The delivery of Compostela is a never ending organizational problem, and will only get worse and worse every year.
I have a very simple solution. Put in place an automatic printing dispenser at the door of the pilgrim's bureau and charge a modest tarif for the service (not for the Compostela itself). You just put some coins, type your name, wait some seconds, and you are done (as in the boarding passes in airports). I suppose a camera could be added (as in the metro stations in France). It would be possible even to subcontract the service.
I know that this will make impossible to check up the famous 100 km rule. But you have walked them, and have seen the tours that offer customers "the best sections of every stage", and the minivans waiting for tired walkers in every road intersection, you know it is an increasingly absurd regulation. I'd better trust everybody's conscience -is not that the premise of the acceptation of a spiritual experience?
Let the good people of the Pilgrim's bureau dedicate themselves only to welcome, hug, comfort and give orientations to pilgrims that ask for it. I guess this will be more interesting and rewarding to them.
And obviously, give them the option of personalized delivery of Compostelas, for those pilgrims that don't mind the wait.
Never gonna happen! Two reasons:
1. The current process is an evolution of the original, medieval process. Back in the day, the (usually illiterate) pilgrim would present themselves at the Cathedral, and be issued the same Latin language Compostela written out on parchment by a monk or priest. At that time, these were among the few folks who were literate. In manually issuing the Compostela, the Cathedral, acting through the Pilgrim Office, is trying to maintain one-thousand years of tradition. I think they do a credible job of it, all things considered.
3. We ARE talking about the Catholic Church here folks! For all of its ups and downs, good times and bad, they are quick to point out (correctly) that they are the longest continually operating, executive/driven organization on the face of the earth.
As of 2017, the Catholic Church has been under direct papal / executive management for 1,984 continuous years, without interruption. In this context, they frequently shrug their shoulders when presented with a new or more effective way of doing things.
All this said, in my four-years volunteering at the pilgrim office, and being a (retired) process management analyst, among other things, I do have the perfect control system. Here it is:
1. Pilgrims can only be awarded a Compostela if they started from an approved place, and pilgrim office on a Camino. No ad hoc, or intermediate starting places are sanctioned.
3. At these approved sites, pilgrims are affixed with a non-removable, tamper-resistant, "fit bit" like bracelet. The bracelet also contains all the "tombstone" demographic information now captured on paper at the Pilgrim Office. Pilgrims without said bracelet cannot be issued a Compostela.
4. The current granite "mojones" along the Camino routes would be retrofitted with solar-powered digital readers / writers that would time-stamp and update each pilgrim's bracelet as they walked or cycled past. Sellos become an anachronism. Cheating becomes impossible. The entire documentation process is passive, silent, anonymous, and fraud-proof.
6. As the pilgrim enters Rua das Carretas, in Santiago de Compostela, the current Pilgrim Office location, the last RF antenna would detect the approaching pilgrim, read all the bracelet data, and update the bracelet and the Pilgrim Office computers.
7. The computers would automatically reconcile the bracelet performance data, laser print the Compostela, mileage certificate, etc. Alternatively, if the pilgrim did not qualify for a Compostela, the system generates and exception report using the bracelet data. The system would transmit a transaction code to the pilgrim bracelet.
8. Only a properly updated bracelet scan with a transaction code would grant admission to the Pilgrim Office. A small paper receipt with a transaction number is issued at the entrance. LED monitors in the garden, fountain courtyard and hallway would inform pilgrims of what transaction numbers were available for pickup.
9. Only when your number was displayed on a monitor would the automated turnstile open to let you enter. You would use your bracelet as a key.
10. Once inside, a sole employee would hand you your Compostela and mileage certificate, hot off the laser printer. They would also remove your bracelet using a special key. Attempts to remove the bracelet at any other time renders the data unusable.
I offer this ONLY to demonstrate how the Camino can be modernized and completely automated, except for the walking. I DO NOT FOR A MOMENT advocate doing this.
But, for those of you out there who continually whine or complain about one "old fashioned" aspect of the current process or another, I offer the above partially as sarcasm. It CAN all be addressed and remediated. But, that rather defeats the entire point of making a pilgrimage, doesn't' it?
Just think long and hard before you wish for something to change. Not all change is necessarily for the better. That said, it can all be done tomorrow, and using off-the-shelf technology.
This also refers to the original point #2 above. The Catholic Church has been around longer than all of us, and will be here well into the future. If they do not feel the need for change, why should we?
I hope this helps... I need another Estrella Galicia...
