Modern History of the Camino

[Yallah]

Hello,

I'm looking for resources about the modern (20th/21st century) history of the camino. I understand that basically no one was walking it, but in the 80s and 90s it was revived and the government invested money in infrastructure. Does anyone know where I could find scholarly articles, statistics and more information about this time period and how the trail was revived and promoted?

Many thanks!

 

[sillydoll]

THE PILGRIMAGE ROAD TO SANTIAGO, THE COMPLETE CULTURAL HANDBOOK by Linda Davidson and Dadvid Gitlitz covers both medieval and modern history of the Camino Frances and the Aragones route from Somport.
You might find more information on the Spanish Federation website at:
http://www.caminosantiago.org/cpperegri ... inicio.asp

This is an excerpt from the Time-line in my planning book YOUR CAMINO:

The rise of el Camino – late 1970s
The resurrection and promotion of the old trails to Santiago can be attributed mainly to Don Elias Valina Sampedro of O Cebreiro parish – a dedicated priest and scholar who devoted over 30 years of his life to the restoration of the Camino as a pilgrimage trail. In 1967 he wrote his doctoral thesis on ‘The Road of St James: A Historical and Legal Study’.

Linda Davidson and David Gitlitz walked to Santiago five times between 1974 and 1996 accompanying groups of college student-pilgrims on academic medieval study programmes. On their first trek in 1974 they did not meet even one other pilgrim. In 1979 the only other pilgrim they encountered was an elderly Frenchman who was fulfilling a vow made in the Second World War. They wrote in their book The Pilgrimages Road to Santiago, ‘To most people in the 1970s the pilgrimages road was hardly more than a vague memory of a historical relic’.

1982: Don Elias published his guide for walking the Camino trails to Santiago. In total 1 868 pilgrims received the Compostela, but this was mainly due to the visit of Pope John Paul II.

1985: This was a pivotal year for ‘The Camino’ pilgrimage trail. At a gathering in Santiago in 1985 Don Elias was entrusted with the co-ordination of all the resources for the Camino. ‘Refugios’ were established and he was the first to mark the way with yellow arrows, begging for yellow paint from the departments of roads. Also in 1985 UNESCO declared the city of Santiago de Compostela a World Heritage Site.

1987: El Camino de Santiago de Compostela pilgrimage trail is named the first European Cultural Itinerary.

1989: Pope John Paul II visited Santiago again (and sadly, Don Elias passed away). In this year, 5 760 Compostelas were issued. (This rise was attributed to the Pope's visit.)

1993: The Camino Frances is named a World Heritage Site.

Exponential growth: From then on there was an exponential growth in the number of pilgrims walking and riding to Santiago, and those earning the Compostela certificate – a junp from 5 760 in the 1989 Holy Year to 88 436 in the 1993 Holy Year. (The Pilgrim’s Office estimates that only one in five pilgrims walking the Camino actually walk to Santiago and request the Compostela.)

Compostela numbers
1986 – 2 491
1989 – 5 760
1993 – 88 436
1999 – 154 613
2004 – 179 944
2010 –272 000+

The rise of el Camino: Reconstruction of ‘The Camino’ as we know it today only began in the late 1970s and 1980s with a dedicated priest, a group of hard working volunteers with a few tins of yellow paint, and the formation of Camino interest groups. These events, coinciding with the advent of Internet and the World Wide Web in the 1990s, saw the numbers of people visiting Santiago explode, with exponential growth into the 21st century.

Millions of pilgrim visitors still journey to the tomb of St James every year – 10-12 million visitors in the 2010 Holy Year. The focus and goal of these pilgrims hasn’t changed – to venerate St James the Greater.

 

[tyrrek]

Hi Yallah

This sounds like a really interesting piece of research.

In terms of promoting the Camino, I first heard about it when studying in Spain in 1990/91. For some reason I found myself at a tourism trade fair in Madrid (ask my then girlfriend why!), and picked up a poster from the Castilla y Leon stand showing the Camino in that region. In that particular case it seemed to be the individual regional Junta promoting it more than a central tourist organisation, which could complicate research on the subject. Perhaps some Juntas saw the tourism potential earlier or more enthusiastically than others.

Keith

 

[Yallah]

Thanks, Sil! I actually came across your blog shortly after posting this question-- super helpful! Bought a copy of your book today as well.

Thanks for your observations as well, Keith.

 

[sillydoll]

You will find a lot of interesting information on Peter Robins' website - the link below will take you to a page (2005) on the changing Camino.
http://pilgrim.peterrobins.co.uk/santia ... nging.html

 

[Josefine]

For those of you who read in Spanish, Fernando Lalanda has written a book about his first Camino in 1976, called "Sois peregrinos?" His was only 19 and did the walk with his brother. And there were no yellow arrows.....it's nice book, interesting.
Josefine

 

[David Tallan]

Resurrecting this old thread in case there is any newer information. I'm interested in the early guidebooks for the modern (20th century) pilgrimage. I have a late 80s copy of Don Elias' guidebook, in Spanish, that I used in my own first Camino. I've also got an English guidebook from 1990, The Pilgrim Route to Compostela in Search of St.James by Abbe Bernes, published by Robertson McCarta in 1990. I'm curious if this is the first modern guide to the Camino in English and if there were others back then.

 

[Bradypus]

I'm curious if this is the first modern guide to the Camino in English and if there were others back then.

When I walked the CF in summer 1990 I was not aware of any full guide in English. I used the Valiña Spanish guide (1985 edition) and a small A5 booklet from the Confraternity of St James which was essentially a supplement to Valiña's guide giving details of refugios and other accommodation rather than a stand-alone guide. The entire route plus background notes in about 40 pages of A5 typescript.

 

[David Tallan]

When I walked the CF in summer 1990 I was not aware of any full guide in English. I used the Valiña Spanish guide (1985 edition).

I used the same (although perhaps a later printing) in 1989, which I found while I was on the Camino in 1989. But I was at a friend's house yesterday and I saw the Robertson McCarta guide. My friend walked the Camino from Paris in 1990, and since the guide was from the same year, I presume that was what he used, at least for the parts it covered.

 

[Former member 49149]

When I walked the CF in summer 1990 I was not aware of any full guide in English. I used the Valiña Spanish guide (1985 edition) and a small A5 booklet from the Confraternity of St James which was essentially a supplement to Valiña's guide giving details of refugios and other accommodation rather than a stand-alone guide. The entire route plus background notes in about 40 pages of A5 typescript.

Please forgive me for superimposing my reaction on this thread! Nice new avatar! I liked the one before, but the one you just changed, not so much - this one has more colour! Pity about me, as I could be told.