Interesting article on the trash at Finisterre

[jefferyonthecamino]

Basically what they're saying is that Finisterre looks like a dump with the trash and burnt stuff left behind.

And they do have a point, in my opinion at least

http://www.lavozdegalicia.es/notici...a-dan-aspecto-basurero/0003_201511C7C3991.htm

 

[Phillypilgrim]

In my opinion also , Jefferyonthecamino.

 

[Tincatinker]

I'm always impressed (typo: depressed) by those who can manage to carry a heavy bottle of wine all the way up that long hill to the lighthouse but can't seem to manage to transport the much lighter empty the 100 metres or so to the recycling bins by the souvenir shack. I guess it just shows how tiring a Camino can be. Of course it isn't all Pilgrim trash but you don't often see a coach-load of tourists burning a worn-out tyre or their 7-Days Camino Highlights Brochure.

Smile. And next time your passing take a bit of trash to the bins.

 

[Kanga]

Not just at Finisterre; interesting to see my friend Robyn's reaction at the Cruz de Ferro. She hated it. Thought it just looked like a rubbish pile.

 

[VNwalking]

Not only is it an historically dubious practice...but people burning perfectly good clothing in a world where there is so much need?...it's a waste and a pity.
Is there someone out there who can find a way of channeling that desire for a 'closing ritual' in a more useful and less self-centered direction?

 

[Kanga]

Actually, @Viranani - that's a good thought. A charity bin with a big sign reminding people of the need and inviting them to donate. Maybe decorated rather more fancily than normal. I can't see that a ceremonial dumping of clothes in the bin would be any less meaningful that a smelly fire in an environmentally sensitive place.

 

[Papist Giant]

If I burn something at Finnestre, it will be something unuseable, non-toxic, and burned to ash.

But I will probably bring a garbage bag with me along the way, too.

 

[VNwalking]

I can't see that a ceremonial dumping of clothes in the bin would be any less meaningful that a smelly fire in an environmentally sensitive place.

@Kanga...indeed.
A donation would actually have much more meaning--in that one is directly helping others. It could be done ceremonially, as well. Somehow burning of clothes has recently taken on meaning--why not offering, instead? We are only limited by our imagination.

 

[Seabird]

Not only is it an historically dubious practice...but people burning perfectly good clothing in a world where there is so much need?...it's a waste and a pity.
Is there someone out there who can find a way of channeling that desire for a 'closing ritual' in a more useful and less self-centered direction?

I don't know what people may be burning, but the last time I spent 8 weeks in the same clothing roving around Europe, no one would have wanted them.....

 

[KinkyOne]

I did burned something first time I've reached Cabo Finisterre and I doubt anyone would be really happy with my donation

 

[angus55morrison]

I did burned something first time I've reached Cabo Finisterre and I doubt anyone would be really happy with my donation
View attachment 22311

We should take a lesson from Bushcrafters and LNT, leave no trace.The local community across the Camino who provide us with services food,bed and board would undoubtedly appreciate these small tokens leaving their land as it should be .Buen Camino.

 

[KinkyOne]

We should take a lesson from Bushcrafters and LNT, leave no trace.The local community across the Camino who provide us with services food,bed and board would undoubtedly appreciate these small tokens leaving their land as it should be,how much weight is in 6dog poo bags being carried for an emergency.Buen Camino.

Hola, Angus!

I've left my traces undoubtedly on a couple of thousands of kilometers on Spain's Caminos, my footprints in gravel and sand I mean. The other thing is the litter which I put in trash bins. Even cigarette buts I collect in the side pocket of my trousers. In Spain or my home country, in the nature or in the city etc. And burning a pair of 100% cotton socks leaves nothing but a very small amount of ashes, which is BTW one of the most clean substance/material (I appologise for maybe wrong term, I'm not a native English speaker), that you can even eat it. Try burn it. Maybe in a fireplace if you don't believe me

Ultreia!

PS (I really don't know what "6 dog poo bags" has to do with me )

 

[SYates]

Perhaps we could start a 'take one more back' movement. Meaning that every pilgrim takes one single additional piece of rubbish back to the bins additionally to their own. That could clean the area up quickly if a lot of pilgrims participate. As for 'tradition' I seriously doubt that medieval pilgrims would have burnt their clothes there. For one because of lack of money to buy new ones and for two because of lack of shops in Finisterre a few hundred years ago. Buen Camino! SY

 

[Liina]

I had heard of that tradition and thought that I don't want to do that, just because of the trash, but in my last day there I felt the need to do it - it really was a finish for me and my white shirt that had blocked the sun for a few weeks and was not white at all any more needed that ending. In my mind it's mission was done and it just had to stay in Finisterre, even if it was just one little peace of ash. I burned it close to the big barrel and after burning I throwed everything that was left in there. Then covered the burningspot with sand and smiled

I didn't feel that I had to burn everything I worn - actually some of it I brought home with me and I'm using them when I'm working in the garden. And I think everyone should think if there's something that you can use next time you are walking or maybe also bring back home and do garden work in them, and only burn that item that was very meaningful and there's not much to use any more. Also we should think about what kind of smell or toxic stuff it does while burning and maybe burning something very toxic isn't the best idea. And yes - throw away everything that stays in the sand after burning.

Oh! And yes, it is a good idea that when you see trash, pick it up - I did it when I saw a trash can nearby or while taking the less-travelled-road and I always looked that I would never leave something behind.

Oh, I miss Camino.. hi to everyone on the road right now!

 

[Felice]

I know this thread is about burning things at Finisterre, but there is probably a tradition for burning stuff.

When we did the tour of the Santiago cathedral rooftop, we were shown a stone trough where pilgrims supposedly burnt their clothes at the end of their pilgrimage. All highly symbolic as well as good hygiene.

Not possible to do it there now, so Finisterre seems a logical alternative.

But I agree, the End of the World is a tip. So is the Crux de Ferro.

 

[Devon Mike]

I have to agree that I found the mess at Finisterre truly and appallingly disgusting. There is evidence of large numbers of fires all over the headland as well as junk everywhere.

I do not relate to the practice of burning something at the end of my Camino, but for those who wish to do so, the idea of a specific fireplace to keep this activity in just one place has to be a better compromise than the existing state of affairs.

 

[Thornley]

If I burn something at Finnestre, it will be something unuseable, non-toxic, and burned to ash.

But I will probably bring a garbage bag with me along the way, too.

On the Great Barrier Reef in Australia as well as a place a lot closer to you Papist
Tofino on Vancouver Island the following is mentioned,written and displayed everywhere;

*******Take only photos and leave only footprints.

Both the Crux and Finisterre we have avoided like the plague , they were -are pig styies.
A few years ago [well before the movie] Muxia found a new lease of life......thats how long Finisterre has been going down hill.

 

[Kurt5280]

When I was at Finisterre in September 2015 and most of the lower hillside was burnt by a wildfire gone bad caused by a prior Camino pilgrim burning trash (Picture)...I personally left Native American items at both Finisterre and Muxia and if that picture is recent then someone removed my personal contribution at Finisterre (Pictures)...also I disagree because it is part of my Native American culture to leave personal items along the trail during a religious pilgrimage (and also to return with personal items to remember the religious pilgrimage)...but I will say that each of the personal items I left had some monetary value and would not be considered trash or something that you would burn...for example, have you ever been to the Vietnam Veteran Memorial in Washington DC late at night...what some people leave at "The Wall" 40-years after the Vietnam War is very emotional and almost haunting...and each of these personal items left at "The Wall" are preserved by the Smithsonian Museum...and these are personal items kept from an experience in their lives from a war that most people have forgotten about today...likewise what I threw in the ocean at Muxia was one of the most emotional memories of my life...which I now know was my spiritual purpose for completing the Camino de Santiago.