I was delighted to be contacted by Maria regarding a possible post on her excellent website SpanishforCamino.com.
Her website is full of hints and tips for those looking to improve their Spanish. As she lives on the Camino, she sees pilgrims passing by every day. So her website is a great place to start if you are planning a few days on the Camino. Not on does she talk about Spanish words, but there are great tips on food and health in Spain.
Anyway, my conversation with Maria can be found here. It was fun looking back at my first Camino. I also talk about this website and my involvement with Camino Society Ireland.
La Voz de Galicia published an article online detailing new figures released from the Pilgrims Office in Santiago. Predictably, the total number of Compostelas issued to pilgrims in 2016 has already surpassed those issued to pilgrims in the whole of 2015. We are also stepping into unknown territory also, as we are close to “Holy Year” territory. Maybe the increase is due to this year being a Jubilee Year? But it will be interesting to see how many Compostelas are issued in 2017.
You can view the article on La Voz de Galicia in Spanish here, however it is translated (badly) below.
The number of pilgrims has already exceeded that of the whole of 2015 and will break the historic St. James ceiling of 2010.
The Pilgrims Office stamped the 262,913th Compostela of the year.
The Camino de Santiago goes on and on. On Friday, the 22nd of October, the Pilgrims Office stamped the 262,913th Compostela of the year, with the number of walkers already exceeding those of 2015, when 262,515 people made/walked any of the routes. So far the record of pilgrims follows 2010, the last Holy Year, with 272,412 stamps, but the days are numbered. The fact is that about 888 hikers per day, less than two weeks in 2016, can overturn the historical mark achieved six years ago.
Another piece of significant data from the figures provided by the Pilgrims Office is the nationality of the travelers, as it also reflects the universal nature of this route. 55% of those who come are from abroad, more than half, and nationalities are in their dozens. At the Cathedral of Santiago, 168 different nationalities have arrived this year; leading these statistics Italy, ahead of Germany, United States, Portugal, France, Ireland, United Kingdom and Australia, the eighth foreign country in the number of pilgrims this year. In Spain, Andalusia and Madrid are the regions that total more walkers. For routes, the Camino Francés is still in the majority, which had over 165,934 pilgrims this year, but it is also important that the number on the Portuguese, 49,746; the Camino Norte, 16,566, or the Primitivo, 11,488.
A good pace.
The arrival of autumn has not demotivated those who decide to undertake this adventure, religious for some, spiritual for others and vital for all. And it is that although the daily average this year stands at 888 walkers, last Friday, already at the end of October, the Pilgrim Office exceeded 1000 who came to seal the Compostela. Specifically , they were 1,075, of which 611, almost 57%, came from another country.
La Voz de Galicia
You know you have an addiction on your hands when you find yourself wandering on the Camino de Santiago on Google street view. If you have time on your hands, it is possible to “walk” vast chunks of the Camino from the safety of your living room. It is far less exciting, for sure, but you can get an idea of what awaits you once you “hook up”. I decided to take a tour from the outskirts of Sarria to its city centre during the weekend while not watching rugby and football.
The Camino winds along Rua do Peregrino before reaching the famous Peregrinoteca.com. Once you reach that, you can see Sarria’s famous steps that lead you to Rua Maior and its old town. Unfortunately, the great people at Google weren’t prepared to bring a car or a bicycle up the steps but we will let them off that for the time being. You can get an idea from the picture below.
I got a little surprise, however, when I found that you can view inside and around this store. Try it out.
Hello, my name is David. I am a peregrino living in Dublin, Ireland. I have visited Spain and Portugal and walked its many roads to Santiago since 2011. On this site, you will find my stories, photos, and observations from my Caminos and my planning for future Caminos. Feel free to get in touch with me here
