Stamp requirements are for last 100 kms.

[ruthwa]

Hi, I am in Portomarin after arriving yesterday. from Ferrious. Due to the weather and having a horrible cold I am spending the day here to start walking again tomorrow . Sorry if this is dumb question but do you I need to collect my credencial stamps today as I’m not planning on leaving the alberque!
Thank you for your help!

 

[wisepilgrim]

You do not.
Get well soon!

 

[JabbaPapa]

Technically yes, but even so, just get them at a local bar, restaurant, supermarket, whatever.

And things do vary as to where you have walked from.

If it's not far, then that's two stamps *a day* which would include rest days.

If you have a large credencial with many stamps from afar, eh, they will cut you some slack.

Though frankly, just one stamp on your rest day would certainly be enough, including if it were just from the same place.

 

[Kathar1na]

do you I need to collect my credencial stamps today as I’m not planning on leaving the alberque!

As @wisepilgrim has already said, no, you don't.

What I would do, though: Tomorrow or whenever you start walking again, get a second stamp from Portomarin; it can be the same that you got when you arrived, just with a different date. This is a requirement for pilgrims who stop their Camino and restart at a later date (usually a much later date than simply the day after tomorrow) on the 100 km section. This is how they explain it in English on the website of the Pilgrim Office:

You can do the Way in stages, provided they are in chronological and geographical order. However, if you only do the minimum required distance (last 100 or 200 km), you must always get your Credencial stamped at the start and end of each stage, including the corresponding date, to show that the pilgrim has resumed the Way in the same place where they last stopped (i.e. you should always get the stamp at the starting point even though you have already stamped the card in the same place at the end of the previous stage).​

So stay inside, keep warm and get better soon! Buen Camino!

 

[ruthwa]

Thank you so much everyone. I managed to get out briefly to the pharmacy and supermarket between the showers so I’m all stamped for the day!!!

 

[JabbaPapa]

People have been refused a Compostela from not following the rules, so that it's unhelpful to suggest that the rules can be ignored, and especially when one doesn't know how far people have walked from.

The two stamps are principally about good will towards the Camino, not like stamps upon a relay course or something.

You can get your two stamps a day in the same pueblo.

Don't worry about it, really, just more or less get stamps and try to follow the rules.

 

[AidaYYC]

Thank you so much everyone. I managed to get out briefly to the pharmacy and supermarket between the showers so I’m all stamped for the day!!!

Get well and Buen Camino

 

[Stivandrer]

Q: I have been led to believe that the two stamp a day rule is for the last leg of 100 Km only and then, importantly: only if this is your only distance,
whereas a full camino from farther off, say SJPdP or Seville will not require this rule of two stamps !??

I have been relying on old posts in this forum up till now and have thus been issued 2 Compostelas with one stamp only from a full CF and a full VdlP !! No one batted an eyelid...
Maybe I have just been lucky, and of course I will change my ways if this was wrongly observed !!

 

[henrythedog]

Q: I have been led to believe that the two stamp a day rule is for the last leg of 100 Km only and then, importantly: only if this is your only distance,
whereas a full camino from farther off, say SJPdP or Seville will not require this rule of two stamps !??

I have been relying on old posts in this forum up till now and have thus been issued 2 Compostelas with one stamp only from a full CF and a full VdlP !! No one batted an eyelid...
Maybe I have just been lucky, and of course I will change my ways if this was wrongly observed !!

You and many others have been lucky. Many in similar circumstances have had the rules applied as written and have been denied a compostella. Your anecdote - which I’ve no cause to disbelieve - is not helpful.

The rules are so simple that you would have to be as thick as mince to fail to understand them.

Last 100km on foot - two stamps per day.

Others have gained a compostella under different circumstances - but this is NOT a ‘what happened to you’ question it is a ‘what are the rules’ question.

 

[Tincatinker]

Q: I have been led to believe that the two stamp a day rule is for the last leg of 100 Km only and then, importantly: only if this is your only distance,
whereas a full camino from farther off, say SJPdP or Seville will not require this rule of two stamps !??

I have been relying on old posts in this forum up till now and have thus been issued 2 Compostelas with one stamp only from a full CF and a full VdlP !! No one batted an eyelid...
Maybe I have just been lucky, and of course I will change my ways if this was wrongly observed !!

OK! So! You got lucky. Congratulations! So, turn up at the PO, 1 stamp per day from Trondheim and the excellent voluntario says “no”. Your actual explanation for disregarding the rules is?

 

[henrythedog]

Q: I have been led to believe that the two stamp a day rule is for the last leg of 100 Km only and then, importantly: only if this is your only distance,
whereas a full camino from farther off, say SJPdP or Seville will not require this rule of two stamps !??

I have been relying on old posts in this forum up till now and have thus been issued 2 Compostelas with one stamp only from a full CF and a full VdlP !! No one batted an eyelid...
Maybe I have just been lucky, and of course I will change my ways if this was wrongly observed !!

I took a breath whilst my esteemed colleague expressed similar sentiment with better grammar.

What would you recommend to others - follow the rules or not?

 

[trecile]

I have been led to believe that the two stamp a day rule is for the last leg of 100 Km only and then, importantly: only if this is your only distance,
whereas a full camino from farther off, say SJPdP or Seville will not require this rule of two stamps !??

The rule, which you can find on the Pilgrim Office website is for everyone regardless of where they started:

To get the “Compostela” you must:​

• Make the pilgrimage for religious or spiritual reasons, or at least an attitude of search.
• Do the last 100 km on foot or horseback, or the last 200 km by bicycle. It is understood that the pilgrimage starts at one point and from there you come to visit the Tomb of St. James.
• You must collect the stamps on the “Credencial del Peregrino” from the places you pass through to certify that you have been there. Stamps from churches, hostels, monasteries, cathedrals and all places related to the Way are preferred, but if not they can also be stamped in other institutions: town halls, cafés, etc. You have to stamp the Credencial twice a day at least on the last 100 km (for pilgrims on foot or on horseback) or on the last 200 km (for cyclists pilgrims).

Do Pilgrim Office staff and volunteers often overlook the rule for those who have walked from SJPdP or Sevilla? Yes, it's at their discretion, but equally at their discretion to apply the rule strictly.

 

[David Tallan]

Q: I have been led to believe that the two stamp a day rule is for the last leg of 100 Km only and then, importantly: only if this is your only distance,
whereas a full camino from farther off, say SJPdP or Seville will not require this rule of two stamps !??

I have been relying on old posts in this forum up till now and have thus been issued 2 Compostelas with one stamp only from a full CF and a full VdlP !! No one batted an eyelid...
Maybe I have just been lucky, and of course I will change my ways if this was wrongly observed !!

As others point out above, this was wrongly observed. You are correct in your understanding that the "two stamps a day" rule is for the last leg of 100km only. But the "and then, importantly..." part, saying that this only applies if this is your only distance, and that it doesn't apply to longer Caminos, is incorrect.

You have been lucky. Many are. But if a Compostela is important, it is best not to rely on luck.

 

[Stivandrer]

have probably had my last Compostela, from now on only the last stamp at the office to satisfy the statistics.
In my defence, I have not been spiteful, but have simply clean forgotten to supply the second stamp.....

 

[JabbaPapa]

The advice that I would have, to those pilgrims neglecting this requirement for whatever reasons after having walked over a very long distance, would be to glue the multiple credenciales together into a single very large one, as that would help make it more obvious that you have indeed walked into Compostela from afar. So that your chances of being forgiven for the administrative failure will be increased therefrom.

Nevertheless, just get the two stamps !!

Better safe than sorry.

(my credencial this time is weird, and I had to get five stamps from the Pilgrim Office to close it out, two at each bookend, +1 for the inside of it as I was heading back out that morning towards France)

 

[Corned Beef]

My apologies for my ignorance in these matters and I have no wish to cause offence.

I understand the earthly value of a Compostela to cafe owners but what significance has it in spiritual/religious matters? I've never tried to find out as I have issues with unnecessary rule following. Probably why I've never received one.

 

[dougfitz]

I understand the earthly value of a Compostela to cafe owners but what significance has it in spiritual/religious matters? I've never tried to find out as I have issues with unnecessary rule following. Probably why I've never received one.

Personally, nothing and everything. They formally acknowledges my belief that I walked in an attitude of spiritual search on the Pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela. Does that serve any practical purpose, other perhaps than being delightful bling to share with my friends? Not really. I will know how I walked without them, and my friends will eventually get bored with stories about 'that pilgrimage thing' that I do. But that doesn't mean I don't treat them as treasures, because they will always be that to me.

 

[Bradypus]

I understand the earthly value of a Compostela to cafe owners but what significance has it in spiritual/religious matters?

Impossible to say what personal spiritual or religious significance a Compostela has for any individual. As far as formal religious institutions are concerned it has little direct meaning these days. In the earlier centuries of the pilgrimage people could be sentenced to visit Santiago or other shrines by religious or civil courts for a range of offences. The Compostela was important then as evidence that the sentence had been served and the person could be free from further penalties. When religious and temporal authorities were closely intertwined that could be very important for all aspects of life - not simply a matter of private spirituality. Well into the 20th century the Compostela was only granted to those who actively professed Catholic faith by making a confession and receiving absolution and then receiving Holy Communion. It could therefore be seen as some evidence of one's being in good standing within the Catholic church. Although these were no longer preconditions by 1990 a Protestant like myself was still a rare species on my first Camino and I was asked some probing questions about my motivation and understanding of pilgrimage and Christian faith before receiving my first Compostela. These days the pilgrim office puts all of its efforts into verifying the distance walked and in practice pays no attention to the walker's motivations despite the wording of the document itself. I no longer ask for a Compostela at the end of my journeys either.

 

[dbier]

Excellent summary.

For background...Being a practicing Catholic in the Roman Rite ( though I do love other rites, like the Melkite), confirming my pilgrimage to whoever in this world asks is the point of the Compostela. As such, I have no desire or need for the distance certificate.

I say this as a woman with a stand full of finisher medals from races. *Those* are about completing the distance. The Compostela, for me, is about keeping a promise to look for God more deeply.

Funny thing...when you *look*...God will find. Just never in the ways you expect.

The most blessed of times to you all.

 

[trecile]

I understand the earthly value of a Compostela to cafe owners but what significance has it in spiritual/religious matters?

I didn't know that the Compostela has value to café owners.

 

[David Tallan]

I didn't know that the Compostela has value to café owners.

I think the value alluded to of the Compostela to cafe owners (at least in the last 100 km) is that it is supposed to encourage pilgrims to come into the cafe in search of a stamp for their credencials when they are looking for that second stamp. So it is not the value of a particular Compostela borne by a particular pilgrim but rather the value of the existence of Compostelas as a whole and the rules around them.