Continuing Growth of the Camino

By the end of October this year 317,000 Compostelas had been given out to Pilgrims already exceeding the total for the year in 2017 of 301, 036.

Pilgrim numbers have increased by about 45% over the past eight years leading to predictions that in the next Holy Year in 2021 (when Saint James' Day falls on a Sunday) there will be 500,000 Compostelas received.

This growth can clearly be seen on the below graph taken from https://vivecamino.com/en/the-records-of-the-camino-de-santiago:-the-evolution-in-numbers-no-540/ and based upon the information from the Cathedral in Santiago.

EvoluciÃ³n del Camino de Santiago

There are some who argue that Holy Years are the drivers for this growth - it was back in 1993 that the local government first began to advertise the Camino as a Cultural route (and came up with their first mascot) and the last Holy Year in 2010 saw 85% more Pilgrims than 2009 did.

There are also increasing numbers of non-Spanish Pilgrims on the route perhaps being influenced by media representations of the Camino such as 'The Way' so that in 2017 there were 35,000 more non-Spanish Pilgrims then there were Spanish Pilgrims.

EvoluciÃ³n espaÃ±oles/extranjeros en el Camino de Santiago

EvoluciÃ³n espaÃ±oles/extranjeros en el Camino de Santiago

Image from https://vivecamino.com/en/the-records-of-the-camino-de-santiago:-the-evolution-in-numbers-no-540/

The popularity of the Camino seems set to continue to grow.

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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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