Question About an Unconventional Camino

[jrageth625]

I'm currently working as an English teacher here in Madrid, and I'm going to do my first camino on the Camino Frances. However, due to time constraints of returning to the US after the school year and my work schedule, I will not be able to do the whole camino straight through. I'm going to do it in chunks during my long weekends and holidays, anywhere from 3 days of walking up to 7 during my Holy Week vacation. My question is, will I still qualify for the compostelano? I'm going to walk the whole way and not skip any stages, but I probably won't be able to do the last 100km all during the same time. I'll probably have to break them up into two 3 day walks on different weekends. Thanks for your help, I've already learned so much from reading other posts!

 

[Deleted member 3000]

The last 100 km must be done continuously to qualify for a compostela.

 

[jrageth625]

Darn, perhaps I'll start from the beginning, skip to the end during my Easter break, and then finish the middle afterwards. Thanks for the help!

 

[KiwiNomad06]

Falcon, I am not sure that this is correct. Maybe Johnnie Walker can chime in on this one.
Margaret

 

[Deleted member 3000]

From the Pilgrim Office website:

In recent times, the “Compostela” would be limited to those pilgrims who walk or go on horseback for at least the last 100 km or cycle for the last 200 km up to the Apostle’s Tomb in St. James

Note for all pilgrims: while there are tour operators who will guarantee the acquisition of the Compostela on all of their tours, we cannot. The Pilgrim's Office at the cathedral is very clear in this regard: you must have completed the last 100 km of the Camino on foot without interruption for devotional or spiritual motives in order to receive the Compostela.

 

[kenseph]

Hi, as far as I know you have to walk the last 100km, but you can take as long as you want. That's the impression I get.

Buen Camino

 

[KiwiNomad06]

Yes, but that doesn't say it has to be continuous. It might be possible to do 50km one weekend, then go back and do the next 50km another weekend. Johnnie will know for sure.
Margaret.

 

[JohnnieWalker]

Hola

Here is a good explanation of the Compostela etc: http://www.csj.org.uk/compostela.htm

"Walkers and pilgrims on horseback must have completed at least the last 100km and cyclists the last 200 km, in one stretch, to qualify. "

Falcon is correct and in the Pilgrims' Office staff check the dates as well as the sellos for the last 100 kms. However they would also say that each person is treated on their own merits and there are special allowances made for pilgrims with a disability for example.

I'll be there in a week or so and I'll check out how often the question arises - I have never seen a case in the office where someone did not walk the last 100kms in one go.

Best regards

John

 

[Anniesantiago]

In 2006, I walked and rode and walked and rode, due to an injury.
I received a certificate at the end.. not the same as a Compostela, but a nice certificate saying I had walked. Perhaps this would be enough?

 

[kenseph]

Ok, well then it's possible to complete the last 100km in 3 days I think.

 

[Deleted member 3000]

I walked with a Norwegian family. The son joined them in Portomarin, having walked from St. Jean Pied de Port the previous year. The father, mother, and daughter had walked from Leon and Ponferrada respectively. On arrival, the father, mother, and daughter received a compostela. The son received a completion certificate because he had not CONTINUOUSLY walked the last 100 km. He was very disappointed, and the entire family vigorously argued his case, to no avail. You could get lucky with the clerk handling your credential and get a compostela for a discontinuous 100 km, but do not count on it!

 

[sillydoll]

I'm going to walk the whole way and not skip any stages, but I probably won't be able to do the last 100km all during the same time.

The thing to remember is that there isn't a 'whole way' on the Camino routes (excepting for the Camino Ingles which is a short route anyway.) The Camino starts in your hometown!

You can start anywhere you like on any of the 30 or so routes and skip as many sections as you like and change between one route and the next. If you want a Compostela, you only have to do the last 100km.

 

[elzi]

I posted a question about this in 2009 and received just such a mixed response. Due to various reasons I took a break of about 4 or 5 days off within the last 100km of the camino portugues. I took someone (who could no longer walk for health reasons) by train & bus to Santiago and Finisterre, stayed there for a few days and then went back to walk the last two days. I really wanted to finish my camino regardless of the certificate.
I walked into the pilgrim office late one evening (after the evening mass) on the off chance really fully expecting to be told I did not qualify however I was handed a compostela with a smile!

I still have no idea whether the missing dates were overlooked or whether they didn't matter. I'm never sure whether they do have to be continuous? Perhaps it depends on the officiousness of the person handing out your compostela?

My point is I would do the camino for you, your way, and if you're lucky you may get a Compostela.

 

[jrageth625]

Thanks everyone for the advice and knowledge. I guess I'll just do my camino and see what happens.

 

[mikevasey]

Hi i met a polish girl on the camino last november who had started from Leon, she had only given her self 12 days, she expected to be able to walk 30km every day. As it happened her right knee started to become very painful before Acebo, she started to use public transport and hitch afterwards. I told her that without walking the last 100km she wouldnt be able to get any form of compostela. On her last day she got a bus from Melide to Santiago to make the midday mass. She went to the pilgrims office and truthfully explained what she had done and why, they gave her a compostela.

Give it a go, you never know, i think it depends on how much sympathy the person who you speak to has with your situation.

Mike

 

[skilsaw]

Thanks everyone for the advice and knowledge. I guess I'll just do my camino and see what happens.

Sounds like a "see what happens" mindset is very realistic.

I assume you will be taking the bus or train back and forth to do your various legs of the journey. I hope you have great connections and don't spend too much time sitting at stations between buses and trains.

If you have just 7 days in a row at Holy Week, it could go like this:
Day 1 Travel Madrid to Sarria
Day 2 to 5, Walk to Santiago
Day 6, Hang out in Santiago
Day 7, Travel Santiago to Madrid.

If you have 9 days in a row:
Day 1 - travel to O'cebreiro
Day 2 to 8 - walk to Santiago
Day 9 - Travel back to Madrid.

There is kind of fellowship that develops on the Camino that you might have some difficulty experiencing. After walking at the same speed for a couple of days, you become acquaintances with the people around you. Sleeping in the same albergues, eating meals together, even cooking together in the albergues. Experiencing the weather - wind, rain, sun, snow! All this creates a bond. It culminates in chance meetings in Santiago upon completion. I hope you experience some of this fellowship, even with pilgrims you have met just that afternoon.

The good news is, Everybody walks their own Camino. What is right for you, is right! Slough off the critics who say it is wrong.

Buen Camino,
David, Victoria, Canada.

 

[Caminando]

I told her that without walking the last 100km she wouldnt be able to get any form of compostela. On her last day she got a bus from Melide to Santiago to make the midday mass. She went to the pilgrims office and truthfully explained what she had done and why, they gave her a compostela.


Mike

This is great - because it shows how utterly unimportant the bit of paper is at the end of a camino.

 

[mikevasey]

This is great - because it shows how utterly unimportant the bit of paper is at the end of a camino.

I agree, i didnt bother getting one after my first camino, for me i couldnt see the point, it was the experiences on the way that mattered to me more. I got one on my 2nd camino because someone asked me to.I arrived in santiago on the 27th nov, as i was leaving on tuesday 30 nov, got a text message from someone that it would matter to them if i got the compostela, so i did.

But for this girl her compostela did matter, because it was a symbol of her at least trying, and this mattered to her very much, and for me even with my own negative attitude to the compostela i would not try to convince her otherwise.

 

[jrageth625]

I have another question. I was reading somewhere that the Pilgrim Office in Saint Jean does not open until March. Is this true? I'm starting February 25, so I'm a little concerned. Would I still be able to get my credencial in Saint Jean if it's closed?

 

[Deleted member 3000]

They are open all year around, but exact hours are not on the internet.

 

[KiwiNomad06]

I was reading somewhere that the Pilgrim Office in Saint Jean does not open until March. Is this true? I'm starting February 25, so I'm a little concerned. Would I still be able to get my credencial in Saint Jean if it's closed?

jrageth, I am not sure what happens... but I am sure someone who has started in SJPP in February will have an answer. Perhaps in the gite or the parish you can get one. Or maybe you can collect a stamp on paper (eg from a gite or Tourist Office) and then glue it into a credencial when you get one in Roncesvalles.

Whatever happens, be sure to listen to the advice of the locals about getting across to Spain while conditions could still be very wintry.

Margaret

 

[hel&scott]

Yes you can get a credencial (pilgrim pasport) in St Jean, if you get there when the office is open. When we started from there it was late and as the office didn't open to late in the morning and we wanted an early start we left town without one and picked one up when we got to Roncesvalles.

You can only get a compostela (completion certificate) in Santiago after you have completed the trip, the questions they ask test if you are a true pilgrim and i.e.
- walked a minimum of at least the 100 kms (and yes continually - not broken trips or bussed sections);
- have done the trip for spiritual (not necessarily catholic or religious reasons);
- and suffered.

The will give you a non religious certificate if you don't qualify for a compostela. The first camino we completed we stuck to our pagan guns and got the non-religious certificates (which confused the hell out of them), the next time as we qualified spiritual as praying to the gods of "water fountains and beer machines" for refreshment they were happy to issue us composetla. On our last trip through Santiago my daughter gave her reason as "my mother made me" and received the non-religious certificate she wanted.

So yes, the paper can mean very little at the end of the day. But for others it can mean everything.

 

[JohnnieWalker]

I have another question. I was reading somewhere that the Pilgrim Office in Saint Jean does not open until March. Is this true? I'm starting February 25, so I'm a little concerned. Would I still be able to get my credencial in Saint Jean if it's closed?

Hello - I can find no reference to the Pilgrims Office in St Jean Pied de Port closing in winter. I have been there in late November and it was certainly open. It may be that opening hours are restricted at times in winter but that will be posted on the door. We know from lots of pilgrims that the office has been open and issuing weather information and warnings in February.

Buen Camino

John

 

[dutchpilgrim]

The acceuil is opened all year.
http://www.aucoeurduchemin.org/spip/-AC ... ml?lang=fr

Ultreya,
Carli Di Bortolo.

 

[NaKwendaSafari]

Hel&Scott wrote

You can only get a compostela (completion certificate) in Santiago after you have completed the trip, the questions they ask test if you are a true pilgrim and i.e.
- walked a minimum of at least the 100 kms (and yes continually - not broken trips or bussed sections);
- have done the trip for spiritual (not necessarily catholic or religious reasons);
- and suffered.

As you are a regular contributor to this forum, and your having done the Camino a few times, it would be nice if you could post more on the suffering required, the passage you wrote has been marked in red, to get the compostela.

 

[grayland]

Hel&Scott wrote

You can only get a compostela (completion certificate) in Santiago after you have completed the trip, the questions they ask test if you are a true pilgrim and i.e.
- walked a minimum of at least the 100 kms (and yes continually - not broken trips or bussed sections);
- have done the trip for spiritual (not necessarily catholic or religious reasons);
- and suffered.

As you are a regular contributor to this forum, and your having done the Camino a few times, it would be nice if you could post more on the suffering required, the passage you wrote has been marked in red, to get the compostela.

Actually, I don't think any questions are asked along these lines. In my experience the people in the Pilgrim office in Santiago simply look over the credential to insure that you have completed the required minimum distance. You fill out a simple one line form on which you mark where you started, home country, reason (check box spiritual/religious, or other)...as far as I remember.
There were no questions of anyone as far as I know. Maybe we just came through when no questions were being asked...twice.

 

[JohnnieWalker]

Hola - Regarding "suffering" There are no questions asked about this. I confirmed this a few minutes ago with others in the Pilgrims Office in Santiago and all agreed that hopefully "suffering is at least optional and at best avoidable!"

 

[renegadepilgrim]

If I had been asked about suffering, I would have promptly removed my shoes and socks and shown them my feet!

 

[jrageth625]

Thanks for all of the help everyone! I leave tomorrow night to get to Saint Jean Pied de Port, and the first part of my camino officially starts on Friday. I'll get back to Madrid on Monday with hopefully some excellent experiences!

 

[jrageth625]

I got back to Madrid on Monday night, very tired and sore, but with many unforgettable experiences in my 4 days of walking. I made it from SJPdP to Villatuerta just before Estella, and I met some amazing people along the way (there were quite a few people walking compared to what I expected). The weather was off and on against us with rain, snow, and sleet to giving us beautiful periods of time with lots of sun and warm weather and even a rainbow. We seemed to only get "buen camino" from people when it was raining. It's amazing how little things can make you happy along the camino, like the sun coming out and drying your pants after 2 hours of melting snow in your face making your feet and pants wet and whole body chilled. I was truly sad to leave my companions that I had been walking with since the second day. I can't wait to see their pictures after they finish the camino.

I would say that the camino bug bit pretty hard; I already have my bus tickets for my next bit of walking booked for the weekend of the 12th of this month. I'll go back next time leaving a few things from my backpack behind and with Compeed this time. Until next time, buen camino everyone!