In a year as symbolic as 2022 – post-pandemic and exceptional extension of the Holy Year – the Association of Friends of the Camino de Santiago de Astorga, together with other associations, have reached an agreement with the Commanders of Santiago to found an International Center for Information and Welcome to the pilgrim- French Way in his convent in Madrid.
And it is that, as a result of the signed agreement, the nuns will allocate an area of the convent to the Traditional Hospitaller Reception of pilgrims, mainly foreigners, who arrive in Madrid by air and wish to embark on the path to the tomb of the Apostle. In this way, pilgrims from all over the world will be able to receive traditional hospitality from their arrival in Spain, imbuing themselves with the Jacobean spirit before leaving at the beginning of the Camino. And it will also make up for the lack in Spain of an information point upon the arrival of foreign pilgrims, at which time they need more guidance and which until now has been fulfilled by the Saint Jean de Pie de Port office in France.
The International Hostel will be launched thanks to the collaboration of the American NGO Peaceable Projects Inc., the Association of South Korea, the French Way Federation organization and the International Fraternity of the Camino de Santiago. Together they will undertake the necessary conditioning of the assigned space and will create a structure for pilgrims with the participation of a hundred volunteers. The welcome, the associations explain, will be known as the Traditional Welcome thanks to the collaboration of dozens of foreign associations that, today, watch over the promotion, attention and care of the Camino de Santiago in the different countries, and that have offered their collaboration for this ambitious project.
The signing has been possible thanks to the intercession of the Duke of Hornachuelos and Thirteen of the Order of the Knights of Santiago, José Ramón de Hoces, and the Count of Santa Ana de las Torres and Commander Major of Castile, Alfonso de Zulueta y Sanchiz. In a simple act in the Convent with the Commander Major and Mother Superior, Sister Rosario Díez de la Iglesia, at the head, and the president of the Association of Astorga, Juan Carlos Pérez Cabezas.
In addition, this project has an added value, which is that the reception takes place in a 16th century Convent and with the participation of the Feminine Order of the Knights of Santiago who ensured to protect the pilgrim from the dangers of the Camino. Since the foundation of the Order in the twelfth century, it included a relevant novelty: the incorporation from the beginning of women who could also be, like men, married or friars. And these fulfilled, together with the function of prayer, assistance to the male order.
Sister Rosario Díez expressed that with this determination the congregation wants to “contribute with a part of the building to the spirituality that is lived on the Camino. It is our ‘bit’ of charity to care for the stranger, the pilgrim”.
The associations, for their part, will be able to contribute, thanks to the Commanders, a historical place, an Asset of Cultural Interest and “magical”, due to its origins, to the pilgrims. “The Camino de Santiago is the place where the roots of Europe meet again. A place of harmony that unifies cultures, makes borders disappear and builds a We; where everyone is a neighbor with a rare enthusiasm, united with a goal”. “With this action, say the participating associations, we want to make Madrid an even more European city and provide, in these strange times for the West, a unique space in the heart of Madrid.”
The Camino de Santiago will have an International Information Center in Madrid