Using a second Credencial

[trose]

I am walking the CP from Lisbon next month and have my credencial already. I notice there is not enough space to get stamps each day and I’m aware that the last 100 K is the important part but is it ok to pick up a second credencial and use it after I fill up the first. I do like the idea of having 2 stamps per day as it is a reminder of where I have been.

 

[Jeff Crawley]

Yes, you can use as many credentials as you care to - you can even use a blank sheet of paper if you can't readily buy one - just make sure the stamps are kept in date order.



Buen Camino!

 

[Scott Sweeney]

I am walking the CP from Lisbon next month and have my credencial already. I notice there is not enough space to get stamps each day and I’m aware that the last 100 K is the important part but is it ok to pick up a second credencial and use it after I fill up the first. I do like the idea of having 2 stamps per day as it is a reminder of where I have been.

Depending on what you're going to do with your credential, if you plan on framing them then remember stamps on both sides won't display in a standard frame. So using multiple credentials will allow you to display just the one side with the stamps.

 

[ijerry]

I am walking the CP from Lisbon next month and have my credencial already. I notice there is not enough space to get stamps each day and I’m aware that the last 100 K is the important part but is it ok to pick up a second credencial and use it after I fill up the first. I do like the idea of having 2 stamps per day as it is a reminder of where I have been.

Yes, you can certainly use additional credentials — just write 'continuo' in the second and subsequent ones so they know it's a continuation of the first credential.

 

[Katherine Radeka]

I had exactly this question back in May. It turned out not to be an issue at all.

You just show both credentials at the office in Santiago to get your distance certificate. I found that it was easier for me to start using my second passport when we got to Sarria, mainly as a reminder to me that I needed two stamps every day, once I got there. But then it turned out to be so easy to get stamps that I didn’t have to worry about it.

To satisfy the OCD side of me, I got two stamps from the same place to make the transition: the last stamp. in passport 1, and the first stamp in passport 2. But that was just me. Nobody else cared.

 

[Marcus-UK]

I am walking the CP from Lisbon next month and have my credencial already. I notice there is not enough space to get stamps each day and I’m aware that the last 100 K is the important part but is it ok to pick up a second credencial and use it after I fill up the first. I do like the idea of having 2 stamps per day as it is a reminder of where I have been.

The easiest thing to do is scan a blank page of your credential and then print out multiple copies to add to your original. Just index them so you don't get confused. You can also use the blank side to add notes for future years when memories fade.

 

[xin loi]

Used three on my first Camino. On that camino people were claiming the the "trophy" stamp on the Caminos is a stamp of a shell from a Shell gas station. No one found such a place on the Frances.. Did not find one like that on the Frances, The Primitivo, or the Portugese...but I did get a Stamp of a Shell from A Shell Gas station on the Norte!

 

[trecile]

I am walking the CP from Lisbon next month and have my credencial already. I notice there is not enough space to get stamps each day and I’m aware that the last 100 K is the important part but is it ok to pick up a second credencial and use it after I fill up the first. I do like the idea of having 2 stamps per day as it is a reminder of where I have been.

I've always had enough spaces in one credential for a daily stamp plus a second stamp during the last 100 km.
The credentials issued by the Cathedral in Santiago and the Portuguese pilgrim association each have 64 spaces for stamps.

I'm partial to the design of the Portuguese credential, especially when doing the Camino Portugués. You can buy one at the Cathedral in Lisbon every day between 9:30 - 18:30.



Of course if you are a real "stamp collector" you may want more spaces.

 

[lonestarmatt]

"Extra" Credencials are available at the Cathedral in Lisbon and in Porto. On our last Camino Frances, we had 3 credencials: 1 for Religious/Spiritual (Churches, Parochials, Pilgrims Office, etc); 1 for where I stayed each night (Albergues, Casa Rurals, Refugios, Hotels, etc); and 1 for miscellaneous fun and to share (bars, restaurants, vendors, etc).

 

[TrvlDad1]

I’ve used a single credential for multiple short canimos because I’m generally limited to 2-3 weeks at a time and they don’t always end in Santiago. I just add to one I’ve started, hopefully from the same major Camino route, for posterity and my own edification. I have a few that qualified for and have the Cathedral stamp, but that’s no longer the primary goal.

 

[Kathy F.]

As said above, many pilgrims use/need more than one credential. I used 2, duct taped together (duct tape was part of my emergency equipment kit).
I suspect that the volunteers at the Pilgrim Office in Santiago would have given the Compostella to me anyway, judging from the way I looked when I showed up at their counter - CLEARLY a pilgrim who had walked, ahem, a few kilometers.

 

[henrythedog]

I filled a standard credencial on the CdMadrid, in four days. Sellos are free souvenirs, why would you not ..

My ‘bits and pieces’ credencial which I use whenever I go over for a week or so on any route which takes my fancy is now five credenciales taped together and stamped on both sides. I’ve no intention of presenting it for another compostella.

 

[trose]

I certainly appreciate all the advice and I will stop by the cathedral in Lisbon an purchase an additional one. Thank you all!!