Pilgrimage V Tourism

I have written on this blog before that when you reach Santiago you stop being a Pilgrim and start being a tourist but what is the difference between the two?

I remember reading in an albergue somewhere that, ‘The tourist demands, the pilgrim accepts’. It is true that I do not count my pilgrimages to Santiago as a holiday in the usual sense but I do do ‘touristy’ things. Some of these are Pilgrim things such as visiting Leon Cathedral but others cannot be seen as Pilgrim activities (for example going to the Roman museum in Astorga).

A tourist though only goes to a place to see the sights, a person who travels or visits a place for pleasure whereas a pilgrim, although they will see the sights whilst they are there, is moving toward a destination (be it Santiago, Rome or elsewhere).

Possibly a pilgrim becomes more immersed in the culture they are in as well, or at least in the culture of the trail, than a tourist will as albergues are usually in the middle of the town and hotels are sometimes in areas that become almost tourist enclaves.

Having walked the Camino, Pilgrims Way and non pilgrimage routes in the Hadrian’s Wall path and the Coast to Coast route I do think that I felt differently on each although I cannot define how. Maybe it had more to do with the people I met on pilgrimage, the welcome that is received by the Pilgrim on The Way from other walkers as well as the local people was more open and friendly than on the other routes as well as the knowledge that the pilgrimage routes I am walking because of my faith and not as a ends in itself.

Is it therefore the attitude of yourself as a pilgrim and those around you which defines if you are a pilgrim or a tourist or is it something else I have not thought of here, let me know your thoughts.