Why do the Camino de Santiago

The question of why do the Camino de Santiago has been questioned and answered at the same time throughout the approximately 1200 years of history of the Camino de Santiago.

Millions of people around the world have traveled the infinity of Itineraries of the Camino de Santiago that converge in Santiago de Compostela, confirming itself as a sociological phenomenon of the first order, not only for Christians, but for anyone who is “looking for something”

PILGRIMS, TOURISTS OR WALKERS TO SANTIAGO

There are “pilgrims” on the Camino, in the strict sense of the word or simply “walkers to Santiago”, but we believe that the absolute rigor of the words should not fall.

Each person is doing “their own Camino” and who are we if we affirm emphatically “that you have to do the Camino de Santiago in one way or another”, since surely we find sufficient reasons to distort, with facts, this statement, as they said in the Middle Ages – my secret for me -, because to think that all people do the Way, for spiritual reasons, is to forget what every man / woman is and will always be.

In fact, if we stick to meaning According to the Royal Academy of the Spanish Language, of the different words that are used to define the people who carry out the Camino, we can see that they are all valid on the route:

Pilgrim: “Person who walks through strange lands” or “Person who by devotion or vote goes to visit a sanctuary, especially if he has a staff and a cape”

Tourist: “Person who does tourism, for pleasure”.

Walker: “Person who walks”

DO THE CAMINO DE SANTIAGO “ENGANCHA”

Perhaps one of the main reasons why it “hooks” is that it offers you what you are looking for, and even some of the things that you did not even think to find in it, because in your walk it will give you time to think, talk with other pilgrims, meeting people, putting your ideas in order or simply not pretending anything special.

What is true, in most cases, that once we arrive in Santiago de Compostela in the Plaza del Obradoiro, and having the Cathedral as a witness, “multiple personal sensations” will surface, whatever your motivation, then “Sometimes the search matters more than what you find in it”The ” The Way is more important than the destination “.

Take one route or another, you will find an endless number of historical, cultural, architectural, religious arguments, etc., that forged the creation of Europe, since the Camino de Santiago was the melting pot of all the peoples and people who have made pilgrimage and continue to do so along the Camino leaving its mark on it. That is why the Camino de Santiago is considered the Main Street of Europe.

MOTIVATIONS TO DO THE CAMINO DE SANTIAGO

There are as many different reasons for doing the Camino de Santiago as people do it, whether they are sports, cultural, gastronomic, tourist, or simply out of curiosity, being a believer or not. The truth is that “something” will have this Camino when multitudes of people who, once they do it for the first time, repeat this fascinating experience year after year.

PILGRIM STATISTICS

Throughout the year 2019, 347.578 pilgrims were received at the Santiago de Compostela Pilgrims Office compared to the 327.378 pilgrims in 2018, which represents an increase of 20.200 people compared to the previous year. According to their manifestations, the different motivations for which they made their Way are reflected:

Religious and others: 169.314
Religious: 140.110
Non-religious: 38.154

Depending on your motivations for doing the Camino de Santiago, upon arrival in Santiago de Compostela you will be given the certificate of The Compostela if they are religious motivations or other similar certificate if it is for other reasons. Nobody will be left without the recognition of the Camino made!

Expanding these motivations, they could be synthesized in: Visit the Tomb of the Apostle – Get to know yourself – Change of scenery – Culture – Gastronomy – Sport – Meet people – Escape from the routine – Make friends. More and more pilgrims from these statistics hire the Camino de Santiago with organized trips through specialized companies, such as Viajes Mundiplus, which provide assistance services, telephone service, reservations in charming accommodation, after luggage, etc.

PERSONAL EXPERIENCE

It is not only a tourist route in the strict sense, because it is expressed in a myriad of expressions of a religious nature that configure the religious essence of the Christian faith, and that, regardless of personal motivation, is usually a highly rewarding personal experience , very different from others.

It is very likely that you all know someone who has already done it and has told you about their experiences, impressions and you already have some knowledge of it, or that at some point you have thought about doing it and it is something that you have “pending”. You have to experience it in the first person, because the reality far exceeds the legend of the Camino.

Likewise, perhaps we have met in some town, while you were visiting, with a pilgrim and you may have wondered, seeing them tired or sweaty Why will they do it, if it is worth the effort and if I can do it myself? and there is only one possible answer, YES !! …. it’s up to you to find out.

Millions of people, throughout their history, have done it and, each one with their “backpack” of problems, doubts, shortcomings, or other reasons and, like everyone else, they have finished their “little adventure”, each one with your greater or lesser effort and the odd scratch or blister.

We advise not to be in a hurry to finish the stages in order to reach the end of them very soon, as it will be necessary to remember that the fundamentals of the Camino is in itself, and not in reaching the end.

MAKE YOUR OWN WAY

We believe it is advisable that each person, even if they go with a large group of people, make their “own Way”, at their own pace, not at that of others. Other people decide do the Camino de Santiago alone by own decision or by lack of acquaintances that fit the same dates of the trip. This would not be a problem since they later join pilgrims en route, or in the lodgings themselves; Since this is precisely the Camino de Santiago, share the experience with people from all over the world.

Although each one will decide, at all times, how they want to face their Way, it will give you the impression that you are involved in a “special” environment, in which you are surrounded by a large group of people, from all over the world. , with the same or similar concerns, goals, objectives and with similar needs, so a climate is created that favors altruism, companionship, an open and generous attitude towards your fellow travelers, even if you do not know them, for now … but that you will meet many of them along your Path.

Probably, once you have been walking for a few days, you have discovered those small details that make you feel happy or that you feel good with what you are doing, without missing those everyday things that you previously gave excessive importance to, such as that “I don’t have mobile coverage.”

What before, for many, could be like an “excursion”, now it can be a journey inside oneself, in which the important thing is the day to day or “Carpe Diem”, as the poet Horacio would say, which translated would be : “Take advantage of today; trust as little as possible in tomorrow “. You will have time to listen to the silence, hear the running of the water in the streams, simple things that we will not be very used to in our daily work.

In my opinion, this does not mean that the Camino changes us in our personal convictions, but it may be that we ratify ourselves in them or, on the contrary, simply, as we pointed out in previous paragraphs, I have felt that while I was doing the Camino, “I have found happy “, and with that” mission accomplished “, as simple as that.

GOOD SENSATIONS AND POSITIVE ENERGIES (“PURA VIDA”)