Pilgrimage: Embrace the pilgrimage industry
There is a mythical image of pilgrimage — the solitary pilgrim walks to the top of a hill at sunrise and gazes out across a beautiful landscape as God blesses them with a vision that transforms their life.
There may be such a moment for you, but it is not the reality of most pilgrimage routes — and never has been.
In the gospels, Jesus enters the temple in Jerusalem and drives out “all who were buying and selling there” (Matthew 21:12). Those merchants were serving pilgrims who had journeyed to the temple in Jerusalem for Passover, evidence of pilgrim-related commerce two thousand years ago.
The Canterbury Tales, written between 1387 and 1400 by Geoffrey Chaucer, features a group of pilgrims telling stories on the way to Becket’s shrine at Canterbury. It is a contest and the best storyteller wins a free meal at the Tabard Inn at Southwark on return. While the stories are moral tales that illustrate the social, political, and religious concerns of the time, it’s clear that the journey has places to stay and food to buy, as well as the option for luxuries on the route.
Commerce has always been an aspect of pilgrimage, and remains so today.
There will be people on the Camino — sometimes lots of them
I’d been thinking about walking the Camino de Santiago for over two decades. I read so many books about it I thought I knew what it would be like. But nothing prepared me for how busy the route would be, even though I walked outside of the main summer season on a quieter route.
The Camino de Santiago has waxed and waned in popularity over the years and now several hundred thousand walk the different routes every year. It is not a wilderness walk, unless you choose the early stages of the Via de la Plata, which are far less developed.
There were moments on the Camino where I was literally, not just metaphorically, part of a long line of pilgrims. Many only walk the last hundred kilometres, so those last few days in particular were really busy.
Aspects of the Camino pilgrim industry
Before you start your pilgrimage, you need to buy the Credential, either at your starting point or online before you go. It is a paper booklet with room for stamps and a QR code for registration, so you can collect your Compostela, the Latin certificate that proves you have finished the Camino.
You must collect stamps along the route from churches and hostels, hotels and restaurants, and this sometimes results in queues in even out-of-the-way places as pilgrims wait for the stamp. On longer routes, you start by getting one stamp per day to prove your journey, and then you need two stamps per day within the last hundred kilometres if walking, and longer if cycling.
You can see a picture of my Credential with stamps at www.jfpenn.com/credential
In historical times, pilgrims collected a scallop shell when they reached Santiago de Compostela, but these days, pilgrims attach a shell to their pack from the first day. You can buy them in shops along the route, either plain or painted with a cross. I started out by resisting the urge to buy one, but I soon felt a little left out of the pilgrim vibe, so I bought a small, simple scallop shell on the third day and attached it to the back of my pack.
You can see a picture at
Along the route, there are hotels, B & Bs, and albergues or hostels which exist mainly to cater to pilgrims, as well as cafes and restaurants with pilgrim menus.
Once in Santiago de Compostela, you need to queue at the Pilgrim’s Office to have your Credential checked and receive your Compostela.
You can see a picture of mine at
You can also buy a Certificate of Distance as proof of the exact number of kilometres travelled.
The Pilgrim’s Office has many souvenirs and the shops surrounding the cathedral also sell every kind of pilgrim merchandise you could possibly desire. The same is true at Canterbury and Lindisfarne.
Here’s me in my ‘pilgrim’ T-shirt at Canterbury in October 2020: www.jfpenn.com/pilgrimtshirt
The Pilgrims’ Mass is held three times a day at the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela and they read out the countries of the pilgrims who arrived that day. Over 1,500 pilgrims arrived in the city on the day I walked in. The Camino is certainly not a solitary route.
Your attitude to the pilgrimage industry will shape your experience on the Camino
There are two possible attitudes to this industry.
You can resent the intrusion of so many people and the overt commercialism, and pine for a solo, spiritual pilgrimage — or you can embrace it and join in wholeheartedly.
After some initial reluctance, I did the latter and enjoyed supporting the local businesses that play an important part in the Camino experience. I appreciated the comfortable accommodation, pharmacies and supermarkets, as well as coffee shops, restaurants, and bars along the Way. I also stopped in some sections to let waves of chattering pilgrims pass, and I relished moments of quiet walking when I didn’t see another person for a while, mainly when I left before sunrise on a few mornings.
My favourite day’s walk was Baiona to Vigo, or at least the first twenty kilometres of it. The main Camino route went through the hills, but there was a slightly longer alternate route following the coast north. I chose the coastal route, which was barely way-marked, but by keeping the sea on my left, it was easy enough to navigate along paths and boardwalks.
I left Baiona in the dark and walked north as dawn broke over the coastal wetlands. Wading birds picked their way through the shallows and finches darted between bushes on the shore. The path followed alongside almost deserted beaches, with just a few dog walkers on the sand. It was a cool autumnal weekday morning. There were heavy clouds overhead, and the wind blew rain in later that day. I mostly walked alone, happy to have taken the alternative route, to step out of the stream of pilgrims even just for a day.
If you want a quieter pilgrimage, adjust your route or time of year
The Camino would certainly be quieter off season, in the late autumn or winter, but many of the accommodation and food options would be closed and your experience would be harder in different ways.
You could also choose a different pilgrimage altogether, since while the Camino is busy, many others are relatively empty. The Pilgrims’ Way was quiet, but then I walked it in the early days of the pandemic, so I would expect it to be busier in ‘normal’ times.
I walked most of the St Cuthbert’s Way alone, sometimes for hours with no one else in sight. While it is not a ‘wilderness’ walk and there is accommodation each night and places to buy food, it is certainly more solitary and not a popular trail like the Camino. In terms of that mythical pilgrimage experience, I found glimpses of it on the St Cuthbert’s Way, for sure.
Questions:
• What are the pros and cons of the pilgrimage industry? How might it affect your pilgrimage?
• How can you embrace the industry — or avoid it completely?
Resources:
• Credential with stamps — www.jfpenn.com/credential
• Scallop shell on backpack — www.jfpenn.com/scallopshell
• Compostela certificate — www.jfpenn.com/compostela
• Jo Frances Penn in ‘pilgrim’ T-shirt at Canterbury, October 2020 — www.jfpenn.com/pilgrimtshirt
