When to walk to Santiago de Compostella

Summer is the busiest time on the Camino and the hottest. It’s when a lot of Spanish people walk, particularly the young who see it as a cheap holiday so finding a bed can be a problem, I've heard that some people do have to sleep outside.

Easter week was noticeably busier on the Camino this year as people took advantage of the holiday to walk.

March-May is when I have done two Caminos and it can be nice to see the spring flowers coming out but you cannot be guaranteed warm weather.

My other three Caminos have been in September when the Camino is quieter and the weather has not become too cold.

If you go out of summer then know that not all albergues will be open, check your guidebook (which, from experience, may not always be right!).

The graph (all information for which comes from Santiago de Compostela Cathedral) below shows the number of Pilgrims who received their Compostelas for each month in 2012 and 2010 (a Holy Year when a lot of lot of people walk).

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The Camino Primitivo

The Camino Primitivo (or the Original Way) is reportedly the very first Camino Way to Santiago in the 9 th century when most of Spain was under the control of the Moors and it runs from near the city of Ovideo in Asturias as it starts in Villavicosa (which also lies on the Camino Norte so many people follow this Way from Basque city of San Sebastian (Donosti in Basque) or in from the French border at Irun ( this route then hugs the Bay of Biscay passing through Guernica, Bilbao, Santander, Llanes before going under the Picos de Europa and then heads along the coast to Ovideo) before branching off onto the Primitivo which goes across the mountains and through the city of Lugo before joining the Frances at Melide. The route is 320km long. Image taken from https://viaalpina2013.wordpress.com/2013/04/14/camino-del-norte-camino-primitivo/

Symbols of the three main Christian Pilgrimages

The symbol of the Pilgrim to Santiago is the Scallop shell of which many can be found on the coast of Galicia and it is actually a symbol of the Pilgrimage (and has become a symbol of other Christian Pilgrimages too) partly because you could find the shell easily there and so could go back home and show it off as proof that you had done the Pilgrimage. It has also been included in carvings in some Churches.

Camino Mascot

Those who have walked the Camino will probably have seen one or more of the Camino mascots along the Way but do you know their names? http://m.elcorreogallego.es/xacobeo/ecg/xubi-jubila-pelegrin-mascota-xacobea/idEdicion-2010-06-08/idNoticia-555962/

On the Camino

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