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Rules on using old Credentials?

myku92

New Member
Time of past OR future Camino
Sarria to Santiago (past)
Camino Portugues (April 2019)
Hi all,
My dad is currently walking on the Camino de Madrid. This will be 14th Camino ! As he's done it so many times (once every year since 2007 and 2nd time this year), he is not so bothered about getting a certificate at the end and so.... he took the credential he had from this April (he did Porto to Santiago), he didn't have any problem other than not finding albergues that are open along the way.... until today, when he was refused an entry at an albergue in Akcazaren. He was told "NO" from a French hospitalero as his credential doesn't say "Madrid Route"....
He has since heading to Valladolid and will stay at a hotel tonight. I'm just a bit shocked as I didn't realise they could be so harsh on someone who's walked over 25 km!
 
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Hi all,
My dad is currently walking on the Camino de Madrid. This will be 14th Camino ! As he's done it so many times (once every year since 2007 and 2nd time this year), he is not so bothered about getting a certificate at the end and so.... he took the credential he had from this April (he did Porto to Santiago), he didn't have any problem other than not finding albergues that are open along the way.... until today, when he was refused an entry at an albergue in Akcazaren. He was told "NO" from a French hospitalero as his credential doesn't say "Madrid Route"....
He has since heading to Valladolid and will stay at a hotel tonight. I'm just a bit shocked as I didn't realise they could be so harsh on someone who's walked over 25 km!
@myku92 Sorry that doesn’t sound right at all. BUT there is a slight issue....At Puente Duero, after Alcazaren, there is an Albergue and a “Camino Legend” called Arturo. Undoubtedly welcoming, if (more than) a little fussy. A lot of rules😉. More than a lot in fact. When I was there two other people were re-using credenciales which they had had stamped previously on arrival in SdC the previous year. Apparently the rules are clear😱 and such a credencial is invalid for further use. No ifs, no buts. The legendary Arturo was chair of the local friends and spoke with ponderous authority.😉 BUT.....he supplied brand new commemorative credenciales for perhaps €1 or 2 there and then.
I wonder was there a misunderstanding? If your dad is in Valladolid he's just passed Puente Duero. It would have been helpful to enquire there (from the oracle). I feel sure he would have been helpful as undoubtedly his heart in the right place.
 
I'm not sure whether that was the albergue but there could have been a misunderstanding between a French volunteer and a Korean pilgrim with only survival Spanish and not great English. Thanks for letting me know and I'll ask him to see if he could get a new credential somewhere...! (Any idea where along the way?!)
 
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Many albergues have credentials available. A cathedral should have them.
 
Hi all,
My dad is currently walking on the Camino de Madrid. This will be 14th Camino ! As he's done it so many times (once every year since 2007 and 2nd time this year), he is not so bothered about getting a certificate at the end and so.... he took the credential he had from this April (he did Porto to Santiago), he didn't have any problem other than not finding albergues that are open along the way.... until today, when he was refused an entry at an albergue in Akcazaren. He was told "NO" from a French hospitalero as his credential doesn't say "Madrid Route"....
He has since heading to Valladolid and will stay at a hotel tonight. I'm just a bit shocked as I didn't realise they could be so harsh on someone who's walked over 25 km!


‘They’ generally are kind, accommodating, flexible and sympathetic and would always accept a credential of pretty much any vintage so long as it showed progress towards them in the general direction of Santiago.

‘He’ may be Arturo the ‘legend’ - but whoever he is, and based on the OP’s story- personally I think he’s a pedantic pain in the fundament who ought to move on or chill out.

Your father would be most unfortunate to come across such unaccommodating behaviour elsewhere.
 
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‘They’ generally are kind, accommodating, flexible and sympathetic and would always accept a credential of pretty much any vintage so long as it showed progress towards them in the general direction of Santiago.

‘He’ may be Arturo the ‘legend’ - but whoever he is, and based on the OP’s story- personally I think he’s a pedantic pain in the fundament who ought to move on or chill out.

Your father would be most unfortunate to come across such unaccommodating behaviour elsewhere.
Exactly, this was the only time when he was rejected.... in his 13 Caminos....
 
‘They’ generally are kind, accommodating, flexible and sympathetic and would always accept a credential of pretty much any vintage so long as it showed progress towards them in the general direction of Santiago.

‘He’ may be Arturo the ‘legend’ - but whoever he is, and based on the OP’s story- personally I think he’s a pedantic pain in the fundament who ought to move on or chill out.

Your father would be most unfortunate to come across such unaccommodating behaviour elsewhere.
I am not here to defend ‘the legend’;) but I *think* it is clear it was not him, at
Puente Duero, but rather a French hospitalero in Alcazaren. Arturo lives nearby and is definitely Spanish.
But when I was in Alcazaren there was no hospitalero - the albergue is municipal, built on the side of a garage belonging to municipality and we got key from tourist office. So in a way it *does* sound like it may have been Puente Duero.
I chose to stay there again on second occasion later in year, and let myself in using key which was ‘hidden’. A neighbour came to check I was OK.
On Gronze.com there is a l-o-n-g thread in Spanish on this albergue, with more heat than light.
I am immensely sad for experience of OP’s dad. Something has gone wrong. But at same time, I received kindness in Puente Duero, from a dedicated volunteer. Who was definitely eccentric.....;)
 
Just to confirm it was at Puente Duero. He was puzzled as the volunteer welcomed him initially taking his backpack off and putting his sticks away, offering a glass of wine but he completely changed when he checked my dad's credential, only saying 'NO'. But things could have been lost in translation as neither party spoke a common language. It was unfortunate but we move on as there are so many 'angels' along the way. Thanks!
 
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@myku92 Yes that makes sense! Sorry for what has happened to your Dad. That is exactly what happened when I was there, though not to me. He is elderly and eccentric, and his bark much worse than his bite. He was dispensing wine liberally to us. The ladies I was with, who had to get new credenciales laughed it off. It is a real shame, as it is a very nice little alberuge, more like a camino resource centre with a huge library, and TV and radio. But definitely an albergue and not his house.

And it sounds like he was 'offering' one of the Camino de Madrid credencials, rather than saying it was required. He is a bit 'dramatic'.
I hope your Dad is not put off - it sounds like he won't be after 13 caminos!! :)

Can @t2andreo give us chapter and verse on this question of reusing old credenciales?
I see Tom you said a while back:
Actually, the Pilgrim Office affixes TWO sellos to your credencial.
One goes over the handwritten entries, typically on the inside front cover to signify that this credencial is now CLOSED and may not be used again to seek a Compostela. This prevents 'double-dipping."

So there is something to it. I can understand the not using same completed credencial to obtain another Compostela. That makes sense.
But what about just using additional pages a second time around, on a different Camino? (I have done this before with Caminos that didn't finish in SdC.)
 
Last edited:
@timr Yes he won't be put off, I don't think though I think he won't be quick to go back to Madrid route again.

Also as per re-using old credentials, I myself did this and didn't have any issues (I walked Sarria - Santiago in 2018 and Porto - Santiago in 2019 - thought it was wasteful to get a new one when I had so much space was left....), mind you nor did my dad ever have an issue until yesterday :-(

Also I only received one Compostela in the first year as I'm not interested in collecting more than one Compostela :)

@myku92 Yes that makes sense! Sorry for what has happened to your Dad. That is exactly what happened when I was there, though not to me. He is elderly and eccentric, and his bark much worse than his bite. He was dispensing wine liberally to us. The ladies I was with, who had to get new credenciales laughed it off. It is a real shame, as it is a very nice little alberuge, more like a camino resource centre with a huge library, and TV and radio. But definitely an albergue and not his house.

And it sounds like he was 'offering' one of the Camino de Madrid credencials, rather than saying it was required. He is a bit 'dramatic'.
I hope your Dad is not put off - it sounds like he won't be after 13 caminos!! :)

Can @t2andreo give us chapter and verse on this question of reusing old credenciales?
I see Tom you said a while back:
Actually, the Pilgrim Office affixes TWO sellos to your credencial.
One goes over the handwritten entries, typically on the inside front cover to signify that this credencial is now CLOSED and may not be used again to seek a Compostela. This prevents 'double-dipping."

So there is something to it. I can understand the not using same completed credencial to obtain another Compostela. That makes sense.
But what about just using additional pages a second time around, on a different Camino? (I have done this before with Caminos that didn't finish in SdC.
 
@timr Yes he won't be put off, I don't think though I think he won't be quick to go back to Madrid route again.

Also as per re-using old credentials, I myself did this and didn't have any issues (I walked Sarria - Santiago in 2018 and Porto - Santiago in 2019 - thought it was wasteful to get a new one when I had so much space was left....), mind you nor did my dad ever have an issue until yesterday :-(

Also I only received one Compostela in the first year as I'm not interested in collecting more than one Compostela :)
@myku92 I don't imagine he will have any problem using his old credencial along the rest of the way. It is a very gentle and quiet Camino, which I would happily do again. The infrastructure is surprisingly good, though only for small numbers, but I met very very few anyway when walking. And the waymarking is excellent.
If he is still looking for a Credencial, possibly the tourist office in Valladolid, although strictly Valladolid is not "on" the Camino, but a bit off it. And I looked for a stamp in the cathedral there and caused quite a lot of confusion as they said they couldn't find it on a Sunday and I would need to come back on Monday. I held my ground and eventually got one.......
 
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