CaminantesThe emptiest Camino: how many people live along each day of the Francés
By August Frederik Kramer · Last updated 6 November 2026
8 villages on the Camino Francés. How many people live in each?
In Spain the Camino Francés walks through 353 villages, hamlets and towns. Half of the ones Spain's statistics office counts have fewer than 29 people living in them, and 69% have fewer than 100. The emptiest day is day 18, from Carrión de los Condes to Población de Arroyo: 22.4 km with one village on the way, Calzadilla de la Cueza, where 46 people live.
8 villages on the Camino Francés. How many people live in each?
- How many people live in Roncesvalles? 25 people. 25 people lived in Roncesvalles on 1 January 2025, by the count of Spain's statistics office.
- How many people live in Castrojeriz? 530 people. 530 people lived in Castrojeriz on 1 January 2025, by the count of Spain's statistics office.
- How many people live in Hontanas? 69 people. 69 people lived in Hontanas on 1 January 2025, by the count of Spain's statistics office.
- How many people live in Calzadilla de la Cueza? 46 people. 46 people lived in Calzadilla de la Cueza on 1 January 2025, by the count of Spain's statistics office.
- How many people live in Foncebadón? 24 people. 24 people lived in Foncebadón on 1 January 2025, by the count of Spain's statistics office.
- How many people live in O Cebreiro? 20 people. 20 people lived in O Cebreiro on 1 January 2025, by the count of Spain's statistics office.
- How many people live in Portomarín? 396 people. 396 people lived in Portomarín on 1 January 2025, by the count of Spain's statistics office.
- How many people live in Melide? 5,057 people. 5,057 people lived in Melide on 1 January 2025, by the count of Spain's statistics office.
Every day of the Francés: how many people you walk past
One bar for each day of our stage plan: the people who live in the villages and towns you walk through that day, not counting the town where you start or the one where you sleep. Taller means more people. The gold bar is the emptiest day.
Tap or drag across the days.
Day 18, Carrión de los Condes to Población de Arroyo: 46 people in 1 place along 22.4 km.
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The smallest places on the way
The 10 smallest villages the Francés walks through that still have someone living in them, on 1 January 2025:
| Village | Day | People |
|---|---|---|
| Fontearcuda | 31 | 1 |
| O Mosteiro | 32 | 1 |
| Morgade | 32 | 1 |
| O Cruceiro | 32 | 1 |
| O Souto | 33 | 1 |
| A Mamurria | 33 | 1 |
| O Carballal de Arriba | 34 | 1 |
| Arleta | 3 | 2 |
| A Cal | 31 | 2 |
| Airexe | 31 | 2 |
How many villages are this small
Of the 302 places in Spain the Francés walks through, 208 have fewer than 100 people, 120 fewer than 20, and 5 have nobody registered at all. Half have fewer than 29. The big ones are few: 10 have more than 10,000 people, and between them they hold 88% of everyone who lives on the way.
What the count is
The figures are the people living in each village on 1 January 2025, as Spain's statistics office (INE) counts them: the village itself and the farms and houses that belong to it. Pilgrims, the volunteers who run an albergue for a season and summer visitors are not in it. We matched 302 of the 353 places the way passes through to INE's list by the code OpenStreetMap carries, or by name inside the same municipality; 51 could not be matched and are left out rather than guessed. Day 1 is mostly in France, which INE does not count, so it is left out of the days.
What it means for the walk
Where few people live, there is little else: often no shop, and the albergue is the only open door. On the emptiest days, carry food and water from the town where you slept. Our albergue guide shows where the beds are, the water guide where to fill a bottle, and the Meseta guide how empty the plain really is.
People: INE, Nomenclátor, population of each singular population unit on 1 January 2025. Places: the Caminantes app's settlement list (OpenStreetMap), the hamlets and villages within 400 m of our track and the towns within 1.2 km, matched to INE by the OpenStreetMap ref:ine code or by name. Days and distances: our stage plan.
Common questions
What is the emptiest stage of the Camino Francés?
By the people who live along it, day 18 of our stage plan, from Carrión de los Condes to Población de Arroyo: 22.4 km with one village on the way, Calzadilla de la Cueza, where 46 people live. The towns where the day starts and ends are not counted.
How small are the villages on the Camino Francés?
Half of the 302 villages and towns it walks through in Spain that the statistics office counts have fewer than 29 people living in them, and 69% have fewer than 100.
How many people live in Fontearcuda?
1 person on 1 January 2025, by the count of Spain's statistics office. It is the smallest place on the Francés that still has someone living in it.
Keep reading
Why pilgrims burn on one side
On the Camino Francés the sun is on your left 38% of the walk and on your right 4%. Pick your route and month and slide through the day.
The Meseta on the Camino Francés: walk it or skip it
Burgos to León, measured: how much of it has a tree beside the path, the longest stretch without one, and the trains that skip it.
Camping on the Camino: the longest stretch without a campsite, on every route
Pick your route and see the longest stretch with no campsite that takes tents, from OpenStreetMap and our stage plan, and what the law in Galicia says about wild camping.
Take it with you
Caminantes is free, works offline, and plans your stages around your own legs rather than a guidebook's.
