What Spanish words should we know for the Camino?

Nowadays languages are not a problem to walk your Camino, we have got
plenty of gadgets to help us to understand the meaning of our speech or we
can even use mimic, pointing or drawing to show the others what we want
to say. Besides, those doing the Camino are willing to help us to express
ourselves and most of locals are friendly and helpful. Yet, we should know
that there are several Caminos that go through different regions and
countries and they have got their own languages. On Camino Francs , you
will hear locals speaking French, Spanish, Vasque and Galician; Spanish
and Galician is mostly spoken on Camino Primitive, Northern Way, Via de la
Plata; and obviously, Portuguese is spoken on part of Camino Portuguese.

I would like you to become familiar to some words or expressions you really
wished to have learned previously. Here you are some of the most popular
and widely used on the Camino:
The Spanish word hay ( pronounced like pronoun I in English) is
really useful because it means theres or there are. You can use it
all the time: Hay bocadillos? (are there sandwiches?), hay una cama
libre? (is there a free bed?)
Funny mistakes. They are called False friends, words or sentences
that sound similar to English but they have got a different meaning:
o You can say something like embarazada thinking you are
saying that you are embarrassed but you are really saying that
you are pregnant.
o You can also make an embarrassing mistake saying casado or
cansado. Estoy casado. I am married.
Estoy cansado. I am tired.
o Maybe you use excitada trying to say excited but it means
something very different:
Estoy muy excitada! I am very horny.
Estoy muy emocionada! I am very excited.
o If you want to say chicken in Spanish, make sure you pronoun
pollo and not ending the word with a (polla) as you will be
saying the male sexual organ. Very embarrasing!
Remember to pronounce WiFi as Whiffy.
Vale means Ok, all right, thats fine, and everybody uses vale
especially in Galician region ('Vale' sounds like 'Ballet' ). Besides, you
will problably hear expressions like bueno that doesnt have a
especial meaning at all, bueno could be translated as well,
anyway , fine, sure the Spanish expression a ver, which means
let's see, is a good "filler" and used mostly when locals what to
explain something to you.
How to pronounce Spanish . "" > very simple to pronounce,
"bao" > ba"nio", just very fast and the i is used as in "India" and

almost not noticeable, "bao" > baNiO, "maana" > maNiAna,

"pequeo" > pequeNiO, aejo > aNiEjo (vino aejo > aged wine as in
"years old").
Talking about food and drink.
The most common sandwich is bocadillo with for example
ham jamn or cheese queso. But Spain is famous for its
tortillas. A plain (egg - huevo) omelette is una tortilla
francesa. So if you wanted a cheese omelette you would say
Por favor ,quiero una tortilla de queso, and to drink, a coffee
with milk Y un caf con leche. vino tinto is red wine.
When talking about beer, some foreigners have problems with
pronunciation of cerveza, so its easy to say caa or even
to say it in English since they understand it perfectly. Or ask for
a "caa" ( pronounced kanya) or, if you'd like something
lighter a clara (beer and lemonade)
I think every one knows this one. The bill please La cuenta,
por favor. But if you are in a group, perhaps not We want to
pay separately Queremos pagar por separado. You may
also need a expression for take away para llevar.
Talking about public opening times. Most stores close on Saturday
afternoon and evening and on Sundays. Museums and other activities
aimed at pilgrims may have their weekly closed day on Monday
instead. Bars and cafes will usually have either Sunday or Monday off.
Some stay open.
Puente:
If a holiday falls on a Tuesday or Thursday, many businesses will
take the Monday or Friday off too. This is known as a puente, a
bridge between the holiday and the weekend. Sometimes, if the
holiday falls on a Wednesday, staff may take both Monday and
Tuesday off.
Descanso/cerrado/siesta:
You are likely to hear est cerrado or es la hora de la siesta
when you want to have a snack or buy something in a store. There
are two periods of siesta in Spain siesta for shops and
businesses, during which time many people go to a bar or
restaurant, and then siesta for the restaurants, who obviously
cant rest when everyone wants to come and eat.
The siesta for shops and businesses is from approximately 2pm
until 5pm while bars and restaurants close from about 4pm until
about 8 or 9pm

Finally, dont forget one of your favorites: Please can you stamp my
credencial - Por favor, puede usted sellar mi credencial.
Buen Camino, amigos!

Anxo Saco