Los Arcos is a frontier town strung along streets that run parallel to the Río Odrón. You enter from the north, and the first thing you notice is that the place has the solid, well-built feel of a town that once had money and strategic importance.
The Iglesia de Santa María de la Asunción dominates the main plaza. It's a far grander church than a town this size would normally warrant — the Plateresque facade, the late Gothic cloister decorated with animal and plant carvings, and the extraordinary 1760 organ (possibly the most elaborate in Navarra, with three tiers of pipes and carved musician angels) all speak to the town's prosperous past. If the church is open, go in.
Several albergues, hotels, and pensiones operate in town. Bars and restaurants line the main street. A couple of bars near the main road on the southeast side open early for pilgrims and truck drivers. Saturday is market day.
Market day is Saturday. The patronal fiesta for Santa María runs from August 14 to 20.
Los Arcos dates to the Roman period and sits on the frontier between Navarra and La Rioja. Its hilltop castle (now gone) stood to the east of the approach. As a border town, it saw repeated destruction by land-hungry nobility and corresponding prosperity from the toll and currency exchange that every border crossing demanded. The Arco de Felipe V, through which the camino exits, bears the coat of arms of the first Bourbon king of Spain.
The camino exits through the Arco de Felipe V and crosses the Río Odrón. A few albergues are on the west side of the river. From here the route heads through rolling country toward Sansol and Torres del Río — about 7 km with some ups and downs that earn this stretch the local nickname 'The Knee Wrecker.'
