Some routes are up, but ohers are down

[Felipe]

The Camino de Santiago is a “touristic muscle” for Castilla and León, upon “Diario de Burgos”. The newspaper quotes the general director of tourism on 252.910 pilgrims in the first semester of 2014 –that is, 5,48% more than last year, and 25.9% more than 2010, which was the much touted “Año Santo”. By contrast, the bed offering has only increased 4.43% in León, 3% in Burgos and 0.86% in Palencia. The note also mentions that American pilgrims are up, from the 4th place to the 1st (with 23.46%)

On the other side, the Aragones has lost a third of its usual pilgrims, from almost 4000 in 2009 to 2676 in 2013, upon the “Heraldo” from Zaragoza. It is attributed to the popularity of Camino Catalan and other more appealing alternatives to Frances. Government and hotel owners are somewhat worried, bcs they consider the Camino “a star touristic product”, important to local economies. Pilgrims are, according to the newspaper, mostly middle age Europeans. The government has invested in road improvements, and apparently it has decided to promote the Aragones as a "more authentic" way, with beautiful landscapes and interesting old architecture.

update: ups! sorrry for the typo. I promise that ohers (uh...I mean others) messages will be more thoroughly edited.