Stage Rionegro del Puente to Mombuey

A short stage that splits the long haul between Rionegro del Puente and Puebla de Sanabria, intended for those who prefer to pace themselves or rearrange their days in the La Carballeda district. It is just over eleven kilometres of gentle terrain, at around nine hundred metres of altitude, completed in some three hours.

The departure is beside the sanctuary of Nuestra Señora de la Carballeda, the focus of local devotion and a former pilgrims' hospital linked to the Falifos brotherhood, whose tradition of hospitality dates back to the Middle Ages. The path leaves the houses of Rionegro behind and enters a landscape of oak woods, heather and small stone-walled meadows.

The route runs parallel to the N-525 road and the A-52 motorway, crossing them at signposted points, and passes near the hamlets of Cernadilla and Valdemerilla, with the Cernadilla reservoir lying to the south. It is a peaceful walk of gentle rises and dips, where the silence of La Carballeda sets the tone.

Mombuey welcomes the pilgrim with the silhouette of the tower of the church of Nuestra Señora de la Asunción, a 13th-century Romanesque-Gothic work attributed to Templar stonemasons and a listed National Monument. The village, strung along the old road, offers the essential services — bar, shop, lodging — to end the day calmly and prepare the next one towards the lands of Sanabria.