Compostela after starting from Ponferrada?

[Bradypus]

I've just read this article from the El Bierzo Digital website and I am a little puzzled. I use the translation tool in Google Chrome to read articles in Spanish so I may have missed some nuance. I'd be grateful if a native speaker or someone fluent in the language could comment.

In translation the article begins "The mayor of Ponferrada, Marco Morala, has taken advantage of the celebration of the day of Santiago Apóstol to publicize the intention of the government team to allow the Compostela to be obtained by those pilgrims who start the French Way from Ponferrada." It then goes on to say that the Ponferrada authorities are in conversation with the Archdiocese of Santiago who have the final say on the subject. As I understand the issue it has always been possible to receive a Compostela after walking from Ponferrada and according to the pilgrim office statistics over 2,500 people have done so already in this year alone. So the campaign appears to be asking for something that already exists. Have I misinterpreted the article? Are they asking for some additional special status for Ponferrada?

Comienzan las negociaciones para la obtención de la Compostela desde Ponferrada

"Sería un impulso importantísimo para el Camino en El Bierzo", Marco Morala

www.elbierzodigital.com

 

[woody66]

Hi Bradypus!
I just listened to it twice and the sentence starting; advancing the obtaining the Compostela to Ponferrada! and what follows suggest to me more of a retarding of the distance required to qualify for a Compostela to Ponferrada instead of Sarria increasing the distance required!
Woody

 

[Kathar1na]

It is always useful to look at more than one news source.

Apparently, Marco Morala is the new mayor of Ponferrada, he took office on 17 June 2023. He has plans to 'dynamize' the Camino de Santiago and the castle site to the greater benefit of Ponferrada. Some of the news articles describe his plan as wishing to make Ponferrada a salida del Camino de Santiago.

In the absence of being able to actually read the plan or hear how he presented it (to the press, I guess) it is difficult to say what this means. Maybe just a new label as "Official Starting Point of the Camino de Santiago" ... but that is really just idle speculation on my part.

 

[Kathar1na]

The modalities of awarding Compostelas and the distance between a town and Santiago de Compostela is not the issue here. Here are three news articles out of several others - the first one has an actual quote from the mayor about his Camino de Santiago plans: "hemos hablado de la posibilidad de adelantar la obtención de la Compostela con salida desde Ponferrada, con lo cual sería un impulso importantísimo para el Camino en El Bierzo".

Ponferrada anuncia la ampliación del parque del Temple

Se trataría de una ampliación que por el momento se está negociando y contaría con la adquisición de una parcela que da frente el colegio de la Asunción" con una dimensión de unos 600 metros de zon...

www.infobierzo.com

Ponferrada busca ser punto de salida para conseguir la Compostela

Morala anuncia que se han perdido 100.000 euros para acometer la señalización del interior del Castillo por la gestión de su antecesor. Prepara mejoras para el barrio de Flores del

www.lanuevacronica.com

Morala busca que Ponferrada sea salida del Camino

Después de resaltar ante la iglesia de Santiago de Flores del Sil el vínculo de la ciudad con el Camino de Santiago, el alcalde se mostró co

www.diariodeleon.es

 

[Bradypus]

The modalities of awarding Compostelas and the distance between a town and Santiago de Compostela is not the issue here.

In the article from La Nueva Cronica you posted above the mayor does seem to be suggesting that Ponferrada should be the minimum distance point for receiving a Compostela: "El alcalde de Ponferrada, Marco Morala, pretende que Ponferrada sea punto de salida del Camino de Santiago para conseguir los kilómetros necesarios para conseguir la Compostela."

"The mayor of Ponferrada, Marco Morala, intends that Ponferrada be the starting point of the Camino de Santiago to get the necessary kilometers to get the Compostela." (Google Translate)

 

[M2ME]

I've just read this article from the El Bierzo Digital website and I am a little puzzled. I use the translation tool in Google Chrome to read articles in Spanish so I may have missed some nuance. I'd be grateful if a native speaker or someone fluent in the language could comment.

In translation the article begins "The mayor of Ponferrada, Marco Morala, has taken advantage of the celebration of the day of Santiago Apóstol to publicize the intention of the government team to allow the Compostela to be obtained by those pilgrims who start the French Way from Ponferrada." It then goes on to say that the Ponferrada authorities are in conversation with the Archdiocese of Santiago who have the final say on the subject. As I understand the issue it has always been possible to receive a Compostela after walking from Ponferrada and according to the pilgrim office statistics over 2,500 people have done so already in this year alone. So the campaign appears to be asking for something that already exists. Have I misinterpreted the article? Are they asking for some additional special status for Ponferrada?

Comienzan las negociaciones para la obtención de la Compostela desde Ponferrada

"Sería un impulso importantísimo para el Camino en El Bierzo", Marco Morala

www.elbierzodigital.com

Talking with Spanish pilgrims on the Via de La Plata many of them said they were there to avoid the “crowds” on the Frances and other caminos. Quiet a few of them discussed the idea of only granting the Compostela to those that walk a minimum of 200 kilometres or cycle 400. It was in the context of the tourist versus pilgrim debate. When talking about this I got the impression they saw it as something being considered by “the powers that be” and that it was an idea already being floated by many not just their individual opinion.

 

[C clearly]

que Ponferrada sea punto de salida

that Ponferrada be the starting point

Is it possible that the use of the English definite article "the" is a wrong translation? Perhaps the intent is to promote Ponferrada as "a" good starting point.

 

[Bradypus]

Is it possible that the use of the English definite article "the" is a wrong translation? Perhaps the intent is to promote Ponferrada as "a" good starting point.

Perhaps. But I am finding it hard to understand why that would require the formal approval in writing from the church authorities in Santiago. That sounds like some more definite change is in mind.

 

[El Cascayal]

I have read the article, in Spanish, and don’t understand it at all. To receive a Compostela at present, when walking, is doing the last 100 km on foot and obtaining 2 stamps per day. A Pilgrim can begin the Camino Frances anywhere that meets the above requirement ie Sarria. Perhaps he is wanting to highlight Ponferrada as a starting point? Why would this require any additional approval?
Ponferrada is currently the starting point for the Invierno to the left, and continuing on the Frances to the right towards O Cebreiro. It seems the mayor wants to highlight Ponferrada. There was no special mention of distance in this article.

 

[Kathar1na]

In the article from La Nueva Cronica you posted above the mayor does seem to be suggesting that Ponferrada should be the minimum distance point for receiving a Compostela

The new mayor of Ponferrada, Marco Morala, posted a link to this very article on his Facebook page with the comment: "Ponferrada busca ser punto de salida para conseguir la Compostela".

Twelve people put a "like" icon under his post. None of them asked a question.

How many of them, including the mayor, have walked to Santiago themselves I wonder ...

 

[Yoyo]

As I understand it, in this article @Kathar1na linked to, it says they want to make Ponferrada a starting point to get the kilometers necessary to obtain a Compostela. That would be just over 200 km.
This would leave the Camino Inglés out of business (unless, maybe, you walk 100+ km in your home country before).
And I wonder: Would it mean
a) less people will walk a camino, because many may not be willing – or able – to walk the longer distance for their Compostela, or
b) the last 200 km will get as crowded as only the section Sarria-SdC has been to date ?

 

[Kathar1na]

And I wonder

I wonder the same ... . Thanks for your comment.

When you think through the various possible outcomes, including worst case and best case scenarios, for changing the 100 km limit to a higher limit, you end up with either a longer section of the Camino Francés that is as crowded as the Sarria to Santiago section currently is or with a lower annual number of peregrin@s walking and arriving at the Pilgrims Office and asking for a Compostela ...

 

[Kathar1na]

Ah, we are getting somewhere. This is a long-standing project. On his FB page, the mayor provides a link to the PonferradaAbierta website. And what do we find there? A blog entry dated 10 May 2019 about The Compostela:

La Compostela

ponferradaabierta.es

Quote [translated from Spanish]: We will work with the aim for the Junta de Castilla y León to establish the necessary agreements with the Xunta de Galicia, the Archdiocese of Santiago and the institutions involved in modifying the criteria for obtaining the Compostela.

They've apparently been working on it since 2019. Was 2019 the year when the 300 km idea was floated for the first time by a Camino association? I can't remember ...