Passport and Credentials Stamps

[pilgrimglenn7]

Hey All

We are also wondering where do we get our passports stamped? also can my wife even though she not plan to get the certificate is she allowed to just get stamps in her passport and credentials booklet?

Thanks all

Buen Camino


From Glenn and Karen

 

[Vacajoe]

Bars, churches, hotels, albuergues, roadside stands, and more will All stamp your credential - no one requires that you are traveling to Santiago to get one! Buen Camino!

 

[Anamya]

Yes, she can collect stamps with no problem. As she will be driving the campervan, she won´t be eligible for a certificate, but surely she can get stamps as well. They make a very nice memory from the trip

 

[scruffy1]

I have possessed and I have lost so many Credencials! One I managed to frame and put on the wall, some are in a drawer someplace, others have gone off to the same place where the matching socks go - somewhere in oblivion. Should I try and hang another Compostela on the wall the better half will probably shoot me so last time around I had the stamps in my Brierley on the page where the albergue/cafe appears. Books are more difficult to lose.

 

[pilgrimglenn7]

Bars, churches, hotels, albuergues, roadside stands, and more will All stamp your credential - no one requires that you are traveling to Santiago to get one! Buen Camino!

thanks so much that is all she wants to do and will be happy to know she can do her "camino" with stamps she cant walk the trail as she is on a disability pension i plan to use a mountain bike

I have possessed and I have lost so many Credencials! One I managed to frame and put on the wall, some are in a drawer someplace, others have gone off to the same place where the matching socks go - somewhere in oblivion. Should I try and hang another Compostela on the wall the better half will probably shoot me so last time around I had the stamps in my Brierley on the page where the albergue/cafe appears. Books are more difficult to lose.View attachment 55302

I have possessed and I have lost so many Credencials! One I managed to frame and put on the wall, some are in a drawer someplace, others have gone off to the same place where the matching socks go - somewhere in oblivion. Should I try and hang another Compostela on the wall the better half will probably shoot me so last time around I had the stamps in my Brierley on the page where the albergue/cafe appears. Books are more difficult to lose.View attachment 55302

awesome scruffy well done mate how many stamps did you get ? what caminio did you do? did you walk? and how long did you take mate? thanks

 

[dougfitz]

I suggest you read the Pilgrim Office page about the credential, particularly the section on the 'necessary conditions'. A strict reading of this would be that your wife would not meet the conditions for having a credential based on the descriptions you have provided in other threads.

 

[t2andreo]

In deference to Doug, any person can obtain and use a credencial. The rub is when you present it to claim a 'benefit' at the Pilgrim Office. Allow me to explain...

Just by way of explanation and as an FYI aside, we do have a lot of "car pool pilgrims" especially in the summer. These are groups of people, typically youngish, who pile in a car and drive / party from town to town along a Camino route. They obtain sellos / stamps as these are easy to get. Virtually every business in SPain has a rubber stamp.

They, then, fudge the dates to make it appear that they actually walked the required distance. Usually these folks know the rules well, and are seeking to violate them.

Instead of presenting themselves and just asking for a Certificate of Welcome, they request a Compostela. If the staff is suspect, and from lots of experience, they know the signs of an intending cheater, they will engage the 'pilgrim' in conversation, then casually ask if they took photos of the places they visited along the way. If the pilgrim produces a smartphone and says 'si, want to see them?" The staffer will play along, say 'of course' (por supuesto!) and start looking at photos...

Those of you with smartphones know that your camera dates, and location stamps each photo, and can display them in date order with location names displayed. Nearly always, this produces more questions from the staffer about how they could have walked 60 km in one day, yet look like they "just got out of a car..." Alternatively, someone on staff will actually see them get out of a car or taxi around the corner. It happens nearly every day when I am there during the summer as a volunteer. Spotting the cheats becomes a sport to the security staff and volunteers who roam outside the office.

When we can (collectively) make a clear and unequivocal finding of cheating the Compostela is denied and the folks are told to leave...period...

Of course, this could all be prevented if people who do not meet the Compostela issuance requirements just asked for the Certificate of Welcome instead.

Hope this helps.

 

[Dsavid Keyte]

Hey All

We are also wondering where do we get our passports stamped? also can my wife even though she not plan to get the certificate is she allowed to just get stamps in her passport and credentials booklet?

Thanks all

Buen Camino


From Glenn and Karen

We got one a couple of years ago at the ALSA Booking office in Aviles

 

[dougfitz]

In deference to Doug, any person can obtain and use a credencial. The rub is when you present it to claim a 'benefit' at the Pilgrim Office. Allow me to explain...

That is true, but in doing so they are agreeing to the condition that 'This Credencial is only for pilgrims on foot, bicycle or horseback, who wish to make the pilgrimage with a Christian sentiment, even if it is only with an attitude of search.' The OP has made it clear elsewhere his spouse is not intending to walk or ride, so it would be misleading to obtain a credential under those circumstances.

Further, there is this: 'Groups organised with support car or by bicycle are requested to seek alternative shelter to the pilgrim hostels', and it appears that the OP and his spouse could be considered a group - they are certainly not independent individuals on the face of what we have been told.

I understand that there will be individuals who do not respect their undertakings on these matters, which leaves the pilgrim office staff and hospitaleros with the unenviable task of standing up to those who have failed to comply. And I presume at least some these people have already schooled themselves to present in a genuinely convincing fashion.

 

[t2andreo]

Doug is correct.

My comments relate more to having the stamps in the credencial as a souvenir of the trip, rather than proof to establish eligibility for a Compostela.

A credencial is NOT needed to request a Certificate of Welcome.

 

[JennyH94]

Hi Glenn and Karen -

Another couple of thoughts on credentials ...

Do you have your credentials yet? If you order your credentials through Ivar through his Forum Store you'll have them before you leave. (I can recommend also buying the plastic cover - excellent to protect this valuable document).

Here in Sydney we have the St James Church in the middle of the city - the church offices have their own Sello and will happily stamp credentials for those pilgrims leaving from Sydney. Perhaps you have a St James Church in a city near you who also has their own Sello - it's a lovely thing to have as your first stamp.

Also - if either of you are writing a hard copy journal, it's a great thing to have your journal stamped along The Way - it adds to the memories of your pilgrimage in a very special way. A lot of the Sellos are very beautiful - for example, the Sello from the monastery at Samos.

Buen Camino to you both and cheers from Oz -
Jenny

 

[pilgrimglenn7]

Hi Glenn and Karen -

Another couple of thoughts on credentials ...

Do you have your credentials yet? If you order your credentials through Ivar through his Forum Store you'll have them before you leave. (I can recommend also buying the plastic cover - excellent to protect this valuable document).

Here in Sydney we have the St James Church in the middle of the city - the church offices have their own Sello and will happily stamp credentials for those pilgrims leaving from Sydney. Perhaps you have a St James Church in a city near you who also has their own Sello - it's a lovely thing to have as your first stamp.

Also - if either of you are writing a hard copy journal, it's a great thing to have your journal stamped along The Way - it adds to the memories of your pilgrimage in a very special way. A lot of the Sellos are very beautiful - for example, the Sello from the monastery at Samos.

Buen Camino to you both and cheers from Oz -
Jenny

Hey Jenny thanks mate for your comment and much appreciative yes i have been to the St James church in Sydney a few times before i knew of the caminoes. I was last there in June 2004 but in Sydney in February 2017

Thanks again and i will look into where to find a St James Church

Buen Camino and God bless

Ps have you been on a Camino ? Which one? please and thanks

 

[JLWV]

Bars, churches, hotels, albuergues, roadside stands,

...libraries, Guardia Civil, railway's stations...., sometimes (on less frequented ways) I had to explain what is the credencial and why is the stamp….
Experts and veterans should confirm, but in my opinion an important point is that the stamp indicates from where it is. I say that because in one ocasión I was given a nice stamp of the "Ruta de los Monasterios" (GR236 in Valencia) but with no indication of the city. Other day I got a stamp of an "Associación de Amigos del Camino de xxx" in a village at 50 km of xxx. If the objective is just collecting stamps, no problem, but if it is to prove that you walked that way it is obligatory to know where it was.
Buen camino
Jean-Luc

 

[pilgrimglenn7]

...libraries, Guardia Civil, railway's stations...., sometimes (on less frequented ways) I had to explain what is the credencial and why is the stamp….
Experts and veterans should confirm, but in my opinion an important point is that the stamp indicates from where it is. I say that because in one ocasión I was given a nice stamp of the "Ruta de los Monasterios" (GR236 in Valencia) but with no indication of the city. Other day I got a stamp of an "Associación de Amigos del Camino de xxx" in a village at 50 km of xxx. If the objective is just collecting stamps, no problem, but if it is to prove that you walked that way it is obligatory to know where it was.
Buen camino
Jean-Luc

Jean Luc much obliged yes my wife is collecting stamps as she knows she can never do what i am planning as that is why she will be in a hire car and we stay in private rooms but will try and get where she was and i will be doing the same at least 2 to show where i was in each town with dates

Feel free to ask my anything

Have a awesome weekend and Buen Camino