No more free albergues
Yes, it appears so.
I is important to remember that there are four main different 'types' of pilgrim refuges along the many camino routes.
1) Municipal - which were formed when Don Elias Valina Sampedro encouraged local municpalities to provide accommodation for pilgrims at the Jaca conference in 1987.
2) Church - sponsored and by some of the many orders that still provide for monasteries and convents.
3) Confraternities and Associations - the CSJ has two sponsored albergues, the Brazilians have a few, there are Dutch and German sponsored albergues - none of these belong to the church.
4) Private - run by individuals, families, communities and even a few ex-pats, some from the Uk and the US.
So, what do the all important Federations of Camino Associations in Spain think of the church taking over the issuing of credentials?
It was posted on this Forum last month. "Our opinion in Spain is that the credential was born from the associations, from Elias Valiña in Jaca, (1987) in order to open the albergues to the pilgrims. Nothing was ever said or ever came from the Cathedral, nor the Compostela. It was not a matter for the church."
So, although there is nothing to stop the church from insisting that pilgrims carry a church printed credential to stay in THEIR refuges, it is unlikely that they will be able to put pressure on all the other albergues to do the same.
The Federation of Camino Associations can choose to ignore the Xacobeo decision and continue to print and provide their own credentials for pilgrims wanting to stay in the many municipal, sponsored and private albergues along the way. So might the Confraternities in other countries. The French Society of St Jacques was the first to be formed in the 1940's and it is unlikely that they will give up their credentials. The CSJ was formed in 1983 and have been issuing credentials for nearly 25 years. What is their reaction to this move by the church?
" I does seem to me that there should have been some consultation about this with the overseas groups. The uniltateral declaration is bound to stir up lingering and lasting resentments among those who are not 'religious' but have sensed something of the spiritual on their camino. We have not (yet?) been contacted directly by the cathedral - I wait with bated breath. It does seem like a kick in the teeth - there is no recognition of what we have been doing all these years."
There is another, school of thought brought on by suspicion and resentment. At a recent CSJ workshop, a veteran (Catholic) pilgrim said, "When I first walked the camino I was asked for a donation of 1Euro for a credential in Roncesvalles. In 2002 it was 2 Euro. This year I paid 5 Euro. With over 100 000 pilgrims earning a Compostela (and many hundreds more walking only sections of the way) it has become a very lucrative source of income. Do the math! 100 000 X 5 Euro. Not a bad income if you can control it - and it wouldn't be the first time in history the church found a way of making money from pilgrims!