Mansilla de las Mulas

Mansilla de las Mulas sits in the province of Leon on the banks of the river Esla. It is a walled medieval town and the point where the two variants of the Camino Frances rejoin: the southern route through Bercianos del Real Camino and El Burgo Ranero, and the northern Camino Real through Calzadilla de los Hermanillos. The Camino enters through one of the surviving medieval gates and runs through the heart of the old town.

The town was founded in 1181 by King Fernando II of Leon as a fortified Camino stop, with substantial 12th-century walls built to defend pilgrims and the road itself. Long stretches of those walls are still standing, with cubo towers spaced along them, and the four original gateways into the town remain identifiable. The second half of the name, de las Mulas, refers to the mule trade: from the late Middle Ages until the 19th century, Mansilla was the largest mule market in northern Spain, with thousands of animals changing hands at the annual fair. A bronze statue of a mule at the entrance to the town commemorates this. The principal religious building is the Iglesia de Santa Maria, and the former Convento de San Agustin now houses the Museo Etnografico Provincial, the ethnographic museum for the province of Leon.

Mansilla has the full range of services for pilgrims. There are albergues including the municipal Albergue de Peregrinos and private albergues, plus hotels, hostales, restaurants, cafes, bars, supermarkets, pharmacies, ATMs, and medical services. The town has a bus stop with connections to Leon. Most pilgrims overnight here before the short walk into Leon city the following day.