It is the celebration of the 1,000 Years Pilgrimage by St. Francis of Assisi and I suspect Pope Francis' current t popularity will be a factor to bring the pilgrimage numbers up. I start in Sahagun in late June 2014 and I've been reading that private rooms in places like O'Cebreiro and Samos have been sold out for while.
It is actually the 800-year anniversary of St. Francis of Assisi's pilgrimage from Assisi to Santiago and back. He started out in 1213 and reached Iberia / Spain and Santiago de Compostela in 1214. He made the Spanish portion round-trip during 1214 and returned to Assisi in 1215.
Also, the Church and Convent of San Francisco, located at the end of Rua do San Francisco in Santiago de Compostela, is handing out a FREE commemorative certificate. It is NOT a compostela. It is simply a keepsake document in Latin that states that you made a pilgrimage to this holy place to commemorate the 800-year anniversary of the great saint's personal pilgrimage. I note in passing that:
- The church / convent is a five-minute walk from the Cathedral, exit the plaza to the right of the Parador as you face it. Walk to the end of the block. You cannot miss it, as there is a 10-meter tall statue of St, Francis just in front of the church / convent.
- You enter the church, and proceed to an office located in the extreme left front corner.
- There, in a room, is a table with one or more Franciscan monks and as many lay persons writing the certificates.
- As of mid-June, they were only giving the certificates daily (7x) from 1000 - 1100, and from 1700 - 1900.
- I went at 1140 on a Sunday morning and there were five people ahead of me - so no long lines.
- The certificate is on A4 paper and is a heavier weight paper than the Compostela.
- You can easily roll the Franciscan certificate into a single "tubo" with your Compostela and Distance Certificate.
This anniversary may be contributory to the increased numbers.
Another, albeit lesser contributing factor may be the recent (in the past 18-months or so) release of the film "The Way" dubbed into French and distributed in DVD format in France. This would logically be reflected in increased numbers of pilgrims from France and Western Switzerland. But I do not have the numbers.
My greatest apprehension / fear is that the
Camino Frances will soon become a victim of it's own success. Anecdotal evidence of "completo" signs going up by noon abound, as do problems with obtaining hostal or hotel reservations as the individual pilgrim is increasingly finding themselves competing for finite bed space and rooms against tour groups, organized student trips, and more pilgrims of means who choose to sleep in rented rooms as opposed to albergues. As the numbers increase, and bed space remains constant, the maths do not change... What happens when annual volume for this route hit 250k, or 300k. It can and will likely happen.
The logical thing is to develop additional bed space, either in albergues or independent hostals, in between the current
Brierley-inspired "traditional" stages. However, my observations and many discussions with others suggests that the locals will work hard to preserve their business territory as long as they, and their local officials, can hold off additional competition. The fact that you might be able to deliver better services at a more reasonable price is irrelevant to local economies and politics
Clearly, there is a sound business model for a successful albergue, cum hostal, along the
Camino Frances. But, while building a modern, feature-rich place for pilgrims to shelter overnight may seem a no-brainer to many of us, one must factor in the local political angle. I postulate that unless you agree to hire all the local mayor's family, or something similar, you would never obtain the many permits and permissions needed to develop a project.
I have now done the
Camino Frances twice, in two consecutive years. I can tell you from my experience that 2014 was clearly more busy in terms of finding a suitable place to sleep than was 2013 at the exact same time of the year.
Starting in 2015, I plan to do my annual Camino on a different route. I hope to try a different route each year. As there are so many pilgrim routes leading to Santiago de Compostela from all over the European continent, I shall have more alternative options for Caminos than I have years remaining to take advantage of them.
It will all work out...