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Pilgrim office statistics for 2018

Bradypus

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Time of past OR future Camino
Too many and too often!
The pilgrim office website now gives the final pilgrim numbers for 2018. A detailed breakdown of the figures can be found by selecting 2018 and "TODOS" in the drop-down menu. This is the summary paragraph as given through Google Translate:

"During 2018, 327,342 pilgrims were received at the Pilgrimage Office; the previous Holy Year in 2010 were 272,417. Of these pilgrims, 164,817 (50.35%) are women and 162,525 (49.65%) men. On foot, 306,028 (93.49%) arrived, 20,787 (6,35%) on bicycle, 318 (0,10%) on horseback, 130 (0,04%) and 79 (0,02%) at Wheelchair."

https://oficinadelperegrino.com/estadisticas/
 
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We arrived twice at the pilgrims office in 2018, once for the Portuguese coastal and once for the English.
 
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Always wanted to be 1 of 327,342. As I was starting to process my videos of the Camino Portuguese, I remember thinking who extremely hot is was (98F) and why am I doing that. Now that it is winter, while reviewing the bright sunny day, I know exactly why. And am planning to do the first half of the de la Plata in May. It sure gets into your blood.
 
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I must say I find the statistics a bit perplexing. For October it lists 3,340 compostelas for people starting in Porto. I walked this route in October and whilst it was a little busy at times there was always room in the Albergues and I walked long stretches in almost total solitude. I know that a lot of people do the coastal route but even after Tui it felt quiet and if you add in people from the other starting points on the CP they must have been giving out more than 200 per day.
 
The pilgrim office website now gives the final pilgrim numbers for 2018. A detailed breakdown of the figures can be found by selecting 2018 and "TODOS" in the drop-down menu. This is the summary paragraph as given through Google Translate:

"During 2018, 327,342 pilgrims were received at the Pilgrimage Office; the previous Holy Year in 2010 were 272,417. Of these pilgrims, 164,817 (50.35%) are women and 162,525 (49.65%) men. On foot, 306,028 (93.49%) arrived, 20,787 (6,35%) on bicycle, 318 (0,10%) on horseback, 130 (0,04%) and 79 (0,02%) at Wheelchair."

https://oficinadelperegrino.com/estadisticas/
Yay, and I can finally say I am one of them!! Buen Camino!!
 
The focus is on reducing the risk of failure through being well prepared. 2nd ed.
Here's a statistical snapshot of the other end of the Camino Frances: the number and nationality of pilgrims registered at the Pilgrim's Welcome Office in Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port in 2018:

France: 9,049
Spain: 6,420
USA: 6,271
Italy: 5,584
South Korea: 4,341
Germany: 4,048
UK: 2,845
Australia: 2,299
Canada: 1,941
Ireland: 1,931
Brazil: 1,620
Netherlands: 1,110
Source: FB group of SJPP pilgrims office

I suppose these numbers include pilgrims arriving in SJPP after having walked from elsewhere in France and ending their walk in SJPP as the number of French pilgrims seems disproportionately high to me.

Total number of pilgrims registered in SJPP for 2018: around 58,000.
If memory does not fail me, this is close to the order of magnitude of the numbers registered in Roncesvalles in previous years.
 
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Here's a statistical snapshot of the other end of the Camino Frances: the number and nationality of pilgrims registered at the Pilgrim's Welcome Office in Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port in 2018:

I know pet peeves are another thread, but can I respectfully submit that SJPP is not the other end of the Camino Frances but an other end? The SdC pilgrim office stats show that plenty of people walk the Camino Frances starting at points before or after SJPP. If you look at the half-way marker by Sahagun, it marks half way between Roncesvalles and Santiago de Compostela giving Roncesvalles quasi-official status as the start of the route. If we aren't going with Roncesvalles as the start of the Camino Frances, as the Spanish seem to, I would humbly suggest Ostabat, just before SJPP, where the three traditional routes leading to that pass join.
 
SJPP is not the other end of the Camino Frances but an other end
Oops, I've gone native on this forum! I used to try to explain to people that the Camino Frances starts in Puente la Reina and that the section SJPP to Puente la Reina is part of the Camino Navarro / Chemin Navarrais. Nobody was interested. 🤓
 
The focus is on reducing the risk of failure through being well prepared. 2nd ed.
Oops, I've gone native on this forum! I used to try to explain to people that the Camino Frances starts in Puente la Reina and that the section SJPP to Puente la Reina is part of the Camino Navarro / Chemin Navarrais. Nobody was interested. 🤓
And I had put Puente la Reina, where the four routes meet, in my response as a possible starting point but deleted that bit before posting as no one else seemed to see it that way.

I've never started in SJPP. If I were going to, I think I would take a taxi to Ostabat and start there for a short first day. :)
 
I think I would take a taxi to Ostabat and start there for a short first day. :)
I'd even recommend a start in Saint Palais.

We often read that Spanish pilgrims start in Roncesvalles instead of SJPP but I tend to think that quite a few of them actually do start in SJPP. I note that two major Spanish websites - Eroski and Gronze - begin their information pages about the Camino Frances with Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port. There's been a big shift in the popularity of starting points. Despite the immense increase in overall numbers, there are now fewer pilgrims starting in Roncesvalles (who eventually claim a Compostela) than in earlier years. Look at the list of the most popular starting points (I've rounded the figures):

2005 (which was not a Holy Year when numbers are different from normal years)
  1. Sarria: 15,000
  2. S. Jean P. Port: 10,000
  3. Roncesvalles: 9,000
  4. Cebreiro: 7,000
2017 (cumulative data for 2018 not yet available but presumably similar):
  1. Sarria: 80,000
  2. S. Jean P. Port 33,000
  3. Oporto 22,000
  4. Tui 20,000
By 2017, Roncesvalles had sunk to place 11 with about 6,000 pilgrims / Compostela holders having started there.​
For 2018, I think the Oficina's figure is a little over 5,500 pilgrims with Roncesvalles as starting point.​
My heart always skips a beat when I read a recommendation that pilgrims should not stop in Roncesvalles ...​
 
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We often read that Spanish pilgrims start in Roncesvalles instead of SJPP but I tend to think that quite a few of them actually do start in SJPP. I note that two major Spanish websites - Eroski and Gronze - begin their information pages about the Camino Frances with Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port. There's been a big shift in the popularity of starting points.

I have a copy of Don Elias Valina's 1984 "El Camino de Santiago: Guia del Peregrino" which I used for my first two Caminos. A seminal work which I think is the first complete practical guide to the modern Camino Frances. From the horse's mouth so to speak. Interestingly he starts the book by first describing the Aragones route via Somport. Then he goes on to describe the "Camino Navarro" beginning from St Jean Pied de Port. I think a great deal of the notion of SJPDP as "the" starting point may come quite simply from the fact that Don Elias's guide book - at the time effectively the only guide book - starts there. Quite why SJPDP has eclipsed Somport as a start point is more of a mystery though.
 
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.
Don Elias Valina's 1984 "El Camino de Santiago: Guia del Peregrino" which I used for my first two Caminos. A seminal work which I think is the first complete practical guide to the modern Camino Frances.
I have a copy of Millan Bravo Lozano's guide from 1993, also written for a Spanish audience at first and subsequently translated into other languages. Title is Guía práctica del peregrino: El Camino de Santiago and it is similar to what you say: in this Spanish guidebook, the first stage of the Camino de Santiago is either from the Somport pass to Jaca or from Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port to Roncesvalles.
 
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I have a copy of Don Elias Valina's 1984 "El Camino de Santiago: Guia del Peregrino" which I used for my first two Caminos. A seminal work which I think is the first complete practical guide to the modern Camino Frances. From the horse's mouth so to speak. Interestingly he starts the book by first describing the Aragones route via Somport. Then he goes on to describe the "Camino Navarro" beginning from St Jean Pied de Port. I think a great deal of the notion of SJPDP as "the" starting point may come quite simply from the fact that Don Elias's guide book - at the time effectively the only guide book - starts there. Quite why SJPDP has eclipsed Somport as a start point is more of a mystery though.
Interesting. My copy if Don Elias' guide book, which I got for my 1989 Camino, when I look carefully, starts that route with a small entry for Ostabat before the larger entry for SJPP. I picked up the guide en route. When I was preparing to start the Camino, living in Spain, the people around me told me it started in Roncesvalles.
 
Interesting. My copy if Don Elias' guide book, which I got for my 1989 Camino, when I look carefully, starts that route with a small entry for Ostabat before the larger entry for SJPP. I picked up the guide en route. When I was preparing to start the Camino, living in Spain, the people around me told me it started in Roncesvalles.

Just looked again at my copy (a 1985 reprint of the 1984 first edition). Ostabat is dealt with in a single sentence of the text at the start of the "Camino Navarro" section.

ostabat.jpg
 
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Just looked again at my copy (a 1985 reprint of the 1984 first edition). Ostabat is dealt with in a single sentence of the text at the start of the "Camino Navarro" section.

View attachment 50403
I think I was basing my assertion that Don Elias started this route in Ostabat as much on this map as on that sentence.
20190104_072220.jpg
 
It took me a while to understand the map properly. The way I see it: either Ostabat or Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port is not marked on the road in this map or Saint-Michel and SJPP are lumped into one. The map shows towns and stages mentioned in the 12th century description of roads to Santiago. For example for the Navarrese Camino, it says "The first short stage is from the village of Saint-Michel ("villa Sancti Michaelis") at the foot of the Pass of Cize, on the Gascon side, to Viscarret ("Biscaretum"). Roncesvalles and Ostabat are not mentioned in the description of the 13 stages in Chapter II, but they are mentioned in Chapter III which contains a list of towns and in Chapter VII.
 
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It took me a while to understand the map properly. The way I see it: either Ostabat or Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port is not marked on the road in this map or Saint-Michel and SJPP are lumped into one. The map shows towns and stages mentioned in the 12th century description of roads to Santiago. For example for the Navarrese Camino, it says "The first short stage is from the village of Saint-Michel ("villa Sancti Michaelis") at the foot of the Pass of Cize, on the Gascon side, to Viscarret ("Biscaretum"). Roncesvalles and Ostabat are not mentioned in the description of the 13 stages in Chapter II, but they are mentioned in Chapter III which contains a list of towns and in Chapter VII.
I think Saint-Jean and Saint-Michel are lumped together in one dot. In the more detailed stage guide, they are very close and Saint-Michel is very small.

I wonder if Saint-Michel is still there, thirty years later? I wonder if you could get a stamp there? As you point out, it is where the 12thC author put the start, so it would be worth the small detour to me to include it in my Camino. If it lasted from the 12thC to the 1980s, you'd think it could hold on for a few decades longer, but it wouldn't be the only thing to make it almost to the present and then disappear.
 
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I wonder if Saint-Michel is still there, thirty years later? I wonder if you could get a stamp there?
There is a village called Saint-Michel, about 3 km to the southeast of SJPP and about 4 km to the southwest of Saint-Jean-Le-Vieux. Last year or so, the local Friends group who run the SJPP pilgrims office have apparently marked a trail that goes through Saint-Michel and joins the Route Napoléon shortly after the gîte Orisson. I don't think it's something new, I think it used to be a variant of the footpaths that cross the mountain.

See this post.
 
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There is a village called Saint-Michel, about 3 km to the southeast of SJPP and about 4 km to the southwest of Saint-Jean-Le-Vieux. Last year or so, the local Friends group who run the SJPP pilgrims office have apparently marked a trail that goes through Saint-Michel and joins the Route Napoléon shortly after the gîte Orisson. I don't think it's something new, I think it used to be a variant of the footpaths that cross the mountain.

See this post.
That's the one. The map in Don Elias' guide shows roads to it and to the Camino, so it seems one can walk through it. Good to know it is still there!
 
I looked into this a bit more because it didn't make sense to me when I looked at Google Earth and the topography. It appears that in those days there was SJPP as such and in the immediate vicinity there were two small villages called Saint Peter and Saint Michael; both of them later became boroughs (suburbs) of SJPP. So the Saint-Michel of the Codex Calixtinus was in fact a small village directly to the south of SJPP - today it is part of SJPP and the name has disappeared.

I'm pretty certain, though, that medieval pilgrims walked through the other village called Saint-Michel, too!!!
 
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The focus is on reducing the risk of failure through being well prepared. 2nd ed.
I can attest to the fact that the August statistics are slightly inaccurate as it is missing two Canadians who began in Porto. It appeared that the 60,000 + who arrived that month were all hanging around the Pilgrim's office on the day we arrived because the line up was so long that they were closing early so they could finish up with those already there. Rather than leap up from our room at the Parador and rush to get in line, we chose sleeping in the following morning before catching the bus.
 
There is a village called Saint-Michel, about 3 km to the southeast of SJPP and about 4 km to the southwest of Saint-Jean-Le-Vieux. Last year or so, the local Friends group who run the SJPP pilgrims office have apparently marked a trail that goes through Saint-Michel and joins the Route Napoléon shortly after the gîte Orisson. I don't think it's something new, I think it used to be a variant of the footpaths that cross the mountain.

The last time I started in Saint Palais, I encountered some French pilgrims who were planning to end their stage at Saint-Michel rather than SJPdP. There is a Logis in that village.
 
I don't know anything about it but I had never assumed that Don Elías Valiña had actually walked from France or the Pyrenees, be it Ostabat, SJPP or Roncesvalles, to Santiago. He didn't, did he?
 
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I’m sure that many angels can fit on the head of this pin, but as a modern pilgrim, the symbolism of starting in another country and crossing the Pyrenees made SJPDP a good starting point for me.
 
This thread sort of wandered away from numbers to "What is the 'official' start of the francés." I'd like to take it back. The initial post listed the basic stats but here are some deeper ones. In 2018:
• Total compostelas issued: 327,378. Up 8.8% over 2017.
• U.S. compostelas issued: 18,582. Up 6.1% over 2017.
• U.S. compostelas as percent of total: 5.7%. Down from 5.8% in 2017.
• Compostelas issued to men and to women: 162,542 and 164,836. Why has no one remarked on this?! For the first time since records have been kept, more compostelas were awarded to women than to men. Is this the first time in history? Ratio M/F 0.99. This is an absolute linear trend that has been underway since as far back as 1991, the earliest numbers that I've been able to find, when the ratio was 2.23 - twice as many men as women. (See attached PDF.) Given this past, what will this look like ten years out?
• The peak month for compostelas is decidedly August. Compostelas issued to U.S. passport holders continue to have a *deep* minimum in August. The U.S. is consistently 2% or less of the total in August, while the U.S. consistently approaches 10% of the total in June and October.
• Something I pointed out last year: While the total number of compostelas issued and the number awarded to those arriving on the francés both continue to rise, awards to those starting before Sarria on the francés have stayed steady or have even fallen over the last seven years. Yes, read that again. If you want to avoid increased crowding on the francés, don't walk from Sarria onward.

If you'd like to see all this and more graphed out, check out americanpilgrims.org/statistics

Here's wishing you more and better numbers in 2019!
 

Attachments

  • sex_ratio_91-18.pdf
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I walked my 3rd Camino this year (Portuguese, from Baiona), and once again it made me smile to see the total numbers and know that I was one of them. And a special smile that I was part of the contingent that tipped women over the top. :)
 
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.
Compostelas issued to men and to women: 162,542 and 164,836. Why has no one remarked on this?!
I guess because it seems pretty unremarkable to me. Approximately half of the people. The remarkable thing is that In the past, women were severely limited in their ability/inclination to go off travelling, especially alone. I suppose the change from that situation has been remarkable, but I prefer to "take it for granted". However, I do understand and respect the argument against my approach.
 
Here's a statistical snapshot of the other end of the Camino Frances: the number and nationality of pilgrims registered at the Pilgrim's Welcome Office in Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port in 2018:

France: 9,049
Spain: 6,420
USA: 6,271
Italy: 5,584
South Korea: 4,341
Germany: 4,048
UK: 2,845
Australia: 2,299
Canada: 1,941
Ireland: 1,931
Brazil: 1,620
Netherlands: 1,110
Source: FB group of SJPP pilgrims office

I was so looking forward to a broader list of nationalities. I walked the Frances the last couple months of 2017 and I met people from a number of countries other than the shortlist that is shared here, so it's pretty hard for me to imagine there weren't a handful of people from a scattering of MANY other countries who also were registered in SJPP in 2018.
 
I was so looking forward to a broader list of nationalities. I walked the Frances the last couple months of 2017 and I met people from a number of countries other than the shortlist that is shared here, so it's pretty hard for me to imagine there weren't a handful of people from a scattering of MANY other countries who also were registered in SJPP in 2018.
I cut the list at the point where the numbers are below 1,000. The full list can be found in their FB group. Nearly every nationality is represented although I don’t know whether these pilgrims are currently resident in their country of nationality or came from a different country where they live. I myself am more intrigued by the big numbers and their changes over the years or throughout the year. I actually like it when there are more Spanish pilgrims on the road than the whole world but that’s just me. 🙃
 
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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.
This thread sort of wandered away from numbers to "What is the 'official' start of the francés." I'd like to take it back. The initial post listed the basic stats but here are some deeper ones. In 2018:
• Total compostelas issued: 327,378. Up 8.8% over 2017.
• U.S. compostelas issued: 18,582. Up 6.1% over 2017.
• U.S. compostelas as percent of total: 5.7%. Down from 5.8% in 2017.
• Compostelas issued to men and to women: 162,542 and 164,836. Why has no one remarked on this?! For the first time since records have been kept, more compostelas were awarded to women than to men. Is this the first time in history? Ratio M/F 0.99. This is an absolute linear trend that has been underway since as far back as 1991, the earliest numbers that I've been able to find, when the ratio was 2.23 - twice as many men as women. (See attached PDF.) Given this past, what will this look like ten years out?
• The peak month for compostelas is decidedly August. Compostelas issued to U.S. passport holders continue to have a *deep* minimum in August. The U.S. is consistently 2% or less of the total in August, while the U.S. consistently approaches 10% of the total in June and October.
• Something I pointed out last year: While the total number of compostelas issued and the number awarded to those arriving on the francés both continue to rise, awards to those starting before Sarria on the francés have stayed steady or have even fallen over the last seven years. Yes, read that again. If you want to avoid increased crowding on the francés, don't walk from Sarria onward.

If you'd like to see all this and more graphed out, check out americanpilgrims.org/statistics

Here's wishing you more and better numbers in 2019!

Very interesting to see the statistics graphed.
I’m happy to be in the female group for 2017 ( starting at SJPP ) and 2018 (starting in Oviedo)
Hopefully I’ll finish again this year in April.
 

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