Re: DO YOU HAVE TO PAY FOR A PILGRIMS PASSPORT?
Hello, Jane
I ordered a credential from the Canadian Company of Pilgrims a couple of months before I went to Spain last September. The credential cost $5 Canadian.
There's room for 74 stamps in the credential but it soon became clear that I was going to run out of space! I enjoyed collecting interesting sellos along the way, in addition to stamps from the albergues I stayed at (like the stamp from the chocolate museum in Astorga, for example).
When I got to the albergue in Rabanal I asked about getting a new credential to see me the rest of the way along the Camino. I was able to obtain one there at the albergue for 1€. I began using the second credential when I reached the monastery in Samos, and the pilgrim's office in Santiago stamped both credentials with its official sello.
I think it's fun to have "two kinds" of credentials from my first Camino. Next time I may travel to Spain with two credentials to begin with (if I decide I want two Canadian ones, anyway).
Before I asked in Rabanal, I wasn't sure how easy it would be to get a second credential, especially along the way, but it was no problem. The hospitalero in Rabanal stamped the new one and dated it for me, and I was all set to go.
All the best,
Rachel