Mataelpino
Camino de Madrid
A small sierra village about 7.5 km from Manzanares el Real. There are bars in the plaza and you can get a sello at the ayuntamiento. Mataelpino is a useful overnight option for pilgrims who want to break the Manzanares-to-Cercedilla stretch into two shorter days. Weekend visitors from Madrid fill the accommodation here, so book ahead on Fridays and Saturdays.
When you arrive, you'll have three route options, all waymarked: continue straight along the road (fastest), detour right into the village plaza (for the bar and sello), or take the upper street through the village. All three converge on the same road out.
The stretch between Mataelpino and Navacerrada is lovely walking — granite boulders, grazing land, and the Sierra rising close. You'll follow narrow senderos parallel to the road, with the Arroyo de la Angostura for company. Expect to see goats — sometimes hundreds of them, right on the road.