the history and legend of the pilgrimages to Santiago de Compostela, the various Caminos and Routes leading to Santiago and a bibliography on the subject.

Special features

Seasonal preference

As with all the Club des Cent Cols' permanent hikes, "La Ultreïa" can be done without time limit and in as many trips as the participant wishes, at any time of the year.

However, winter can make some passes impassable, even if they are not very high. The heat of August can also be tough. The best seasons are of course spring and autumn.

Accommodation

Due to the size of the area covered by this walk, we are unable to provide an exhaustive list of accommodation. We have therefore limited ourselves to providing the internet addresses of organisations offering accommodation or providing information on the subject, such as tourist offices, tourist information offices, accommodation associations, etc. This list of addresses is on the Accommodation hiking.

Urbanisation and resources

As this is an almost complete crossing of northern Spain, the walker will find a wide range of landscapes, from some highly urbanised or industrialised areas (which we have tried to avoid as much as possible) to valleys with few resources or even depopulated. We therefore advise you to study the route carefully and always plan ahead for your refreshments.

Controls

The route runs from east to west, starting in Barcelona and finishing in Santiago de Compostela. It is divided into 9 sections, for each of which you will need to stamp your route map at two points; you will also need to stamp your map in Barcelona and Santiago de Compostela, for a total of 20 stamps obtained at 20 different locations.you will receive two route maps (each with 12 boxes to be stamped) to complete this walk.

Presentation of the different sections

(*) The gradients have been calculated from the route map. The reality on the ground can only be greater!

1. Barcelona - Solsona (206 km, 14 passes, minimum altitude 33 m, maximum altitude 720 m, 2550 m ascent) Santiago de Compostela: Our symbolic starting point for the walk to Santiago de Compostela cathedral is the Sagrada Familia. So we'll start our walk in Barcelona itself (where we'll find our first pass), and have to cross its highly urbanised outskirts (Sant Cugat del Valles, Terrassa), the reward being the crossing of the Sierra de Montserrat, where we'll find the Cami de Sant Jaume. We then head north towards the Pyrenean Piedmont.
2. Solsona - Campo (216 km, 15 passes, minimum altitude 445 m, maximum altitude 1471 m [Coll de Fades], 3200 m ascent) Arriving in this Piedmont region, we turn west (north-west) and begin the passage from valley to valley, with three major crossings in this sector: the El Segre, Noguera Pallaresa, Noguera Ribagorçana (which separates Catalonia from Aragon) and Rio Esera valleys, and the corresponding passes.
3. Campo - Burgui (230 km, 8 passes, minimum altitude 530 m, maximum altitude 1267 m [Puerto de Serrablo], 2600 m ascent) Our leapfrog route (or passe-vallées) takes us to the first major "Camino", the via Tolosana down from the Somport, a Camino which we leave immediately to admire the monastery of San Juan de la Peña, before leaving Aragon and returning to Navarra.
4. Burgui - Markina Xemein (241 km, 17 passes, minimum altitude 45 m, maximum altitude 1056 m [Puerto de Ibañeta], 3500 m ascent) Through the mountains of Navarra, we reach the main Camino de Santiago, the Camino Francés, which we find below the Col de Roncesvalles, Puerto de Ibañeta, where a diversion is in order. From here, part of the sector is shared with the permanent "La Divisoria" walk, with a few variations. Then we leave Navarra and enter the País Vasco, and more specifically Guipúzcoa.
5. Markina Xemein - Puente Viesgo (219 km, 13 passes, minimum altitude 2 m, maximum altitude 445 m [Puerto de Fuente de las Varas], 2,750 m ascent) As we are never very far from the coast, our route across the País Vasco is never very high, although there are plenty of short climbs. From time to time, we will cross or take the "Camino del Norte". We chose to skirt around the city of Bilbao to the north, taking advantage of the Getxo ferry bridge. After a well-developed urban area, we return to our small, almost coastal passes and enter Cantabria.
6. Puente Viesgo - Puebla de Lillo (208 km, 12 passes, minimum altitude 50 m, maximum altitude 1627 m [Puerto de Las Señales], 4550 m ascent) After a first half of the sector in the same vein as the previous stage, things change from Potes onwards, as we arrive at the Picos de Europa or the very edge of them. Big passes and characteristic landscapes come one after the other, and the gradients are even greater!
7. Puebla de Lillo - Villablino (204 km, 7 passes, minimum altitude 210 m, maximum altitude 1521 m [Puerto de San Isidro], 4250 m ascent) If we leave the Picos de Europa behind, the Cantabrian Mountain Range and Asturias prove to be just as tough! After passing through Langreo and Mieres del Camino, both highly urbanised and industrialised valleys, we start again with a series of passes at an altitude of over 1000m, and the Alto de la Cobertoria with its double-digit gradients doesn't go unnoticed! We cross the Reserva Nacional de Somiedo and finish at the pass of the same name.
8. Villablino - Outeiro de Rei (206 km, 12 passes, minimum altitude 230 m, maximum altitude 1364 m [Alto de la Collada], 2400 m ascent) We leave the Cantabrian Mountain Range and Asturias for the province of Lugo, where we find another of the major Caminos, the Camino Primitivo. The scenery changes, as we see the rounded peaks of Galicia and gradually lose altitude.
9. Outeiro de Rei - Santiago de Compostela (109 km, 2 passes, minimum altitude 250 m, maximum altitude 600 m, 400 m ascent) The time has finally come to reach the goal. Once we've crossed the last (small) pass, we rejoin the Camino Francés at Melide, to finish on the route taken by the vast majority of pilgrims (which still represents at least two stages of walking) and get a taste of the Galician charm of the city of Compostela.

Main passes

• Coll de Boixols 1321 m
• Coll de la Creu de Perves 1335 m
• Coll de Fades 1471 m
• Puerto de Ibañeta 1056 m
• Collado de Hoz 659 m
• Puerto de San Glorio 1599 m
• Puerto de Pandetrave 1566 m
• Puerto de Panderruedas 1463 m
• Puerto de Las Señales 1627 m
• Puerto de San Isidro 1521 m
• Alto de la Cobertoria 1179 m
• El Puerto de Somiedo 1486 m
• Porto or Alto do Acebo 1021 m

BCN and BPF sites on the route

As the entire route is outside France, this tour does not include any BCN / BPF sites.

Cards

Michelin maps no. 571, 572, 573 and 574 at a scale of 1:400,000 are usually sufficient for this route. However, it is sometimes useful to use a local map; many publishers exist in Spain. The best solution is to use a GPS, which is not essential but can be very useful. GPX tracks of the route can be supplied to the participant after registration. The Michelin base maps can be consulted online: http://www.viamichelin.es

Rules of the game for permanent walks

All participants in this permanent trail agree to respect the game rules governing it.

For further information

Contact the Head of Permanent Rides

Jean-Marc CLEMENT
10 rue de Normandie
31120 Portet sur Garonne
FRANCE

Tel: +33 (0)5 61 76 30 12
E-mail: [email]randos@centcols.org [/email]

Please note: Please send your roadmaps for homologation as well as your postcards and travelogues only to the current person in charge, whatever you find as old information (so do not write to Roger Colombo, Bernard Pommel, Jean-Marc Lefèvre or Roland Grimaud †).