- Time of past OR future Camino
- some and then more. see my signature.
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March 20 in Carrion, @SabineP ? A wonderful time to be there! Here was the way out of Carrion this year about a week and a half later--when Easter had been early.
As you can see...it's pretty busy.Easter's in April next year, so you should have even more space.
(Shhhhh...keep it to yourself...although it's worth noting that that's ice on those puddles, which should be enough to deter the faint of heart.)
Thank you for posting the link to the article. Clearly from a journalist who knows the Camino. Loved his comment about feeling like hitting those whi start with their plastic mags in the early hours and the one to those running private albergues to the effect that if they see pilgrims as 20€ those same people will want to get their 20€ worth.
But reading comments from some of the private albergue people he quotes makes me want to boycot them, not staying in those who do not offer a kitchen or close in winter.
A lot of truths there.I think the author was semi-balanced, but with a touch of whining. Similar to what I sometimes read here. He complains about too many people, and then complains about the fact there are more albergues (similar to the why-can't-i-get-a-bed debates here, when people don't want to reserve a private albergue bed then complain because others do, not realizing (or not caring) that if these private places didn't exist then there would be not enough beds for everyone in the muni). Rather than be happy there are now more beds for everyone, find fault. As for closed in winter, it costs money to keep a place open, heated so the pipes are OK, etc. a lot of money and effort in the off chance maybe one person will come by. Since the munis are open, there is a place to stay...so it takes a little planning to walk out of season. big deal. I walked the Norte when many albergues were still closed (even the munis)...no point in complaining, it was my decision to walk at that time. amazingly, the world does not exist for the sole purpose of making me happy .
In the private places I stayed that didn't have a kitchen, there seemed to be two reasons (neither of which was to gouge money)--it was also their private home and had one kitchen, in their private area, or it had no kitchen period (possibly not put in for cost, maybe it had one and walkers broke it, who knows...in places where the owner did not live). In both of these cases, the owners had options (they would go to town and bring back food, they would drive you there and go back for you if you wanted to eat in town, or they would cook a meal for a lot less than you would pay to buy it in a restaurant, or at least the same price and better quality than a menu del perigrino). I stayed in munis where the kitchen equipment didn't work (possibly broken by walkers), and where there were no cooking utensils (possibly taken by walkers).
there's no excuse for making noise early in the morning, or for making noise at night when early risers are already trying to sleep. both are rude. but anyone having such angst over it that they need to harp on it needs to walk further, or spend a few years in the military. both will fix that inability to sleep in a room with others. Or wear ear plugs. Or get a private room. Many first world fixes for this first world problem.
Thank you Sabine for this other article.
I find a few things interesting, the first one being that the "Ano de la Misericordia" doesn't seem to have had any impact on the numbers. So much for people walking for religious reasons. I wonder what the numbers will be in 2021. Perhpas those who walk for religious reasons are already on the Camino, the new influx is from a separate segment?
The second is the quote from the arzobispo: «El Camino no va a morir de éxito, pero puede morir por inanición si se pierde la vertebración espiritual, si se pierde su alma. Tenemos que estar atentos».
He basically says the Camino will not die due to its success but due to "inanicion", which translates to malnutricion, if its spiritual backbone is lost, if it loses its soul.
This is where this second article ties into the first one, which was not about a whining journalist, but about a pilgrim who has noticed how the focus has changed from pilgrimage to service.
People walking demand comfort, locals looking to make a € cater to them with no other consideration for the Camino. Winter rolls in, tourists don't show up, because winter it's more uncomfortable to walk in the cold, and spend the evening and night in a chilly albergue, the private hospies who actually make some money in the summer are no longer interested in these potnetial clients because there are not many of them, leaving the munis/religious albergues, who can hardly make ends meet, having to stretch resources even further by having to be open in winter, for those who chose to walk, even when comfort is gone.
Pilgrimage?
Thank you for posting this article. I found it thoughtful but, unfortunately, the way of the world. Buen Camino.http://elpais.com/elpais/2016/11/08/paco_nadal/1478600036_788887.html
The author makes some valid points regarding massification and commercialisation. And the aim of some people to making quick money.
But the Camino Frances will keep existing, in different forms of course.
It will be interesting to see how many people there will be when I start at 20th of March in Carrion de los Condes.
I decided that if the crowds in Sarria are too big to handle for me I will search for another route.
Actually author/ journalist Paco Nadal himself writes guidebooks about different Caminos ( I used his guide for my first Camino in 2011 ).
Sabine,You make very valid points and I too do not know how it will evolve.
I do think though , like I said in the first post, the Camino Frances will " reinvent " itself. If I think of Sillydolls interesting articles about the Camino in medieval times.
Like I said, due to different reasons it will be the Frances for me next spring . And although part of me will miss the emptiness of the Sanabres or other less travelled Caminos I do still hope to encounter " a genuine pilgrim feeling ". And by this genuine feeling I really do not want put me on a pedestal or make a ranking of what a real pilgrim is.
Itt will be a lesson for me not to judge others ...a hard lesson I guess ...
Sabine,
I understand why the Frances, despite the noise, the rubbish, etc., is still attractive: the other Caminos, in my experience, due to how very few people walk them are a out solitude and/or walking, the Frances offers a greater chance for interesting encounters, and so much history. I wish you a Buen Camino.
This is a good assessment of the article. It wasn't a whine or a rant, just an honest commentary.The article has a sense of honesty by laying out what the mind set is today along the Camino for merchants, locals, and pilgrims. It very accurately notes how curt and borderline rude many establishments along the Camino can be to a customer that they do not expect to see the next day or ever again. That said, the motivation is not much different than in medieval times, just the expression of it.
I really like articles like this that do not paint a pretty picture, but a real one.
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