Grandas de Salime

How long to stay?

An afternoon is enough, and it's a full one. After the descent to the reservoir and the climb to Grandas, you arrive around midday or early afternoon. That leaves time for the church with its Romanesque portal and for the large folk museum. Tomorrow the Puerto del Acebo awaits, and with it Galicia.

Grandas de Salime in Ninja numbers

• 128.3 kilometres lie behind you since Oviedo, a good two fifths of the Camino Primitivo.
• 180.4 kilometres are left to Santiago de Compostela.
• 208 metres above sea level was your lowest point today, down by the Río Navia. Grandas sits at 558, and tomorrow you climb to over 1,100.
• 132 metres is the height of the Salime dam wall, and the reservoir stretches 36 kilometres upriver.
• More than 11,000 objects are on show in the folk museum, across 3,150 square metres.

Arriving: past the reservoir

From Berducedo you first climbed once more to 1,041 metres today, then went long and steeply down to the Río Navia, which is dammed here to form the Salime reservoir. By the river lies the lowest point of the day, 208 metres; after that the path climbs again past viewpoints over the water. After 20.0 kilometres you are in Grandas, the main town of the municipality, with a church, a health centre and several hostels. Many older people here speak Galician: the border is close.

In brief: a village above the water

Grandas is an old place. The church of El Salvador goes back to the 12th century, and as early as the Bronze Age the settlement of Chao Samartín stood a few kilometres further on, later a Roman administrative centre. The 20th century changed the valley: at the end of 1945 work began on the Salime dam, and in 1954 it was inaugurated. The water flooded the village of Salime, along with 685 hectares of land, eight bridges, five small churches and five cemeteries. When the water level is low, remains of the old village reappear.

What stayed above the water: what to see

Both are in the town.

• Colegiata de El Salvador: At its core the church dates from the 12th century and was heavily altered between the 17th and 19th centuries. The Romanesque portal survives; it now stands inside and frames the baptismal font, with triple, spiral-twisted columns and two gargoyles. On the south wall lie two Romanesque tombs under pointed arches, and above the 17th-century high altar stands the Salvador, the Saviour. Of special note for pilgrims: figures from the church of Salime, which lies beneath the reservoir, are kept here. We have not found opening hours.
• Museo Etnográfico "Pepe el Ferreiro": The folk museum opened on 2 June 1984 and shows rural life in western Asturias: a recreated tavern, general store, barber, cobbler and forge, plus tools, granaries and games. If you have seen the hamlets you have walked through since Oviedo, here you understand how people lived in them. We have not found reliable opening hours or prices; ask in town.

Honestly

• The tourist office is almost always closed. It only opens from 1 July to 31 August.
• The public hostel is basic. Kitchen with microwave but no fridge, no towels, heating by electric radiators.
• You have to ask about opening hours. We have found no reliable times for the church or the museum.
• Tomorrow is long and high. It is 25.6 kilometres to A Fonsagrada, with the highest point at 1,113 metres.

Where pilgrims sleep

• Albergue de peregrinos de Grandas de Salime ("El Salvador"): the municipality's public hostel on Avenida de la Costa, about 100 metres from the centre. Open all year from 12:30, no reservations, credencial required, under new management since 2023. A bed costs €9 to €10 (as of October 2026); the sources differ by a euro. Washing machine and dryer for a fee.
• Albergue Porta de Grandas and Albergue Casa Sánchez: two private hostels with dormitory beds from about €15 (as of October 2026), bookable.

Ninja tips

• Stop in Castro tomorrow. Five kilometres past Grandas lies the hamlet of Castro with the settlement of Chao Samartín and its museum. From October to May it is open Tuesday to Saturday from 11:00 to 13:00 and from 16:00 to 17:30, Sundays from 11:30 to 13:30; admission is €4 and free on Tuesdays (as of May 2026).
• Look at the lake from the path. On the climb to Grandas there are viewpoints on the right-hand side of the road.
• Stock up here for the pass. Tomorrow you climb to over 1,100 metres, through wind turbines and heather.

Practical tips for pilgrims

• Health: Grandas has a health centre.
• Bus: ALSA runs daily to Navia and Oviedo.
• Festivals: San Salvador on the first weekend of August, the Fiesta de la Sardina on the last.

Onward: over the Acebo into Galicia

After Grandas the path leads via Cereijeira to Castro (km 133.4) and on uphill. At kilometre 141.5 you reach the highest point of the day at 1,113 metres, shortly followed by O Acevo at the Puerto del Acebo, the natural border between Asturias and Galicia. A chapel stands at the top, and wind turbines turn all around. From there the path leads via Paradanova to A Fonsagrada, 25.6 kilometres from Grandas.

What awaits you tomorrow

A Fonsagrada, the first town in Galicia, at 960 metres. From here on the Xunta's waymarker stones count down.

Deep dive: The village beneath the lake

A short read, in case you want to learn more about Grandas de Salime. About three minutes' reading.

A wall in the valley

At the end of 1945, work began on a dam on the Río Navia. Nine years later, in 1954, it was inaugurated. The wall is one hundred and thirty-two metres high, and the water backs up thirty-six kilometres upriver.

What the water took

Beneath the lake lies the village of Salime. With it disappeared almost seven hundred hectares of land, more than three thousand plots, tens of thousands of fruit trees and vines, eight bridges, five small churches and five cemeteries. The people had to leave. When the water level is low, their walls reappear.

What remained

Some things they took with them. In the church of El Salvador up in Grandas stand figures from the church of Salime. They lost their place and found a new one, on a path along which people have walked west for centuries.

What Grandas gives you

Today you passed this lake, over water beneath which a village lies. A pilgrim, too, carries only what he can carry and leaves the rest behind. When this text was written, in autumn 2026, Salime still lay beneath the water. Tomorrow you cross the border into Galicia. What you have brought this far comes with you.