I found this entire dialog extremely entertaining and at times, gut-bustingly funny. My observations regard the number of pilgrims coming to Santiago along the most popular route, the
Camino Frances (St. Jean PdP to Santiago) issued are:
- Spaniards account for about half of all pilgrims requesting Compostelas. The Pilgrim Office reports consistently support this fact. Sometimes it dips-slightly below 50 percent, some months slightly higher. But overall, I believe this is a reliable figure.
- "Most" Spaniards list their starting point as Sarria. Again, the periodic stats support this conjecture.
- If you look at this from a broad view, it "suggests" that the preceding approximately 664 kilometers of the Camino Frances will absorb about half the total number of pilgrims requesting Compostelas, again, expressed on a monthly average. The other, "statistical" half of the final issue number typically starts at Sarria, 111 kilometers from the Cathedral.
Stated another way, things should be manageable until reaching Sarria this year. After that, you are wise to have made reservations in advance for a private albergue or hostal.
I use
www.booking.com. It has worked very well for me on three Caminos (both the Frances and the Portuguese routes). However, when you use any online reservation service, be mindful of whether the property states it is ON the Camino, or how many Km OFF the actual path it is. I have had the unpleasant experience to have booked a nice place to stay for one night, only to discover, once I reached the center of the destination town, that the reserved room was 4 Km off the Camino, in a perpendicular direction. The good news was that they offered to pick me up from the center of town and drop me off there the next day. The bad news is that this was a hassle after walking 26 km in the cold rain.
Over the past three years, I have seen an increasing number of reservable rooms in private albergues, hostals, and hotels, being snapped up by groups. Some groups are from formal travel agencies who sell package tours, including "mochila" service. Other groups are led by experienced Camino veterans. Last year, I had to deal with groups from US colleges / universities who were on a "cultural experience" course that included walking the last 111 Km into Santiago. These groups seemed to range from 6-7 pilgrims to upwards or 15 or more.
I am NOT passing judgement on this practice. As a hostal or private albergue owner it makes good business sense to have to turn people away, as opposed to have to scrape and plead for customers. But in either event, they consume hostal and private albergue rooms in much larger "bites" than the onesies that the individual pilgrim (such as myself) might consume. It is simply a complication to be aware of, and to adapt and overcome in response to.
I hope this helps.