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About obtaining Compostela for last 100/200kms (again, I know...)

KinkyOne

Veteran Member
Time of past OR future Camino
I'am not perfect, but I'm always myself!!!
...but when watching certain vlog with false info I did some internet searching.

As I know you can only get Compostela if you collect two stamps per day on the last 100 km (walking) BUT:
- 1: there isn't any rule published on Cathedral site (https://oficinadelperegrino.com/en/pilgrimage/the-compostela/) that says it's required that those two stamps should be from different places or that you should stamp your credencial in the middle of the stage (like in Lires on the way from Muxia to Fisterra or vice versa for Muxiana/Fisterrana),
even more...
- 2: this quote says it is possible that you only (ought to) stamp your credencial in albergue at check-in and check-out the next day for each stage: "...you must always get your Credencial stamped at the start and end of each stage, including the corresponding date, to show that the pilgrim has resumed the Way in the same place where they last stopped (i.e. you should always get the stamp at the starting point even though you have already stamped the card in the same place at the end of the previous stage)."

So I guess there's no need to search for sellos while walking during the day unless you are really collecting them for souvenir reasons ;)
 
A selection of Camino Jewellery
Ha - I had no idea about the detail of the rules. Although I've heard it said often that one needs two stamps per day over the final 100km, I never had a problem when I went to get a Compostella, and I'm pretty sure I didn't meet the two stamps per day rule. Perhaps these rules are more strictly enforced for those who walk only the last 100km?
 
"...you must always get your Credencial stamped at the start and end of each stage, including the corresponding date, to show that the pilgrim has resumed the Way in the same place where they last stopped (i.e. you should always get the stamp at the starting point even though you have already stamped the card in the same place at the end of the previous stage).
This in the paragraph that starts with "You can do the Way in stages..." so they are trying to explain what you should do if you walk, for example, for 2 weeks and come back the following year to start again at the same place.

You are right that they don't actually say you need the two stamps from different places. You could try simply getting the same stamp twice every day, and see if it is acceptable! :p:rolleyes:
 
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Ha - I had no idea about the detail of the rules. Although I've heard it said often that one needs two stamps per day over the final 100km, I never had a problem when I went to get a Compostella, and I'm pretty sure I didn't meet the two stamps per day rule. Perhaps these rules are more strictly enforced for those who walk only the last 100km?
Exactly, whenever I (2 times) went to PO to get Compostela it was no issues I had just one stamp per day. Once starting in SJPdP and the other one in Madrid.
 
This in the paragraph that starts with "You can do the Way in stages..." so they are trying to explain what you should do if you walk, for example, for 2 weeks and come back the following year to start again at the same place.
True!
But do anyone walk just one stage per year???
I mean that's what it says no matter what they meant to say...

You are right that they don't actually say you need the two stamps from different places. You could try simply getting the same stamp twice every day, and see if it is acceptable! :p:rolleyes:
No, I surely won't. Already too much paper in this house. If anything starts the fire we're down to earth in minutes :D
 
The focus is on reducing the risk of failure through being well prepared. 2nd ed.
They use the word "stage" in a true, generic sense, which does not necessarily mean a 1-day journey. Rather it means to walk it in parts, one after the other, until it is complete.
Again, true :)

But stage is most possibly "one-day-walk", isn't it? And I don't think anyone comes to Camino to walk just one day :D
 
Actually, if I weren't familiar with camino-speak, I would assume that "walking the camino in stages" would mean walking it in longer sections than 1 day.
It doesn't mention the time span though...
So it might mean 1 day or another day next year (the "stage"). Which would be quite strange for a document old (how much exactly???) few decades.
I think @t2andreo or @JohnnieWalker will soon join this discussion ;)
 
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I had one day of panic when I walked this year and completely forgot about the two sello rule on a day in the last 100 km. I don't know why because I went to mass at lunch time and visited two other churches along the way plus had various té con limon breaks. At Santiago, crossed my fingers and toes and said a prayer when presenting my pilgrim passport and all was well. Mind you 50 days from SJPdP to Santiago may have befuddled my lovely volunteer. But no guilts because I walked every step and may be mad enough to want to do it again!
 
As I understood it the two sello rule only applies if you're doing just the final 100kms. This year I didn't even get a sello for every day and still had no problems. Though on a side note I'm not sure I'll bother queuing for a Compostella again anyway, I get far more pleasure from credential which reminds me of people and places.

Anyone prepared to spend a month driving 30kms or so then stopping for the day and staying at albergues probably deserves a Compostella just for their bloody mindedness. But it is quite possible to imagine someone scamming their way through the last 100kms.
 
As I understood it the two sello rule only applies if you're doing just the final 100kms
The rule states no distinction. However, in practice, if the person in the pilgrim office believes you have walked over 100 km, then you will get the credencial. Showing that you have probably actually walked 800 km is another piece of evidence that gives them confidence that you have walked the last 100.
 
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I don't think anyone comes to Camino to walk just one day :D
People from the region can do it that way. On my way into Santiago, I met a Spanish couple who had walked the Camino Sanabres as a series of day-hikes and weekend-hikes. They used buses and taxis to travel between their home and the start / end points for their stages.
I also read about a monthly gathering on the Camino Mozarabe, organized by the local association. Each month, people get together to walk one section of the route between Almeria and Granada. If you live in the area, you could collect your stamps for the first 200km of that Camino as a series of group day-hikes.
 
People from the region can do it that way. On my way into Santiago, I met a Spanish couple who had walked the Camino Sanabres as a series of day-hikes and weekend-hikes. They used buses and taxis to travel between their home and the start / end points for their stages.
I also read about a monthly gathering on the Camino Mozarabe, organized by the local association. Each month, people get together to walk one section of the route between Almeria and Granada. If you live in the area, you could collect your stamps for the first 200km of that Camino as a series of group day-hikes.
Those are locals @Raggy :)
I meant people that really have to travel to Camino.
 
I know @KinkyOne is referring to a visiting pilgrim, but I saw this just last week on a Galician concello’s Facebook page where they will walk the Portuguese coastal route in 8 stages over 8 months. I think it’s quite common for local groups to organize such walks. In this case, the group of 40 would probably stop walking at a designated point, let’s say a café, and all get their stamps and get on the bus. The next next month they would all pile out of the bus at the same café to get their stamps and start walking for the day. Two stamps a day like this until they get to Santiago.
1B4482FF-DD1D-40E2-8F54-DFA19E77DCB0.jpeg

Two stamps per day in the last 100km is the rule, regardless of where you start. People have been turned down for not having the two.
 
A selection of Camino Jewellery
I saw this just last week on a Galician concello’s Facebook page where they will walk the Portuguese coastal route in 8 stages over 8 months.
I, too, think that it's not unusual for Spanish Camino associations to walk stages (= etapas) of one day or two days (weekends) over the course of many months. I happened to notice recently that members of the Camino de Santiago Association of Leon walk both the Camino Sanabres and the Camino del Salvador in this way in 2018, usually about 20 km per day.

PS: I think we know very little about them, it's a bit of a parallel world perhaps :). I see on their calendar that they also have a Jornada de Limpieza now in October when members of the association will pick up litter on the section from Virgen del Camino to Hospital de Obrigo. And in November they will continue their project of planting trees along the Via Trajana to provide shade for pilgrims.
 
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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.
...
PS: I think we know very little about them, it's a bit of a parallel world perhaps :). ...
I'm quite familiar with this kind of weekend walking style over here in Slovenia. Many Mountaineering Clubs/Societies have such activities on our Slovenian Mountain Trail (which is BTW the oldest completely marked and connected trail in the world) and over the years they walked it in its entirety. And for new members or the ones that couldn't go last year they start all over again the next year with different mountain guides.
 

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