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 262,913^th Compostela of the year.

The Camino de Santiago goes on and on. On Friday, the 22^nd of October, the Pilgrims Office stamped the 262,913^th 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 travellers, 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 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.