Registration form question

[brothersamuel]

Having a little bit of free time (as there is nothing to do for me in Lugo now, even the cathedral was closed in the afternoon, where I wished to spend some hours in prayer), I tried to fill the registration form for the compostella and got stuck.
We (me and my son) are walking the Camino primitivo, but we have started in Villaviciosa. When I choose Primitivo in the form, there is no Villaviciosa. Should I opt for the Norte a put in the correct starting point (also given the fact that we plan going back to Norte via Sobrado), or should I choose the first point of Primitivo?
Thank you for your help.

 

[Flog]

Dont sweat it:
You can just put in Primitivo/Oviedo on the registration page. Your starting place, route and the extra distance can be amended at the desk if you want a distance cert.

 

[JabbaPapa]

We (me and my son) are walking the Camino primitivo, but we have started in Villaviciosa. When I choose Primitivo in the form, there is no Villaviciosa.

The online pre-registration is not mandatory, and if your Camino does not correspond to the options presented, then you can get a ticket at the door and have your case treated individually.

If you have walked "a Camino" in a manner typical of many other pilgrims, then pre-registration is a useful tool to help speed everything up. All well and good.

But an atypical pilgrimage does still need personalised attention.

Think about your pilgrimage, don't worry about this IT stuff.

Pilgrims without smartphones still get their Compostelas !!

But registering a starting point that you did not start from is not a good idea. It just makes extra work.

 

[henrythedog]

The start point (providing it’s >100km from Santiago) is only relevant for the distance certificate, not the compostela. Given that you’re walking a ‘hybrid’ route that distance will have to be established face to face when you complete, so don’t worry about it. Just pick somewhere relevant that you’ve got a stamp for.

 

[trecile]

Given that you’re walking a ‘hybrid’ route that distance will have to be established face to face when you complete, so don’t worry about it.

For those walking hybrid routes that want a distance certificate I recommend keeping track of your distance yourself to make it easier on the volunteers at the Pilgrim Office. That's what I did when I walked Francés - Salvador - Norte. The volunteer who gave me my distance certificate seemed relieved that I already knew the distance.

 

[brothersamuel]

Thank you all for the input. I won’t bother with the preregistration.
Switching back to offline mode

 

[dbier]

The security guard at the Pilgrim's Office will wave you to a kiosk to register before letting you get the second ticket with your number in the queue for a volunteer. I did not see anyone successfully bypass registration.

Just a note of caution

 

[Kathar1na]

A few points, in no particular order, and I’m happy to be corrected if not accurate.

Someone posted recently that, merely a week ago, the Pilgrims Office had announced the day’s total number of Compostelas: 3,819. An amazingly high number. This is possible for two reasons: use of electronic tools such as online registration and willingness of a high number of pilgrims to participate in online registration and thereby lessen the workload for staff and volunteers at the Pilgrims Office.

Because somebody has to enter your data for your application for Compostela and/or Distance Certificate into the computer system: It is either you (the pilgrim) or a member of the Pilgrim Office. If you think that it’s nobler or more authentic if you refuse to do so yourself or that your pilgrimage is so special that it needs special personal treatment and that you of all people must be given a paper form to fill in, then think again. For online registration, you can either use your smartphone if you have one or one of the kiosks at the Pilgrims Office as mentioned by @dbier in the previous post.

The design of the online registration form leaves room for improvement. Some things are not obvious to each and every pilgrim. For example missing starting points such as Villaviciosa which is not listed as a menu option for the Camino Primitivo. What is listed, however, is this menu option: Resto Asturias - C.P. Which obviously means “any other town in the rest of Asturias - Camino Primitivo”. As suggested, you can pick this menu option and then explain to the person at the Pilgrims Office that you started in Villaviciosa and would like to see the name of this town as your starting point on your Distance Certificate.

I hope that @Flog does not mind me pointing out again that he is a volunteer at the Pilgrims Office who has actually worked at their computers and has issued Compostelas and certificates numerous times - not only in previous years but also very recently this year. IOW, a forum member who is familiar with current practice. We don’t count many of those among active forum participants.

 

[Kathar1na]

Each one of us could verify this for oneself but perhaps it is useful for future similar questions to state this explicitly: If you cannot find the name of the town where you started walking towards Compostela in the relevant menu of the online registration form then pick one of the general menu items. These are:

For the Camino Primitivo: Resto Asturias - C.P.
For the Camino Portugués: Resto Galicia; or Resto Portugal
For the Camino Inglés: Irlanda C. Inglés; or Reina Unido C. Inglés; or Resto Europa C. Inglés
For the Camino Francés: Resto Europa; and also a number of Spanish regions

If you walked a very long distance from a starting point somewhere in Europe or walked a fancy combination of parts of Caminos in Spain, then try to keep track of the kilometres you covered on foot and give the total distance walked to the person at the desk in the Pilgrims Office as @trecile suggested. This is only relevant if you wish to obtain a distance certificate. For a Compostela, all your hundreds of kilometers walked towards Compostela do not matter one bit: it is only your last 100 km just before Santiago that matter.

 

[JabbaPapa]

nobler or more authentic if you refuse to do so yourself or that your pilgrimage is so special that it needs special personal treatment and that you of all people must be given a paper form to fill in

Or, more simply, your Camino simply isn't accurately defined by the pre-registration options ; or your tech is incompatible with the app, or simply -- you don't have any tech.

This "so special that it needs special personal treatment" rhetoric is unhelpful IMO.

There's also the situation where you may want to provide multiple reasons for your Camino, which I personally always would, which the app does not permit.

For the Camino Portugués: Resto Galicia; or Resto Portugal

Well, that wasn't me last time ... even IF I could have used that app, which I couldn't. Neither of those options were accurate as to my starting point in Monaco.

If you walked a very long distance from a starting point somewhere in Europe or walked a fancy combination of parts of Caminos in Spain, then try to keep track of the kilometres you covered on foot and give the total distance walked to the person at the desk in the Pilgrims Office

If I had done so last time, I think I would have ended up abusively hogging a desk there for an hour or more. I have better things to do than demand that a volunteer there verify a journey of ~4,000K to that point ...

I want no "special personal treatment". I was in and out last time faster than most who were in the queue with me that day last year, most of whom had most likely pre-registered which is the norm, and even so I want no fuss, no nonsense on my part.

Using the paper form is not a "special personal treatment".

I do not understand the point of this commentary.

For a Compostela, all your hundreds of kilometers walked towards Compostela do not matter one bit: it is only your last 100 km just before Santiago that matter.

I would say that it is the point and purpose of one's pilgrimage that matter, not these administrative trivialities.

 

[Kathar1na]

Yesterday - a Friday in October - the Oficina del Peregrino issued 3442 Compostelas! Another remarkable figure! Perhaps a quick recap - again I am happy to be corrected if not accurate:

In 2021: Start of the online registration form
In 2022: Mixture of new online registration form and old paper form for those without smartphone capabilities
In 2023: Installation of kiosks at the office for online registration for those without own devices for registration, installation of printers, installation of QR code scanners, and abolition of paper form.

Nowadays, all pilgrims enter their personal data for their application for a Compostela themselves, either on their own smartphones or other own devices or on the kiosks at the office. Registration is possible at any time: A few days before your arrival in Santiago or on the day of arrival or on the day you wish to pick up your Compostela or Distance Certificate. You can register from anywhere where you have internet access or at the kiosks in the Pilgrim Office for those who have no other means or who need assistance.

The overwhelming majority of pilgrims appear to be able to manage on their own. The Compostela and the Distance Certificate get printed on the basis of the data that the pilgrims have registered themselves. Volunteers and staff no longer have to spend time with typing registration data into the computer and with manual writing and they have more time for personal interaction with pilgrims.

A remarkable achievement! There are no longer issues with long waiting lines or with waiting times of many hours or pilgrims who have to start their journey home without even getting the Compostela they wished to take home because the Pilgrim Office could not cope with several thousands of Compostelas per day - I remember such stories from previous years.

 

[Kathar1na]

Thank you all for the input. I won’t bother with the preregistration. Switching back to offline mode

You wish to apply for a Compostela and a Distance Certificate if I understand correctly. Please do let us know how it worked for you in the end. Accurate and up to date information is most welcome on this forum. Do note what @dbier wrote who I think was there recently this year:

The security guard at the Pilgrim's Office will wave you to a kiosk to register before letting you get the second ticket with your number in the queue for a volunteer. I did not see anyone successfully bypass registration. ​

This is also what current and recent volunteers with experience of working at the desks will tell you: paper forms no longer exist and you cannot circumvent the current process. Either you register on your own device, or you register at the Pilgrim Office's devices as directed by security staff, and if you, either unintentionally or on purpose, arrive at the desk without the obligatory QR code that you receive during the registration process you will be sent back to register. Because the staff and volunteers need it nowadays to access your data and print your certificates.

And as @Flog has kindly pointed out: Changes can be made at the desk especially for the Distance Certificate if and when the registration form did not allow you to enter details that you wish to see on your Certificate such as a specific starting point that is not explicitly listed in the menu options. Because, quite obviously, not all of the hundreds if not thousands of possible villages and towns can be listed that could serve as an individual pilgrim's starting point.

How long now for you? You must be nearly there? Buen Camino in any case.

 

[brothersamuel]

Dear @Kathar1na , your input is indeed very accurate and helpful.

I can attest that that what @dbier wrote is 100% correct - if you do not have a QR code on your phone you will be asked to put in your data at the kiosks before being allowed to get a ticket for the queue (if there is one).

We did have our QR codes, (with "Resto Asturias" as our starting point). We came to the pilgrim office around 10.30, were probably 6th in line, even with adjusting our starting point the procedure was extremely quick and pleasant - we were out I think in less than 10 minutes. (I was therefore much surprised to see a relatively long queue before the office the next morning before opening...)