In 2004, my first Camino, I used an English Guidebook printed by the Confraternity of St. James in England. Their website is www.csj.org.uk The website is a treasure trove of information. Their guidebooks are brief, consise and regularly updated. The books are inexpensive and light to carry. Details for purchasing a guidebook and having it mailed to you are on the webpage.
A free spirited Mexican lad that I met heard about the Camino while on holiday in Europe and spontaniously decided to do it. All he had was a tourist brochure that had a list of towns with albergues and the distance between towns. He was truly winging it, and having a great time.
If you fly into Madrid, you can get to SJPP through Pamplona as described, or you can take a train from Madrid to Hendaye on the French border and change trains in Bayonne for the 1 hour train ride to SJPP. It can be done in a day. Four Americans that I met did this and had a travel agent in the US book their train tickets.
I found the more I was able to let go of my compulsive need for planning and wing it, the better my Camino became.
Just Do It.
David, Victoria, Canada.