Oct 1: Update

I ran into a chinche (bedbug) issue now. Last night, I turned the lights on of my room at midnight after sleeping a couple of hours. I walked over to all of my things sitting on a table. There on the wall was a chinche I thought! I wasn't sure never having seen one.  So I squashed him.

I went back to bed thinking I should have tried to capture him so I have evidence that could be verified. I turned the lights back on 20min later and there is a MF chinche in bed underneath me!

So I quickly found a plastic bag and coerced him in. Luckily, the chinche is not very fleet-of-foot. I took the little fellow downstairs and called over the owner. I told her that I think she has a chinche problem and presented her with the bedbug in the bag. She confirmed it.

The poor woman was clearly distraught. Within the last month she had along with other hotels done their obligatory end of year disinfestation. She had bought new mattresses etc. Now I had found this chinche in her room. She told me the new mattress now was no good. She said she had to close her hotel down for a week to deinfest. She told me she has never had a problem with chinches. She said she just called the local albergue to tell them although they claimed ignorance to seeing any. I know from seeing bedbug bites on other peregrinos and hearing recent infestation stories it is a (growing) problem.

She moved me to another room which seems fine. Plus she took all of my things and is washing/drying them at high heat. It will probably destroy some of my synthetics. But as long as it sterilizes my stuff, I don't care. This is the second thorough cleaning of everything I have within a week!

I am kind of bummed by the bug problems on the Camino. If she had not offered to clean my stuff, I think I would have just thrown everything away and ended the trip. I could not in good conscious continue the trip infecting other beds. Plus I had just cleaned all of my things! The problem with the chinche is that if you see just one, you have to assume you are infested with them. They can lay their eggs in your clothes. Only high heat above 120degrees and over 20min will kill the eggs.

I think the chinche problem could be helped if at least the albergues had dryers. The dryers are an awesome way to deinfest because of the high heat factor achieved. Unfortunately the peregrino is left to hand wash and line dry their clothes which does nothing to the chinche. Plus the bedbug loves the peregrino as they just hop a ride in his things. The Spaniards don't even have laundromats which sucks.

As I finally left the hotel today, the owner told me she didn't see any more in the room and therefore maybe she doesn't have a chinche problem... stay tune.