Santiagua - the scuba-diving route from Hondarribia to A Coruña

[MarkyD]

A Galician friend of mine just sent me this link, which is in Spanish, about an amazing new pilgrimage route: under the sea in diving gear!
A group of intrepid pioneering Basque divers set off on 25th July 2019 from the port town of Hondarribia to go via the coastal waters submerged to reach A Coruña in 21 stages. What an amazing story this is. They are inaugurating a route they call SANTIAGUA, to combine their passion for diving and their love of the Camino de Santiago.
Here is the link if anyone is interested:

Un grupo de vascos inventan el Camino de Santiago buceando: Santiagua

Mezclaron su pasión por el submarinismo con su amor por el Camino de Santiago y acaban de culminar la primera ruta submarina que llega a Compostela

www.elespanol.com

 

[Jeff Crawley]

I must admit that sometimes, walking through Galicia, I've thought my snorkel and mask would have come in useful . . .

 

[VNwalking]

If it were April 1, I would take this as a spoof.
But it's serious, about the Camino and about care for the sea.
And the underwater mojones are wonderful!
Thanks for posting this, @MarkyD !

 

[MarkyD]

If it were April 1, I would take this as a spoof.
But it's serious, about the Camino and about care for the sea.
And the underwater mojones are wonderful!
Thanks for posting this, @MarkyD !

Yeah, I initially thought it was a spoof, but on reading the article I found it was true.
They say they recorded a lot of video to compile a documentary at some point. In Spain, via online press, you can see a few more articles, some of which have short video clips. This one below, after the advertising finishes, shows you the group of 4 divers walking into Praza do Obradoiro with their scuba gear on!

"El Camino de Santiagua", una mezcla entre el buceo y el senderismo

Los participantes del proyecto "El Camino de Santiagua" han llegado a Santiago de Compostela...

www.abc.es

 

[VNwalking]

This one below, after the advertising finishes, shows you the group of 4 divers walking into Praza do Obradoiro with their scuba gear on!

That was a bit much - but I guess they were doing it to make a statement. (So did they walk all the way from A Coruna with their tanks on their backs? )

I'm actually not so sure what I think about this, other than a distinct ambivalence. How wonderful to use something like this to educate people about the sea and how human activity affects everyone who lives in it. And...the popularity of the camino is certainly creating some strange spin-offs. Next?

 

[MarkyD]

That was a bit much - but I guess they were doing it to make a statement. (So did they walk all the way from A Coruna with their tanks on their backs? )

I'm actually not so sure what I think about this, other than a distinct ambivalence. How wonderful to use something like this to educate people about the sea and how human activity affects everyone who lives in it. And...the popularity of the camino is certainly creating some strange spin-offs. Next?

This is their website:

Camino de Santiagua - La aventura ha comenzado el 25 de Julio, 2019

La aventura ha comenzado el 25 de Julio, 2019

www.caminodesantiagua.com

It looks like they combined walking with some dives to drop 7 way markers (hitos/mojones) on the sea bed and 3 more on land.
I guess it would be aimed at developing some kind of tourism and education about sea-life and environmental issues. They say their objective is that they want people to value the Cantabrian Sea. Perhaps it may become a tourist activity to follow the 'Camino Santiagua' route and go diving to locate the submerged way markers. Could it become part of an alternative Camino? I don't see why not. You'd need to be interested in and qualified to dive - it would also probably need to be a guided tour for the scuba diving part. It strikes me as being a bit too specialist to have wide appeal. However, if you find yourself on the Camino del Norte or Camino Inglés, and you fancy diving and learning more about their project, then it could be a great way to spend the extra days you have left before going home.

 

[Kathar1na]

I guess it would be aimed at developing some kind of tourism and education about sea-life and environmental issues. They say their objective is that they want people to value the Cantabrian Sea. Perhaps it may become a tourist activity to follow the 'Camino Santiagua' route and go diving to locate the submerged way markers.

No need to guess ☺, they state the aims of their Santiagua project on their website, click on PRESENTACIÓN EL CAMINO DE SANTIAGUA

 

[MarkyD]

No need to guess ☺, they state the aims of their Santiagua project on their website, click on PRESENTACIÓN EL CAMINO DE SANTIAGUA

Aha, that certainly explains it better than my guesswork (before I'd looked in detail at their website )

 

[Kathar1na]

before I'd looked in detail at their website

Much of the reporting in the news concentrates on "look, here's a novel way of doing the Camino de Santiago". According to their website, however, their main goal is the protection of their home and their immediate environment, which is the Cantabrian Sea, the part of the Atlantic Ocean along the northern coast of Spain and the southwest coast of France: regeneration of life in the Cantabrian Sea, ending overfishing and disappearance of fish, fight against plastic and microplastic, control of the discharge of hydrocarbons (oil), raising awareness of climate change and petition for the creation of marine reserves.

Then, secondly, creation of employment in tourism (I hope it's sustainable tourism).

Whatever one may think about it, the Camino de Santiago is a cultural asset, like the Alps and the Grand Canyon and the Silk Road ...