Pilgrim Numbers - more records broken

[JohnnieWalker]

Hola

I'll post the up-to-date figures for the year in a couple of days when November closes but already the press here in Galcia are running articles that this is a record breaking year.

In the history of the statistics which are kept on the pilgrimage the holy years (when the feast of St James falls on a Sunday) have always seen an extraordinary spike in numbers which until now has never been surpassed in a "normal" year.

However such is the growth in pilgrim numbers that a few days ago the number for this year passed that of the holy year in 2004.

So...the trend remains ever upward.

John

 

[Telluridewalker]

Do you know if any reliable statistics exist for other times in history (say prior to 1980 or so)? Might it be fair to say that we are witnessing/participating in the absolute height of the Camino in its 900 year (give or take) history? (and trending even higher, as you've shown).

 

[JohnnieWalker]

Interesting. I'd demur to Sil and others more versed in camino history but I think the modern camino would be much smaller in comparison to the medieval pilgrmage. In those days the world was Catholic and the sense of sin and acceptance of the omnipotence of the church lay deep in the consciousness. Historians talk about massive amounts of people...a whole population of pilgrims moving along the camino routes continuously. As to actual numbers...don't know I'm afraid.

 

[Deleted member 3000]

Here are some numbers from the CSJ site that go back to 1986:

http://www.csj.org.uk/present.htm#Some%20statistics

Before that, it is a fairly good guess to say that the numbers were small for quite a few centuries until the revival in the 1990's. The recent increases are staggering. I enjoy my time on the Camino, and I am glad that many others are doing the same. Happiness is much better spread around than hoarded as a personal possession. Amidst the Spanish economic problems is the success story of the Camino, and so little of the pilgrim expenditures go to corporations at the top. Spain needs to add a "Camino Worker Appreciation Day" to its long list of festivals...