Are Multiple compostelas possible for the same walk?

[The Ghost]

I'm here and still have two weeks left after I finish the English Way tomorrow.

Does anyone know if you can start the Primitive (at Lugo) following it to where it joins the Frances, then bus back to Sarria on the Francés and walking back to the where the Primitive joins the CF and finish up the CF (thus the Primitive). Can you get two Compostela, one for the Primitive and one for the Francés?

 

[Tincatinker]

Short answer, no. You can claim a Compostela for completing the Ingles, assuming you started in Ferrol. You could claim one for walking from Lugo to Santiago, or from Sarria to Santiago. Hybrids tend to confound the pilgrims office.

 

[MikeJS]

Short answer, no. You can claim a Compostela for completing the Ingles, assuming you started in Ferrol. You could claim one for walking from Lugo to Santiago, or from Sarria to Santiago. Hybrids tend to confound the pilgrims office.

Yes, they all a little confused by my ways. This time it was Camino Madrid, then a bit of the Frances, onto the Salvador and then the west section of the Olvidado and finishing with the last bit of the Frances from Villafranca. They still gave me the compostela and distance certificate but I had to tell them how far. I still only collected 1 stamp a day inc for the last 100km….

 

[Tincatinker]

Well done Mike, another great Camino! I guess the PO are used to your meandering ways by now

 

[Peterexpatkiwi]

@MikeJS , I've followed your meanderings with interest, and I for one am certainly not somebody to question why anyone would walk where they will.
But the one thing I often wonder about - and I hope you don't mind me asking - is why you actually continue to get the Compostelas? From the way people respond to you, you are well respected here on the forum and have clearly walked a considerable number of camino's. What does a Compostela mean to you?
I guess I work on the principal that I know I've walked, I don't need a piece of paper to prove it. The memories are able to be revived any time I look at photos or read some of my musings here on the forum.
Personally I got one for my first Camino and that was it. It's still in the transport tube, I've never taken it out. I've never quite understood the motivation behind collecting them. Or is it literally that - a collection?
I would be truly interested in your feedback

 

[Robo]

@MikeJS , I've followed your meanderings with interest, and I for one am certainly not somebody to question why anyone would walk where they will.
But the one thing I often wonder about - and I hope you don't mind me asking - is why you actually continue to get the Compostelas?

It is an interesting question.
Personally, I get them for other people.
Apart from the first, I walk my Caminos in memory of family members.
My Mother, my Father, my Grandmother, my Aunt.
The Compostelas have their names on them.
(Vicarie Pro)

Lots more still to go.......

 

[dbier]

Though I only have done 2, my Compostela for the Primitivo has my mother's name In Vicarie Pro.

Ghost, why not pick up the Primitivo from Lugo and then the Portuguese from its 100km point?

 

[dougfitz]

The Compostela is awarded for completing the pilgrimage to the tomb of Saint James, provided one meets the other Pilgrim Office requirements. It doesn't appear that there is any suggestion in the OP that this is going to be done twice. My view would be that while the Pilgrim Office might some help calculating the distance for the distance certificate, walking from Sarria would be sufficient to establish that one has met the requirements for the Compostela.

 

[t2andreo]

One arrival at the tomb of St. James, after walking the final 100 km on an approved route to Santiago = one Compostela.

The only exception I am aware of is adding someone as in “Vicarie Pro.” That two people on one Compostela.

The no way to get multiple Compostelas is to walk multiple, different routes for the final 100 km into Santiago.

Hope this clarifies,

Tom

 

[Kathy F.]

My thoughts:

1. It's your Camino. You do it any way you want to.

2. God will probably see to it that, with such a complicated Camino route, you will go to a brand new volunteer in the Pilgrim Office in Santiago. He/she will be as bewildered as can be and will spend twice as long as needed in order to try to make sure you get all the distance you are entitled to on your distance certificate. Then, of course, you will say that the distance certificate isn't really needed - you just want to get whichever Campostella/s you are entitled to.

3. That poor new volunteer in the Pilgrim Office would have been me on June 1 of this year, and I faced that exact, confounding situation on my very first day. And many more days that followed.

4. LOL, Buen Camino!!!

PS - It was always my absolute pleasure and joy to greet pilgrims at the end of their journeys. The ambition and energy of pilgrims who "walked outside of the box" humbled me every day. Volunteering in the Pilgrim Office was a blessing to me.

 

[JabbaPapa]

You can get multiple Compostelas by walking 100K+ to Compostela multiple times using multiple credenciales.

Having obtained a first Compostela from your Inglés, if you've walked far enough, you could bus to Sarria and begin another Camino, though you could personally view it as the same one of course.

What does disqualify someone is X km on one route then Y km on another if Y < 100 km -- but in your case, bus to Sarria then walk from there to Santiago is 100K+, so that's OK.

 

[Tincatinker]

You can also end up with multiple Compostela by popping into your local “Copy Shop” (remember them?) and asking them to bust you a few.

Doesn’t the question rank with “do I have to get my own sellos or is it alright if the taxi driver gets them?”

Grumpy tinker looking across a blasted heath; well scrubbed teeth and nothing beneath and wondering where the pilgrimage went when you brushed your teeth with a Sterile Event

 

[David Tallan]

I'm here and still have two weeks left after I finish the English Way tomorrow.

Does anyone know if you can start the Primitive (at Lugo) following it to where it joins the Frances, then bus back to Sarria on the Francés and walking back to the where the Primitive joins the CF and finish up the CF (thus the Primitive). Can you get two Compostela, one for the Primitive and one for the Francés?

You would not have completed the Camino Primitivo which doesn't end in Melide but ends in Santiago de Compostela, especially for the purposes of getting a Compostela.

 

[David Tallan]

Yes, they all a little confused by my ways. This time it was Camino Madrid, then a bit of the Frances, onto the Salvador and then the west section of the Olvidado and finishing with the last bit of the Frances from Villafranca. They still gave me the compostela and distance certificate but I had to tell them how far. I still only collected 1 stamp a day inc for the last 100km….

That's because the only Camino that counts for a Compostela is one that ends in Santiago. The Camino de Madrid doesn't earn one, unless you continue on to Santiago (and then it has to combine with the rest of your walking to Santiago to merit the Compostela). You can get a certificate in Sahagun for the Madrid to Sahagun part, but it isn't a Compostela. Similarly, the Salvador, not going to Santiago, doesn't result in a Compostela (but if you continue on to Santiago it can count as part of the distance walked for a distance certificate). But like the Madrid, it does provide its own certificate in Oviedo - the Salvadorana.

 

[The Ghost]

Though I only have done 2, my Compostela for the Primitivo has my mother's name In Vicarie Pro.

Ghost, why not pick up the Primitivo from Lugo and then the Portuguese from its 100km point?

I already did the Portuguese from Porto back in April/May.

 

[The Ghost]

You would not have completed the Camino Primitivo which doesn't end in Melide but ends in Santiago de Compostela, especially for the purposes of

I'm here and still have two weeks left after I finish the English Way tomorrow.

Does anyone know if you can start the Primitive (at Lugo) following it to where it joins the Frances, then bus back to Sarria on the Francés and walking back to the where the Primitive joins the CF and finish up the CF (thus the Primitive). Can you get two Compostela, one for the Primitive and one for the Francés?

After arriving Santiago yesterday and receiving my third compostela. (Norte, Portuguese and now English starting at Ribadeo getting credit for the Del Mar) I asked this question to the pilgrims office. It was confusing to them. The answer they gave was no. I could only get the compostela for one of either the Primitivo or Frances.

Do the compostelas look the same? I will have to compare once I get home. I guess if they are the same, it would be only the mileage certificate that I'd like to have to show what and where I walked.

Yesterday, after seeing the hordes of people walking into Santiago on the CF. I'm not sure I really want to be walking with that many people. I've got my reservations for Lugo so that's where I'm off to, today.

 

[Kirkie]

After arriving Santiago yesterday and receiving my third compostela. (Norte, Portuguese and now English starting at Ribadeo getting credit for the Del Mar) I asked this question to the pilgrims office. It was confusing to them. The answer they gave was no. I could only get the compostela for one of either the Primitivo or Frances.

Do the compostelas look the same? I will have to compare once I get home. I guess if they are the same, it would be only the mileage certificate that I'd like to have to show what and where I walked.

Yesterday, after seeing the hordes of people walking into Santiago on the CF. I'm not sure I really want to be walking with that many people. I've got my reservations for Lugo so that's where I'm off to, today.

Enjoy the wonder at the walls...

 

[David Tallan]

Do the compostelas look the same?

All the Compostelas look the same. They have no information about where you started, or where or how far you walked. Just where you arrived. The only customization is your name (which will be the same), the date (which will presumably be different), and if you add someone else's name with "in vacarie pro" (on behalf of).

As you suggest, it is the distance certificate that shows from where and how far you walked. But I don't believe it names the routes you walked on.

 

[The Ghost]

All the Compostelas look the same. They have no information about where you started, or where or how far you walked. Just where you arrived. The only customization is your name (which will be the same), the date (which will presumably be different), and if you add someone else's name with "in vacarie pro" (on behalf of).

As you suggest, it is the distance certificate that shows from where and how far you walked. But I don't believe it names the routes you walked on.

The one I got the other days does show both the Del Mar and Ingles names on it.

 

[David Tallan]

The one I got the other days does show both the Del Mar and Ingles names on it.

Are you sure that is a Compostela and not a distance certificate?

 

[The Ghost]

Are you sure that is a Compostela and not a distance certificate?

Sorry, I was referring to the distance one that is showing the name of the Caminos I completed.

 

[dbier]

Yes, my two Compostelas do not name the route. I haven't yet obtained a distance certificate.

Side note: On 30 Sep, I was chatting with two pilgrims who were having a snack in Taylor's Port ( great Portuguese sweets) prior to leading them to the Pilgrim's Office.

A third peregrina informed them that the Compostela would cost them 3 euro. I politely challenged that, as mine was free.

It turns out that she had asked the volunteer to calculate and write her distance on the Compostela. The volunteer ( rather inventively, I thought) did so - and charged her the 3 euro fee for the distance certificate.

 

[David Tallan]

Sorry, I was referring to the distance one that is showing the name of the Caminos I completed.

Ah yes, I see you are replying to my:

As you suggest, it is the distance certificate that shows from where and how far you walked. But I don't believe it names the routes you walked on.

I went back to look at my most recent one (after walking the Madrid, San Salvador, and Primitivo Caminos). And I see the spot where the route you walked would be indicated. On mine, it just says "otro caminos".