Step 17: Fuentes de Ebro – Venta de Santa Lucia (28 km)

Accum. height uphill: 181 m. Accum. height downhill: 111 m.

Fuentes de Ebro: Km 0. Pina de Ebro: Km 11.3. Venta de Santa Lucia: Km 28 km

We have said goodbye to Fuentes de Ebro, and today we also leave the Camino de Santiago del Ebro: our Ignatian Way follows the Camino Real (Royal Road) that took Iñigo de Loyola as pilgrim to the monastery of Montserrat, and which is the same as the Camino de Santiago Catalán, but in an opposite direction.

From the church door we take the main street before us, and we will walk on it till we reach Ramon y Cajal Street, which starts on the left and that we will walk down on. On Mayor Street, on our right and almost on the asphalt road, a yellow arrow makes us remember that we are in the opposite direction. We arrive at the state road and we cross it, following straight away on the street that diverges: we take the right one, Lorenzo Pardo Avenue. Attention because we have to turn right in 250 metres, on Baño Street. Keep always on the same way until we arrive at a tunnel under the high speed train.

After the tunnel the way takes us to a bridge above the Zaragoza-Barcelona railway. We cross it and we carry on walking straight on till we come under a big bridge of the high speed train. We do not go under it, but we take a further way on its right, next to a canal. We walk straight on next to the canal. Junction: turn left, Ebro river direction. We arrive at the river and we turn right following its winding path.

We carry on straight. We reach A-1107 road, turn left to cross the bridge. From here onwards, we leave the Ebro Camino de Santiago to get into the Catalan Camino de Santiago. We arrive in Pina, crossing the bridge over Ebro River, and we say goodbye to this good companion of Camino Ignaciano.

After the bridge, either turn right and enter the village, or continue straight on the road, skirting the village. By going through the village we save 1 km of walking on the asphalt and escape the traffic, but we also make a good detour. Anyway, we leave the village to find ourselves on the same road as before, heading for the National II highway. A large warehouse belonging to the agricultural cooperative of Pina de Ebro serves as guide: the COOPINA sign is clearly visible. Another 1.5 km and we reach the Agricultural Cooperative and take the dirt road that runs parallel to the motorway.

We pass the Cooperative and the village cemetery on our right. The church of San Gregorio appears high up on our right. Our road reaches an irrigation canal, and we leave the motorway, taking the dirt road marked “Mirador de San Gregorio.” We walk along the dirt road, but do not take the road to San Gregorio: instead we continue on until we reach the asphalt street of the industrial zone, which lies ahead of us. We take the downhill road to our right. At the first street we meet, we turn left and follow it towards some large electricity pylons. We see yellow arrows on the lampposts on the street.

We reach an intersection, next to a high voltage tower. A dirt road opens to our right, next to the pylon and we take it. We find electricity poles along the road and in front of us the figure of a large black bull greets us. We are getting closer to the black bull. We continue straight on until we reach the N-II motorway, which will be our new companion on our Way.

We do not cross it but turn right to take a road which takes us away from the N-II for a while. We go up towards the plateau of Los Monegros. We continue straight on, following our dirt road that goes winding through the fields. We make no deviation. At 2.8 km from the N-II we reach the level of Los Monegros plateau and can see some fairly large livestock stables on the left. On reaching the stables, the road forks: we take the left and continue straight on.

At 1 km from the stable, there is a new fork in the road; we take the right. Continue ahead for 1.8 km until the road forks again and take the left. At 1 km from the stable, there is a new fork in the road; we take the right. Go straight ahead on the main road, ignoring the side roads leading to the fields on either side. We are getting closer to the N-II. The road leads to Venta of Santa Lucia, at the back of which we arrive.