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News Related to the Future of Credencials

lindam

Active Member
Time of past OR future Camino
Fr, VDLP, Invierno, Port, Madrid, Ingles, Aragones
The focus is on reducing the risk of failure through being well prepared. 2nd ed.
A summary in English please. This is an English-language forum. Thank you so much.
Click on the link and then switch from ES for Spanish to EN for English in the top right corner. The article is available in these two languages. The website is managed by Correos, the official postal service in Spain.
 
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Just saw an article related to changes being made, starting in 2021, in the way stamps are collected in one's credencial. The article does state that the traditional method of gathering sellos will remain in place for those who do not wish to embrace the new method. Here is a link for said article: www.elcaminoconcorreos.com/es/blog/credencial-digital-para-el-ano-santo?fbclid=IwAR2aZ0bPUgS56S0gd4lzbuI1vfR6sRI8tQrZ0RudPvcMsoVen4eFElzIi5k.
Thanks lindam,
I'll see if I can get that translated.
Buen Camino
 
Sorry, I had thought the link I posted was automatically translated into English. If you open it using Chrome, you will be given the option to have it translated using Google Translate. Hope this helps.

Nothing to say sorry about! Your original link from Correos has in the right upper corner the possibilty to switch to English. And Korean. Thank you for the info.
 
The focus is on reducing the risk of failure through being well prepared. 2nd ed.
Godgle says: "Digital credential for the Holy Year

The digital Credential will be a reality next Holy Year. As of January 1, 2021, pilgrims will be able to register their steps through the different Jacobean Routes, obtaining their stamps through the capture of QR codes.

The Cathedral of Santiago and the Xunta de Galicia presented this new functionality this morning with which they intend to adapt to the new times. The digital Credential, which will be managed through a mobile application, seeks to provide greater comfort to the pilgrim, in addition to guaranteeing a safe Camino de Santiago , avoiding contact between hospitaleros and walkers.

How will the Digital Credential work?

The digital Credential will come into force with Xacobeo 2021, a very special year on the Camino de Santiago after eleven years without celebrating it.

The pilgrim will be able to download a mobile application, which will be available for the iOS and Android platforms in eight languages. Through this app, you can get the two daily stamps necessary to prove your pilgrimage to Santiago. These stamps, also digital, can be obtained through the QR codes available at the different points of the Camino de Santiago.

The project will also have an official website where establishments with a seal can register and digitize their image. Thus, they will obtain the necessary QR code so that the pilgrim can scan it with their mobile and incorporate it into their digital Credential.

The mobile application in which the digital Credential can be managed will have information on the different Jacobean Routes and, in addition to making it possible to capture the stamps through the QR, will allow the integration of the data in the Pilgrim Registry necessary to achieve the Compostela.

The credential on paper remains

The incorporation of this digital certificate will not mean the disappearance of the credential on paper. In fact, any pilgrim who wishes can continue to use the traditional Credential and collect the stamps that certify their passage through the different stages of the Camino.

If you want to know a little more about the origin and function of the Credential, as well as where it is possible to obtain it, we leave you the following link .

Both the Cathedral and the Xunta have ensured that the stamps obtained virtually will be the same as the credential on paper, avoiding differences between one and the other.

However, both entities have pointed out that the digital modality will offer greater comfort for the pilgrim, in addition to increasing health security, one of the priorities in these months.

Register of Pilgrims and "digital queue" for Compostela

The launch of the digital Credential is one more example of the commitment to the implementation of new technologies in the Jacobean Routes. A process that has been accelerated with the crisis caused by Covid-19, after which it is more necessary than ever to guarantee a safe Camino de Santiago.

Among the digital advances in recent months, it is worth highlighting the reservation platform for public hostels in Galicia, which will soon be joined by a new one for private accommodation.

The Cathedral of Santiago has also advanced in the digitization of the Camino de Santiago with the incorporation of the Pilgrim Registry and the “digital queue”, two key steps to obtain the Compostela at the Pilgrim's Office.

From this summer, pilgrims must enter their data in the Registry so that their Compostela is ready upon arrival in Santiago. The new system for obtaining the Compostela also includes an online appointment system.

Thus, when you arrive at the Pilgrim's Office on Rúa Carretas, you will get a QR code with the approximate time at which you can pick up the Compostela. With this code it is also possible to consult the progress of the queue in real time. With this measure, the Cathedral wanted to solve the long queues that occurred during certain months of the year, especially in summer.

To offer greater facilities to pilgrims, the mobile app of the digital Credential will allow interaction with other web tools, such as the Pilgrim Registry. In addition, it will allow those in charge of the Office to know the approximate volume of pilgrims who will arrive in Santiago in the near future in order to adapt the necessary resources.
"

It is not clear from this pronouncement whether those doing "virtual" caminos with the aid of a pedometer and a semi-broken heart will be able to claim a digital Compostella. When asked a spokesrobot for the digital Diocese said something quite rude in Spanish and hung-up ;)
 
Perhaps my favourite line in the article is this one: "In addition, it will allow those responsible for the Office to know the approximate volume of pilgrims who will arrive in Santiago in the near future, in order to adapt the necessary resources."

Those of us who like to live an orderly life will no doubt be pleased that those responsible will know where we are, when we are coming and how honestly we have earned our lovely print-out. The paranoid might wonder why an alternative to ink and paper will record our identity, GPS position & speed over the ground ;)
 
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The 2024 Camino guides will be coming out little by little. Here is a collection of the ones that are out so far.
I'm surprised that @Tincatinker hasn't brought this up yet but the cynic in me sees someone collecting pictures of the QR codes to supply to leaders of groups that promise a compostela without having to walk.
I’d like to think that even the scammers and blaggers would not stoop so low. At least, under past arrangements, the driver had to complete the Camino even if the “party” didn’t. If you can do the same thing from a laptop in a comfy cafe in Santiago surely that would lose some net-savvy clients and perhaps some of the flavour ?
 
Perhaps my favourite line in the article is this one: "In addition, it will allow those responsible for the Office to know the approximate volume of pilgrims who will arrive in Santiago in the near future, in order to adapt the necessary resources."

Those of us who like to live an orderly life will no doubt be pleased that those responsible will know where we are, when we are coming and how honestly we have earned our lovely print-out. The paranoid might wonder why an alternative to ink and paper will record our identity, GPS position & speed over the ground;)
Its the speed UNDER the ground that worries me! I mean, 6 feet has an ominous ring to it :) especially at my age! I wonder if I could get my next ( god willing) Compostela in papyrus!

samarkand.
 
St James' Way - Self-guided 4-7 day Walking Packages, Reading to Southampton, 110 kms
I'm surprised that @Tincatinker hasn't brought this up yet but the cynic in me sees someone collecting pictures of the QR codes to supply to leaders of groups that promise a compostela without having to walk.

And if they do, so what?

If the physical possession of a completed credential or compostella gained by subterfuge pleases anyone, then I wish them good luck. As I’ve laboriously typed out with one finger previously, if I ever meet St Peter I doubt that he will ask to see the paperwork.
 
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May reveal my beer breaks during each day...
You softie, " beer breaks"😆 implies something that is not equal to the walking aspect, everyone stops for light refreshment and is on their way again but to show your true Viking spirit you and your companions want to turn your tables into a sea of empty beer bottles, chupito glasses, and other various empty drinking vessels, and should have hours ago given up sitting positions and now be in a permanent standing position of offering loud drinking salutations with the next chupito about to be dispatched.
 
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That "speed over the ground" part worries me: May reveal my beer breaks during each day...

That’s a serious point.

Here in the UK the path to being a ‘cashless society’ has been accelerated by Covid concerns ( I nearly typed ‘paranoia’, but thankfully stopped myself in time, it might have been a rule transgression).

The downside to counter the imperceptible upside is that one’s partner can now see a transaction-by-transaction account of purchases - let’s say, for the sake of example, of beer - not only quantified, but time stamped. The consequences are too terrible to contemplate.

In my locality the drinking fraternity, with whom I’m on nodding terms only, have added to their armoury of electrically assisted bicycles (no licence, therefore nothing to lose) a wallet of four or more debit and credit cards. We - (sorry) THEY - seem to be getting away with it so far.
 
Sorry, I had thought the link I posted was automatically translated into English. If you open it using Chrome, you will be given the option to have it translated using Google Translate. Hope this helps.
The link you provided automatically translated into English for me. Thank you. And even if it didn't...there are so many ways to translate pretty much anything these days.
 
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The 2024 Camino guides will be coming out little by little. Here is a collection of the ones that are out so far.
A summary in English please. This is an English-language forum.

Just read the original post and...I am sorry to say this, but it seemed a little brusque. Hope I am wrong about that. Thanks to the many people who later posted how to translate the article into English. Or to just read the article using the English language option.
 
It will be so much fun to return home and reminisce while gazing at each unique and precious QR code in my phone. I don't think so. My sweaty, rain stained stamps in my credentials are my best tactile souvenirs.
 
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Will you be able to do both? The digital one seems a good idea for safety & making it easier for the pilgrim office but I want a paper one to look at as a souvenir. Doing both for my 1st camino in 2021 would be my prefered option
 
Will you be able to do both? The digital one seems a good idea for safety & making it easier for the pilgrim office but I want a paper one to look at as a souvenir.
The app isn't ready yet, the sellos have not yet been digitised by the albergues, in fact the website where the albergues can upload the digitised image of their sello isn't operational yet. So who knows. But my guess would be yes, you can use both options. Plus, as I understand it, the whole system will cover only the Caminos de Santiago in Galicia, i.e. the last section up to around 150 km until Santiago.
 
If you can do the same thing from a laptop in a comfy cafe in Santiago
Big IF there :cool:. Because if you can download an albergue's digitised sello only at the albergue in question and for example only to the mobile phone number that will also allow you to pick up your Compostela, I don't see that the new tool would make their bread-winning life easier. Entering an albergue with 20 credentials in one hand is one thing ... entering it with 20 smartphones is quite another thing. 🤣

PS: And there could be time stamps, down to minutes and seconds. And GPS data. And you could compare them to ... I have to stop, the control freak part of my mind is taking over ... 🤣. Just as well that I have never queued for a Compostela in Santiago and doubt that I ever will ...
 
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.... Entering an albergue with 20 credentials in one hand is one thing ... entering it with 20 smartphones is quite another thing. 🤣
I think that the poster suggested that a photo be taken of the QR code and with a photo no phones need enter the albergue.

There are ways to make it a bit more difficult to use a single photo. One method is to display the QR code on a digital device (a tablet, for example) and to set it up so that the code contains the date and time, perhaps changing hourly of even minute by minute. Then a photo of the QR code used by many people would be a give away that it had been copied in an unintended way.

Of course, if you want to get even more "secure" then the phone app used by the Pilgrim could generate its own QR code with the Pilgrim's details, to be read by the Albergue tablet and then incorporated into a unique Albergue QR code that includes both the Pilgrim details and the date.
 
Just saw an article related to changes being made, starting in 2021, in the way stamps are collected in one's credencial. The article does state that the traditional method of gathering sellos will remain in place for those who do not wish to embrace the new method. Here is a link for said article: www.elcaminoconcorreos.com/es/blog/credencial-digital-para-el-ano-santo?fbclid=IwAR2aZ0bPUgS56S0gd4lzbuI1vfR6sRI8tQrZ0RudPvcMsoVen4eFElzIi5k.
Wow......my Credencial is my most cherished “go to quick fix” when I’m missing the Camino life.
 
St James' Way - Self-guided 4-7 day Walking Packages, Reading to Southampton, 110 kms
Will you be able to do both? The digital one seems a good idea for safety & making it easier for the pilgrim office but I want a paper one to look at as a souvenir. Doing both for my 1st camino in 2021 would be my prefered option
Sure, you can use the digital credential app and also carry a paper one for the stamps.
 
Who among us finds that their grubby dog-eared credencial has much more sentimental value than the
Compostela? I'm not a Luddite by any means, but just find this idea a little sad.
Agreed! A QR code wouldn't have had the adventure that your credencial did on the Invierno :)
The credencial stamps hold the memory and connection with the place, person and the hand that stamped it. A QR code? Not so much. Interesting reading this thread this morning after watching the documentary The Social Dilemma last night 😐
 
The focus is on reducing the risk of failure through being well prepared. 2nd ed.
I personally didn't bother with the Compostella, but I do treasure my credencial.
My walk was mine, and mine alone. Those who wish to do so as tourists have absolutely every right to do so. It did not worry or bother or concern me of other people's reasons when I walked.
Nor will it bother me, if I return, that some want to go digital. The choice is there for each to do as they wish, even if it means they want to "cheat" using photos etc . As they say, walk you own walk don't let others bother you
 
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A selection of Camino Jewellery
Who among us finds that their grubby dog-eared credencial has much more sentimental value than the
Compostela? I'm not a Luddite by any means, but just find this idea a little sad.
It makes me very sad, too. The value and personal meaning of our paper credentials is not something that can be replicated online.
 
The one from Galicia (the round) and the one from Castilla & Leon. Individually numbered and made by the same people that make the ones you see on your walk.
I’ve been mulling this since my original posts in the thread. This old pagan doesn’t need another Compostela. I’ve enough paperwork to keep me covered just in case @henrythedog ’s interpretation of the Gate Keepers requirements is off-skew. This old, paranoid, anarchist just gets a bit adjusted when I see yet one more opportunity for everything I do, every where I go, becoming yet another byte in the universal data-set.
I’m frequently amused when Godgle shows me bra adverts because I’ve been watching women’s tennis or running shoes because I’ve been interested enough to search Solomon’s Seal and the algorithms thought I’d done a typo. But my Camino is my Camino, it does not belong to the diocese of Santiago and it does not belong to the Galician tourist board.
Before anyone spanks me I’m very aware of Covid risks and safety measures. With my emphysema and my dodgy heart this sodding virus will likely kill me if I fail to dodge it. But I don’t want my every step toward revelation mapped by the marketeers.
I’ll now reprimand myself for getting political and wish you all “good roads”
 
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I was reading numerous laments elsewhere and thought to myself: Imagine this, for years and years and centuries and centuries, pilgrims walked to Santiago and there were no sellos at all to be had anywhere, not on paper, not on parchment, not on really thin tree bark and not in digital form. I wonder how they managed? ☺
 
St James' Way - Self-guided 4-7 day Walking Packages, Reading to Southampton, 110 kms
They collected badges from Shrines along the Way, and attached them to their clothing.
And nothing stops us from going back to the tradition of purchasing metal badges along the way but it is apparently not what today's credential owners and sello collectors are yearning for.
 
In ‘A Time Of Gifts’ Patrick Leigh-Fermor mentions collecting a series of metal badges on his walking staff from pretty much every small town in Germany he passes through. That was in the mid 1930’s
Walkers still do this. You can buy these metal badges in souvenir shops and attach them to your wooden walking stick. It's not a very hip thing to do and hasn't been so for the last 50 years or so. ☺
 
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Get a spanish phone number with Airalo. eSim, so no physical SIM card. Easy to use app to add more funds if needed.
I don't see what all of the fuss is about. The article is very clear that they are not getting rid of paper credenciales and physical sellos, just offering an alternative option for those who wish to take advantage of it. Save the outrage for when they announce that they are getting rid of the paper option.

I've also seen the new app positioned, not just as a "touchless" approach friendly to the Covid-concerned, but as something for the Holy Year. Presumably, having all of your virtual sellos entered every day will expedite the issuing of your Compostela when you are done. They don't have to check anything or get the spelling of your name. It is all there in the computer already.

Personally, when I next go on Camino, I expect to do both - get a paper credencial and the app and fill them both with sellos, physical and virtual. Hopefully, I'll have less fuss and wait getting my Compostela. And after, I will bring my paper credencial to join the line and ask for the quicker "sello only" option to close it out.

Of all of the app creators that can track my every move while I am on Camino, the Cathedral in Santiago is the least of my worries.
 
They collected badges from Shrines along the Way, and attached them to their clothing.
Somewhere, I have pewter reproductions of medieval pilgrim badges from Jerusalem, Rome, Compostela, and Canterbury (all places I have been to). Unfortunately, a cursory search hasn't turned them up, so no photos yet. But they are around somewhere!
 
The one from Galicia (the round) and the one from Castilla & Leon. Individually numbered and made by the same people that make the ones you see on your walk.
"The Credential on paper remains

The incorporation of this digital certificate will not mean the disappearance of the credential on paper. In fact, any pilgrim who wishes can continue to use the traditional Credential and collect the stamps that certify their passage through the different stages of the Camino."
_____________________

THANK GOD!!!!!
 
The one from Galicia (the round) and the one from Castilla & Leon. Individually numbered and made by the same people that make the ones you see on your walk.
In ‘A Time Of Gifts’ Patrick Leigh-Fermor mentions collecting a series of metal badges on his walking staff from pretty much every small town in Germany he passes through. That was in the mid 1930’s
I read Patrick Leigh-Fermor's books some years ago. They were great but I wish I had intros to the aristocracy along the Way.
 
Walkers still do this. You can buy these metal badges in souvenir shops and attach them to your wooden walking stick. It's not a very hip thing to do and hasn't been so for the last 50 years or so. ☺

I’m fairly certain the the only part of me which is ‘hip’ are my hips!

My camino-evening-attire of sandals and socks was once criticised by a young German peregrina as deeply unfashionable. As she was dressed in a neon pink tigerskin-print furry onesie with lime green wellington boots, I didn’t let it upset me too much.
 
I read Patrick Leigh-Fermor's books some years ago. They were great but I wish I had intros to the aristocracy along the Way.

I think, that like Bruce Chatwin, PLF slightly embroidered the truth, and was writing decades after his travels - but nonetheless there was then a social network which transcended national boundaries and once you were in, opportunities opened up. It was much more a social class than a monied class.
 
A selection of Camino Jewellery
Just saw an article related to changes being made, starting in 2021, in the way stamps are collected in one's credencial. The article does state that the traditional method of gathering sellos will remain in place for those who do not wish to embrace the new method. Here is a link for said article: www.elcaminoconcorreos.com/es/blog/credencial-digital-para-el-ano-santo?fbclid=IwAR2aZ0bPUgS56S0gd4lzbuI1vfR6sRI8tQrZ0RudPvcMsoVen4eFElzIi5k.
When the stamps are collected by QR Code, how does a pilgrim keep the stamps as a souvenir, I have kept all my pilgrim passports as memories.
 
The one from Galicia (the round) and the one from Castilla & Leon. Individually numbered and made by the same people that make the ones you see on your walk.
The use of QR will likely mean the device scanning will need a data connection. While possible to use QR's without data, that's the easiest method to transfer what I guess will be an image file?

That's an interesting solution to concerns in our current times and workable for some.
However while I carry a phone while walking its not connected to the internet (no Sim). It's a camera and with the odd WiFi that I choose to connect to a device to check flights and the such.

I am technically adept (my profession) but choose to disconnect while on the Camino.
I'll opt for the paper while it's available and if not at some future point (?) still walk and experience the way as fully as possible. 😀
 
A summary in English please. This is an English-language forum. Thank you so much.
Actually, the entire article will translate itself if you go up to the top right corner, click on the, "ES," allow it to show the drop down menu and click on the, "EN," for English.

Or, click on THIS LINK:
 
€2,-/day will present your project to thousands of visitors each day. All interested in the Camino de Santiago.
Just read the original post and...I am sorry to say this, but it seemed a little brusque. Hope I am wrong about that. Thanks to the many people who later posted how to translate the article into English. Or to just read the article using the English language option.
Brusque - I agree, and not even a thanks to all the people who offered suggestions after. It's a forum about a country which speaks a different language, and it's not difficult to use an online translator.
 
The one from Galicia (the round) and the one from Castilla & Leon. Individually numbered and made by the same people that make the ones you see on your walk.
The app isn't ready yet, the sellos have not yet been digitised by the albergues, in fact the website where the albergues can upload the digitised image of their sello isn't operational yet. So who knows. But my guess would be yes, you can use both options. Plus, as I understand it, the whole system will cover only the Caminos de Santiago in Galicia, i.e. the last section up to around 150 km until Santiago.
The original article says this is a joint venture between the cathedral authorities and the junta (government) of Galicia. As the remit of the junta does not extend to other regions, I assume that the QR system of virtual sellos only applies to those obtained in registered establishments in Galicia. So unless you are one of the large number of walkers who start in Sarria and stay only in albergues, you will need to carry a paper credential for all of the Camino Frances before O Cebreiro. After entering Galicia long-distance pilgrims will have the choice, but after collecting physical sellos for nearly four weeks from StJPdP I anticipate that most will stick with the paper option.

On my five Caminos I seldom slept in albergues, preferring the privacy of a private room and the necessity as a cyclist to leave after dawn without being woken before 0600. My four credentials (I did not collect sellos on the VdLP in 1996) hold an eclectic mix of stamps from hotels, guest houses and restaurants plus the occasional cathedral, church, town hall or museum. None have ever been questioned by the pilgrim office. I read that the junta are opening a register so that non-albergue operators can register their participation in the virtual sello system, but unless every restaurant and café along the route can be persuaded to join, the new system will be no use to travellers like me.

It seems from the press release that the new system is being promoted with two benefits. The first (and probably the original objective) is to reduce queueing time at the pilgrim office and hanging around waiting for the issue of one's Compostela. This is laudable, but a far more effective way would be to man more of the desks in the office at busy times of day. If the original forecasts of over 500,000 pilgrims in Holy Year come to fruition something will need to be done here, but unless universal vaccination has been achieved by next summer this figure will not transpire anyway. The second benefit seems to be a rapidly scraped together proposition that by avoiding physical contact between pilgrims and hospitaleros when QR codes are photographed, there will be a public health benefit. A dubious claim.

I am not, unlike posts from many other commentators, a dinosaur opposing any technological advances. However I do think that the limited nature of this system (Galicia only and restricted to albergues) will make it almost useless to pilgrims. Unless of course they are 100km pilgrims walking only from Sarria.
 
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‘The incorporation of this digital certificate will not mean the disappearance of the credential on paper. In fact, any pilgrim who wishes can continue to use the traditional Credential and collect the stamps that certify their passage through the different stages of the Camino.‘
That’s good news.❤️I know of walks where some organisers are thinking of introducing a stamp system to physically mark their passage because of the historic Camino system. So many people love getting their stamps! Me too:).
That said, objectively speaking it seems to me that in other centuries when pandemics were about, having the ability to track and trace to decrease the spread might have been valued to save lives of loved ones.
I will be happy to do both, and will be more than happy when it’s possible to return to the Camino and can say ‘Buen Camino’ on the path again.❤️
 
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“I am not, unlike posts from many other commentators, a dinosaur opposing any technological advances.”

It’s pretty much beyond doubt that everyone posting here is able to use a browser and thus is sufficiently familiar with technology to be able to make a reasoned decision.

It is clear that the - not yet released - QR code application is ‘as well as’, so not exactly a threat to civilisation as we know it.

I’ll now put down my iPhone X, next to my Mac, on my 19th century desk, pick up my 1930’s fountain pen, fill it from a bottle of liquid ink and start doing my Spanish homework.

If that makes me a part-time dinosaur, perhaps I’d better look out for an impending meteorite.
 
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You can tear my paper credential from my cold, dead hands . . . . . . but could you queue up and get a Compostela for me, please?

Even my "Virtual Credential" has sellos and will be printed out in due course:

1601814738636.png
 
The original article says this is a joint venture between the cathedral authorities and the junta (government) of Galicia. As the remit of the junta does not extend to other regions, I assume that the QR system of virtual sellos only applies to those obtained in registered establishments in Galicia. So unless you are one of the large number of walkers who start in Sarria and stay only in albergues, you will need to carry a paper credential for all of the Camino Frances before O Cebreiro. After entering Galicia long-distance pilgrims will have the choice, but after collecting physical sellos for nearly four weeks from StJPdP I anticipate that most will stick with the paper option.

On my five Caminos I seldom slept in albergues, preferring the privacy of a private room and the necessity as a cyclist to leave after dawn without being woken before 0600. My four credentials (I did not collect sellos on the VdLP in 1996) hold an eclectic mix of stamps from hotels, guest houses and restaurants plus the occasional cathedral, church, town hall or museum. None have ever been questioned by the pilgrim office. I read that the junta are opening a register so that non-albergue operators can register their participation in the virtual sello system, but unless every restaurant and café along the route can be persuaded to join, the new system will be no use to travellers like me.

It seems from the press release that the new system is being promoted with two benefits. The first (and probably the original objective) is to reduce queueing time at the pilgrim office and hanging around waiting for the issue of one's Compostela. This is laudable, but a far more effective way would be to man more of the desks in the office at busy times of day. If the original forecasts of over 500,000 pilgrims in Holy Year come to fruition something will need to be done here, but unless universal vaccination has been achieved by next summer this figure will not transpire anyway. The second benefit seems to be a rapidly scraped together proposition that by avoiding physical contact between pilgrims and hospitaleros when QR codes are photographed, there will be a public health benefit. A dubious claim.

I am not, unlike posts from many other commentators, a dinosaur opposing any technological advances. However I do think that the limited nature of this system (Galicia only and restricted to albergues) will make it almost useless to pilgrims. Unless of course they are 100km pilgrims walking only from Sarria.
Xunta de Galicia (no junta). Letter "j" doesn't exist in Galician.
 
Technical backpack for day trips with backpack cover and internal compartment for the hydration bladder. Ideal daypack for excursions where we need a medium capacity backpack. The back with Air Flow System creates large air channels that will keep our back as cool as possible.

€83,-
I rather enjoyed queuing for my Compostela.... I met so many more nice people, caught up with pilgrims 'lost' en route... I did it twice in fact...:rolleyes:😇😁
 
How secure is this new QR idea?

Imagine: A young person walking the Camino early next Summer. He/she takes a picture of every QR they come across, and posts them on the Internet (shares it with “Friends”).

I find these QR pictures. One day I load the Sarria QR on my tablet and use my phone's QR scanner.

I never left home, but I just started the Camino.

Later that morning I do this will a restaurant QR picture (along the way), I am now walking the Camino.

Repeat, repeat, repeat.... I just finished the Camino.

This also works very well for Taxi Pilgrims.
 
A selection of Camino Jewellery
That’s rather good Jeff, what did you do to produce that?
It's just an A5 sheet in Word with a table inserted. The "Stage Awards" come from W4F and the sellos come from a comprehensive assortment on Los Sellos del Camino

they even have the "final" sello for Santiago though it's buried deep on page 2 of the Santiago collection

1601837952637.png
 
How secure is this new QR idea?

Imagine: A young person walking the Camino early next Summer. He/she takes a picture of every QR they come across, and posts them on the Internet (shares it with “Friends”).

I find these QR pictures. One day I load the Sarria QR on my tablet and use my phone's QR scanner.

I never left home, but I just started the Camino.

Later that morning I do this will a restaurant QR picture (along the way), I am now walking the Camino.

Repeat, repeat, repeat.... I just finished the Camino.

This also works very well for Taxi Pilgrims.
Yes, people could "cheat" with this new system, but there are already people "cheating" and not walking the entire last 100 km. It has zero effect on me and my Camino - they are only cheating themselves.
 
Ugh, yuck.
Personally I'll pass on ghost stamps and credentials. For me there's just something about the actual, physical credential covered in stamps. I have a shoebox filled with credential tubes from completed Camino's, and even though they are not displayed each one is special and if I opened it up and looked at the stamps I distinctly remember experiences and albergues and fond memories come to mind.
 
St James' Way - Self-guided 4-7 day Walking Packages, Reading to Southampton, 110 kms
Just saw an article related to changes being made, starting in 2021, in the way stamps are collected in one's credencial. The article does state that the traditional method of gathering sellos will remain in place for those who do not wish to embrace the new method. Here is a link for said article: www.elcaminoconcorreos.com/es/blog/credencial-digital-para-el-ano-santo?fbclid=IwAR2aZ0bPUgS56S0gd4lzbuI1vfR6sRI8tQrZ0RudPvcMsoVen4eFElzIi5k.
I don't like that at all.
 
As my avatar shows, I am an old Kiwi. I do not own a smart phone as I don't need one. When walking Caminos I do not carry electronic gizmos of any kind. I am glad that I can continue to get sellos in the proper fashion. I can see that it won't be long before the day comes that as you finish your Camino and click on the QR at the cathedral that your compostela will be added automatically to your app. Then if you want to look at it or show it to anyone it will have to be done on the phone or you could print one off. I bet it won't be as good as the real thing.
 
New Original Camino Gear Designed Especially with The Modern Peregrino In Mind!
I'm surprised that @Tincatinker hasn't brought this up yet but the cynic in me sees someone collecting pictures of the QR codes to supply to leaders of groups that promise a compostela without having to walk.
Is there such a thing? Why would you even want compostella without walking? To hang on your wall and lie to people?

Although I guess I read somewhere that in Spain it looks good on your resumes, so maybe that would be the reason. But who’s going to check your compostella at a job interview anyway? Just write it on your resume, if you want to lie.

Being a victim of Camino/Covid interruptus, I would want the paper one, but it would be nice to have the digital one as a back up.
 

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