The Camino de Santiago, which coincides with the Xacobeo double year these days welcomes a high flow of walkers and pilgrims from numerous origins, has relatively fewer young people with bulky backpacks than years ago, given a high increase in foreigners, older people, power purchasing and technological equipment.
The medieval path that for centuries favored pilgrims, monks, merchants, criminals or soldiers crossing the Iberian Peninsula, was popularized three decades ago by young people in search of spirituality and adventure, willing to sleep in hostels, tents or outdoors. Now it has become a tourist route of the first magnitude and a business niche. Those who currently frequent the Camino de Santiago, mostly foreigners, include a “more senior profile” and a “medium-high purchasing power,” says geographer Miguel Pazos, director of Cetur, an organ of the University of Santiago de Compostela ( USC) on tourism studies.
Foreigners, 31.4% of the total walkers in 2010, were 57.9% in 2019. And although the outbreak of the covid-19 pandemic the following year and travel restrictions led to a pause in the Camino , now that same trend is resuming, according to Pazos. The Hostal de los Reyes Católicos, of the Paradores public group, the most luxurious hotel establishment in the city, already has reservations this summer of more than 90% of its capacity, with 137 rooms; 70% of foreigners, mainly British and North Americans, “similar levels to before the pandemic”, indicates its director, Santiago Carrera.
higher spending
USC studies show that foreign tourists spend 25 to 30% more on their stay than the average visitor, and are more likely to stay in four or five star hotels. The development of luggage transfer companies for walkers and pilgrims from one hotel or hostel to another by vehicle has greatly favored this new type of walker with a lighter backpack. The abolition of roaming charges or “roaming” in the European Union and lower telecommunications costs have also contributed to ending the isolation of walkers who now geolocate, reserve accommodation and food during the walk, or talk with relatives and friends. El Camino has also become a virtual “socialization space” with many “single” pilgrims looking for dates, as well as a source of inspiration for audiovisual disseminators about their individual or collective experiences. One of the popular mottos of the Camino concludes that “without pain there is no glory”, but technological development is also changing that conception, especially with the emergence of electric bicycles. Although for many the goal continues to be Santiago de Compostela, Fisterra, in the westernmost tip of Galicia, is gaining more and more followers.
Religion is no longer the only motivation for walkers
A survey carried out in 2007 by USC researchers among more than eight hundred walkers showed that only 38% had a true religious motivation, and, according to Pazos, it is very likely that the “secularization” of the Camino has increased in recent years.
Although the Catholic Church perseveres in maintaining its religious spirit on the Way, with the “Compostela”, the document issued by the Archbishopric to those who complete a journey of at least 100 kilometers on foot or 200 by bicycle or on horseback and express that they do so for “faith” or “spirituality”, as there is a growing number who renounce that title and seek adventure, sport, nature or social relations.
The “Compostela”, instituted in 1970 by the Catholic Church, was delivered that year to 68 pilgrims but the expeditions have progressively increased until reaching almost 350,000 in 2019, according to the office managed by the Archbishopric. Within Catholicism there are numerous discordant voices about the secularization of the Xacobea route, but there is a reality, that the proliferation of walkers has favored juicy profits in convents, monasteries or seminaries abandoned due to the lack of vocations and other buildings owned by the Church .
The Camino de Santiago, a type of low-polluting tourism development that is more conciliatory with the environment, runs, however, a risk of overcrowding that could undermine the challenge of finding oneself alone.