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A few questions re: 1980s Camino Francés

Phoenix

Veteran Member
Time of past OR future Camino
.
Camino historians & those with experience: I ask for some help with a project. I am exploring the possibility of writing a novel in which walking the Camino is a major part of the story. I started my research here by using the forum search function, and found some interesting threads/info. However, most of the threads were 3+ yrs old, and wonder if anyone knows of new info since.

Specifically, I want to know what the CF was like for young women in the early to mid 1980s.
- Was it possible that an early 20s woman from another country could have worked as a hospitalero?
- Could she have learned of the "pilgrimage trail" as a young girl from stories her grandmother, an immigrant from Galicia, told her?

I will be walking the CF with my son in Sept/Oct 2016. In addition to enjoying the journey with my son, I have reason to be even more observant of every detail that will fit into my brain (and spilling over to the pages of my journal).

Any help you may offer is greatly appreciated!
 
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For first and second points I think that both situations were unusual.
In the case of an inmigrant from Galicia telling stories about the pilgrimage trail only would have been possible before the 1980s if the grandmother was from urban origin (Santiago, Vigo, Coruña...) and had a good education.
 
There were hardly any pilgrims in and before 1980. The number of compostela's in 1982 was 1.868 , mainly due to the visit of Pope John Paul.
To work as a hospitalero, one must have walked the Camino. Very few did at that time.
If there are few pilgrims, or none at all, there is no need for hospitaleros.
 
Get a spanish phone number with Airalo. eSim, so no physical SIM card. Easy to use app to add more funds if needed.
Two non-fiction works published in the first half of the 20th century which describe the 'romance' of the camino during that time are
Georgiana Goddard King,
"The Way of Saint James", 1920
and
Walter Starkie, "The Road to Santiago", 1957.

Both not only describe the path and its structures but also the mores and social life observed as well as individual people met along the way. ...Perusing these will help provide a feeling for those years not so long ago.
 
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I walked the Camino Leon- to Santiago in May 1997-- considered it a blessed sight whenever I spotted another pilgrim.
 
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Two non-fiction works published in the first half of the 20th century which describe the 'romance' of the camino during that time are

Phoenix,

Below is a link to another little book written about a camino undertaken by Bert Slader in 1985. It will give you an insight into caminos around the period you are researching: you will be surprised :) Sadly Bert passed away earlier this year.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1872027008/?tag=casaivar-21
 
Down bag (90/10 duvet) of 700 fills with 180 g (6.34 ounces) of filling. Mummy-shaped structure, ideal when you are looking for lightness with great heating performance.

€149,-
Very nice thing to do. I hope you let us know when it is published.
I would recomend a trip to the Prada in Madrid as a education on early 9-12 century paintings depicting the souls who walked & the story they provide. If for no other reason to show how blessed we are in modern times. You may even recognize some of the terrain. Possibly you may find a simple painting that explains it best.
Keith
 
I would recomend a trip to the Prada in Madrid as a education on early 9-12 century paintings depicting the souls who walked & the story they provide.

I believe Keith refers to El Museo del Prado in Madrid. Free on Sundays although long lines as a result. I love this Museum.
 
Phoenix, Below is a link to another little book written about a camino undertaken by Bert Slader in 1985. It will give you an insight into caminos around the period you are researching: you will be surprised :) Sadly Bert passed away earlier this year.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1872027008/?tag=casaivar-21
Madidi / Phoenix - I just had a look on Amazon - UK - there is a second book by Bert - he returned to the Camino in 1999 - both books are available only as hard copy (which would probably be more useful for your research). It would be good to have both books to see what he thought of the changes in the intervening 15 years. Good luck with your project, its unfortunate that there is so much of the Camino history between 1950 and 1990/95 missing. Maybe we need someone to a biography of Don Elias Valina Sampedro (especially to record what prompted him to revive the Camino). [or is there already one - that I have missed as its in Spanish??] Cheers
 
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I appreciate all of the responses to my query. I knew the members of this forum would be helpful and a valuable resource for my project.

As I am out on my near-daily training hikes here in Colorado, the characters introduce themselves to me and tell me bits and pieces of their stories. Just like meeting a person with a great story in real life, I need/want to fact check my characters to see if their stories are believable before continuing with the "relationship."

Also, if anyone is interested, my first book (non-fiction) is a free Kindle download today (6/14). Links in signature.
 
The 2024 Camino guides will be coming out little by little. Here is a collection of the ones that are out so far.
The first edition came out in 2003 and has become the go-to-guide for many pilgrims over the years. It is shipping with a Pilgrim Passport (Credential) from the cathedral in Santiago de Compostela.
Madidi / Phoenix - I just had a look on Amazon - UK - there is a second book by Bert - he returned to the Camino in 1999 - both books are available only as hard copy (which would probably be more useful for your research).

Good point Mike. I knew Bert (he lived not far from my own home) he was an intrepid walker and was well known in Ireland for his walking and writing. A lovely man who will be missed by many. http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/n...ing-force-behind-the-ulster-way-34374675.html
 
FWIW: On the Wikipedia in Spanish, there's a chart showing the number of pilgrims to Santiago since 1970: http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camino_de_Santiago#El_Camino_moderno (scroll a bit down); just in case it could be any useful.

I believe Keith refers to El Museo del Prado in Madrid. Free on Sundays although long lines as a result.

It's free every day the last two hours before closing. Temporal exhibitions aren't free (but I think they have a reduced price if you visit them later tan two hours before closing). For more info: www.museodelprado.es

Maybe we need someone to a biography of Don Elias Valina Sampedro (especially to record what prompted him to revive the Camino). [or is there already one - that I have missed as its in Spanish??]

Luis Celeiro wrote about the life of Elías Valiña. The easiest to find out of Spain would probably be the article published at www.caminosantiago.org/cpperegrino/revista/pdf/Peregrino126.pdf
He also wrote two books about him: one in 2007 published by the Xunta de Galicia and another one in 1996.
 
I believe Keith refers to El Museo del Prado in Madrid. Free on Sundays although long lines as a result. I love this Museum.
Thank you for the clarification. My lack of specifics is terrible not to mention the spelling!
 
Down bag (90/10 duvet) of 700 fills with 180 g (6.34 ounces) of filling. Mummy-shaped structure, ideal when you are looking for lightness with great heating performance.

€149,-
There were no hospitaleros or albergues as we know them until the early 80s, and very few of them even then. You need to talk to Lourdes Lluch, the original hospitalera of our age. She opened her rented house in Hontanas or Hornillos in that period, and let pilgrims stay for donativo, thus founding the hospitalero ideal as we know it. She is still at it! Now in Fromista, opens her home in the winter when all the rest of the pilgrim hostels are closed.
You might also look up Laurie Dennett, a Canadian author, camino pioneer, friend of Don Elias... her trail diary of her 1983 walk from LePuy set the standard for the zillions of trail diaries that followed. She lives very quietly along the camino these days.
Lynn Talbot, an American academic, walked the camino for the first time in 1974, part of a student group... she was still out there walking a month ago!
Send me an IM and I can put you in touch with these ladies, if you want to meet the real thing.
 
The volunteer organisation Hospitaleros Voluntarios didn't exist in the 80s, they "only" just celebrated their 25 anniversary ;-) If you could set the story in the early 90s then your ideas would work better imo. Buen Camino and happy writing, SY
 
There were no hospitaleros or albergues as we know them until the early 80s, and very few of them even then. You need to talk to Lourdes Lluch, the original hospitalera of our age. She opened her rented house in Hontanas or Hornillos in that period, and let pilgrims stay for donativo, thus founding the hospitalero ideal as we know it. She is still at it! Now in Fromista, opens her home in the winter when all the rest of the pilgrim hostels are closed.
You might also look up Laurie Dennett, a Canadian author, camino pioneer, friend of Don Elias... her trail diary of her 1983 walk from LePuy set the standard for the zillions of trail diaries that followed. She lives very quietly along the camino these days.
Lynn Talbot, an American academic, walked the camino for the first time in 1974, part of a student group... she was still out there walking a month ago!
Send me an IM and I can put you in touch with these ladies, if you want to meet the real thing.
Is the IM function on this forum the "conversation?" If so, please check your inbox.
 
The one from Galicia (the round) and the one from Castilla & Leon. Individually numbered and made by the same people that make the ones you see on your walk.
Camino historians & those with experience: I ask for some help with a project. I am exploring the possibility of writing a novel in which walking the Camino is a major part of the story. I started my research here by using the forum search function, and found some interesting threads/info. However, most of the threads were 3+ yrs old, and wonder if anyone knows of new info since.

Specifically, I want to know what the CF was like for young women in the early to mid 1980s.
- Was it possible that an early 20s woman from another country could have worked as a hospitalero?
- Could she have learned of the "pilgrimage trail" as a young girl from stories her grandmother, an immigrant from Galicia, told her?

I will be walking the CF with my son in Sept/Oct 2016. In addition to enjoying the journey with my son, I have reason to be even more observant of every detail that will fit into my brain (and spilling over to the pages of my journal).

Any help you may offer is greatly appreciated!
I have a friend who walked the Frances in the early 70s. He was just graduated from high school (in Spain) and he walked with his father. This was under Franco and people were very suspicious of them. They were questioned by the police more than once. There were no--or very few--pilgrim hostels other than people's barns.
 

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