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El Pais: Down the wrong path: Spanish city fights against fake signs on Camino de Santiago

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One specific in the article is an intersection after Molinseca where there is a fork in the road. Most guidebooks show the left route, which goes most of the way around Ponferrada before doubling back to the main albergue. There is an alternate route in some guidebooks that goes directly to Ponferrada on sidewalks, and it is shorter. I have done both, and prefer the one to the right!

Pilgrims may want to distinguish between alternate routes and false signs that go to bars, restaurants, and albergues. The article is too short on details to distinguish the false markings that have prompted the essay. There once was a battle of yellow arrows going into Rabe from competing albergues. Eventually, the oldest albergue gave up and closed; it was pretty unpopular anyway! None of the arrows caused a deviation much more than a few meters.

The arrows usually go the albergue chosen by the local association as the principal albergue. New establishments often resent that presumption!

Bringing up Denise is a good warning, but the addition of an alternate route by the arrow painters set the conditions for false arrows being effective. If Castrillo had not been added as an alternate, false arrows would not have been much of a lure. The path is too direct between Murias de Rechivaldo and Santa Catalina de Samoza to be open to interpretation. The commercial motivation to bring pilgrims through Castrillo de los Polvazares was an official mistake. That is different than competition between bars!
 
The Spanish refer to the yellow arrows as Flechas Amarillas (arrows yellow). It's useful to know this term when encountering a situation where the arrows can be misleading. Note also there is a unique shape to the official arrows as opposed to the arrows that attempt to lure you in a different direction to a particular establishment.
 
The 2024 Camino guides will be coming out little by little. Here is a collection of the ones that are out so far.
Someone once pointed out to me that the orientation of the shells themselves offered directional clues, depending on which way they were facing (up, left, right). It seemed to be true at the time, but From memory I probably was already in Galicia at the time. Is this true in others’ experiences? Is it a consistent practice? Has anyone got some light to shed on this?
 
Someone once pointed out to me that the orientation of the shells themselves offered directional clues, depending on which way they were facing (up, left, right). It seemed to be true at the time, but From memory I probably was already in Galicia at the time. Is this true in others’ experiences? Is it a consistent practice? Has anyone got some light to shed on this?

I have also heard that. Unfortunately, it is very inconsistent. I guess some of those who place the shells "never got the memo!" :D
 
Is it a consistent practice?
No. There is some consistency within a province. In Galicia the "bottom" of the shell points the turn. In other province, the "rays" of the shell may point the way. In some places, orientation means nothing. I once did the last 100km of four caminos ending in Santiago, and the Galician orientation for the then-new mojones was always correct and consistent! On the new mojones I think the shell is always the same vertical orientation with an arrow carved into the granite to show direction. Galicia tries to be consistent, but the standard changes!:)
 
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I also read something about the scallop shells pointing to the right direction but then found inconsistencies. I also noted some yellow arrows in some of the smaller towns pointing to albergues rather than the way. A group of us got very confused in one place and had to ask a local who pointed out the short cut to get us back on track. I believe Najera is another place where the path seems to go in circles, not that you would get lost.
 
Here's a new article about the practice of some restaurant and bar owners along the Francès to set up their own fake camino routes :

https://elpais.com/elpais/2018/07/16/inenglish/1531752268_156614.html

Of note for some coming changes :

For now, there is a proposal to gradually standardize the official symbols showing the correct directions along the French Way. The region of Castilla y León will be the first to benefit, starting next year.
 
St James' Way - Self-guided 4-7 day Walking Packages, Reading to Southampton, 110 kms
Here's a new article about the practice of some restaurant and bar owners along the Francès to set up their own fake camino routes :
Nothing changes. It has been like that for a thousand years, with the arrows enticing pilgrims to towns and villages to spend their money. On rare occasions it may even be beneficial - where there might otherwise be long, long distances with no supplies, beds, or chemists.
As long as there are arrows taking the pilgrim OUT of the towns, it shouldn't be such a major problem.
I'll probably cause ruptions now with this comment!!!!!
 
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The creator of this type of signal (the yellow arrow) was Father Elías Valiña, in the 70´s, who appears first in the voting carried out to choose the ten most important characters in the history of the Camino de Santiago.

"The Camino de Santiago attracted numerous pilgrims until the mid-sixteenth century, but already in the seventeenth century, people began to forget the Apostle and the number of devotees who came to Compostela began to decrease alarmingly, and so continued the subsequent centuries. This strong regression of the pilgrimage also caused the roads to be abandoned due to lack of use.
This trend changed at the end of the 50s of the last century thanks, among others, to Father Elías Valiña, priest of the Lugo parish of Cebreiro, who promoted the restoration of the Hospital and Sanctuary of Santa María del Cebreiro, and renewed the traditional welcome to the pilgrim.
Later in the 70s, Father Valiña, began to sign the Camino de Santiago, and section by section, he marked with yellow arrows the route from the Pyrenees to Santiago, after this hard work, he published the first guide on the Camino , in the 80s. The funny thing is that the color was not a thoughtful choice, it is simply that it was given by some road people who were painting the lines of the roads in the area, painting that at that time was yellow ".
The pilgrimage began to resurface in the 80s of the last century, although its explosion occurred in the decade of the 90s, with the celebration of the Holy Year of 1993, the Xacobeo, a party that was celebrated in style in Spain and with the one that wanted to commemorate a pilgrimage that represented the return not only to our roots but to those of all Europe.
 
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The arrows were such a huge help and though at times we followed the "wrong" yellow arrows, we just looked at it as part of the Camino adventure. We took the stance we could not get upset with the bar/store owners that chose to do this as this is part of their lively hood and the added income the Pilgrims could bring in to support their family. After we stopped for the evening it was much easier to take this stance, lol.

As far as the lines radiating off the shell we found there are inconsistencies but generally each province and country did the lines radiating the same way, unfortunately each province was different and you don't always realise when you change from one to the next.
 
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.
Someone once pointed out to me that the orientation of the shells themselves offered directional clues, depending on which way they were facing (up, left, right). It seemed to be true at the time, but From memory I probably was already in Galicia at the time. Is this true in others’ experiences? Is it a consistent practice? Has anyone got some light to shed on this?

As far as i know, and at this moment, in Galicia the rays point in the direction of the way, and in the rest of Spain the bottom is to SdC. This is generally right, unless somebody makes mistake when putting the shell. In my city I had to go with workers of the "ayuntamiento" to correct some errors. I saw more errors in other cities. But recently a meeting of the "Consejo Jacobeo", an official estate, decide the shell is just a symbol, with or without orientation fonction (in my opinion, a decision which clarify nothing).
I invite to visit its web at:
http://www.mecd.gob.es/dam/jcr:3baa012b-b976-4887-84e6-43b2ded1a568/directrices señalizacion.pdf
with special attention at point 2.2 and 3.1.1
I attach a picture from this web.
 

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  • cartel señalizacion ingles web.pdf
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