447,704 and still counting!

[Bradypus]

When the Santiago pilgrim office opened this morning the running total of Compostelas issued for this year stood at 445,807. Today they handed out another 1,897. Making the new total for the year to date 447,704. More than were issued in the whole of 2023 (446,078) which was itself a new record year. And there are still nearly 3 months left of this year.

 

[alexwalker]

Blessing or curse?

 

[Dani7]

A bit of both.

 

[Flog]

Yes, it looks likely to exceed 500,000 before the end of the year. A lot of talk about it today..

 

[Tincatinker]

I think Kurtz may have summarised the situation though in a different context

 

[Bradypus]

I think Kurtz may have summarised the situation though in a different context

I think that might just have been a normal reaction to seeing Martin Sheen in a movie....

 

[Peterexpatkiwi]

My initial thought was that 500,000 would be quite a stretch, however when you consider that the numbers early this year were up by 18 percent, topping out at 12% up from last year is perhaps not so far fetched.
Whilst the numbers from SJPdP are always interesting, purely from a statistical viewpoint it's a shame there's no pilgrim offices in Sarria and Tui.

I seem to recall that last year that the overall numbers were 'conservatively estimated' to be 25% higher, ie in excess of 560, 000. ( Others were quoting over 600,000).

So with even just a 10% increase year on year, in 2030 that will mean 1 million people walking a Camino.....

 

[Bradypus]

Whilst the numbers from SJPdP are always interesting, purely from a statistical viewpoint it's a shame there's no pilgrim offices in Sarria and Tui.

The filters on the Santiago pilgrim office statistics page allow you to search for numbers who received Compostelas who started from Sarria and Tui or other popular towns and also to break the figures down further by nationality and sex and month.

 

[Kathar1na]

The filters on the Santiago pilgrim office statistics page allow you to search for numbers who received Compostelas who started from Sarria and Tui or other popular towns and also to break the figures down further by nationality and sex and month.

Oh yippie, Camino statistics again . The website is such a tempting place to play around with the options for filtering.

I did just that: I set the filters to Camino Francés without the starting point Sarria. Note that the numbers do not reflect feet on the ground, they reflect feet on the ground of those who got counted because they went to the Pilgrims Office.

As to the numbers for the Camino Frances with all starting points included except Sarria: There is no increase but rather stagnation or even a modest decrease in recent years. The last figure (69,561 for 2024) will obviously still increase during Oct-Dec but it is not going to beat records either.

It just confirms that the numbers increase elsewhere: on other Caminos and from Sarria.

 

[Kathar1na]

I seem to recall that last year that the overall numbers were 'conservatively estimated' to be 25% higher, ie in excess of 560, 000. ( Others were quoting over 600,000).

These were numbers seen on the forum for the Holy Year 2021 before we knew that Covid would change travel patterns and travel options. They were pure fantasy figures, derived from a simplistic extrapolation where the poster had not bothered to familiarise himself with behaviour patterns and other realistic factors.

 

[Peterexpatkiwi]

The filters on the Santiago pilgrim office statistics page allow you to search for numbers who received Compostelas who started from Sarria and Tui or other popular towns and also to break the figures down further by nationality and sex and month.

I'd completely forgotten, thanks! A long time since I played with that element of the system. ( Too hard on my phone)
Talk about a 'Homer' moment....

 

[Pelegrin]

So with even just a 10% increase year on year, in 2030 that will mean 1 million people walking a Camino.....

1 million must be 6000 compostelas on a busy day. Santiago has 8.000 acommodation places right now.

 

[Peterexpatkiwi]

1 million must be 6000 compostelas on a busy day. Santiago has 8.000 acommodation places right now.

Indeed. So allowing for those of us who do not register that means that approximately 50% of the accommodation is currently filled by pilgrims.
Thought provoking. ..

 

[t2andreo]

What we do not know is the number of pilgrims who get their Compostelas then head directly out of town by bus, train or plane - on the same day. This is NOT a small number. There is likely no way to know, not easily at least.

 

[Debora]

Blessing or curse?

More people get to experience this beautiful way...I would say that's a blessing.

 

[ukjohn99]

When the Santiago pilgrim office opened this morning the running total of Compostelas issued for this year stood at 445,807. Today they handed out another 1,897. Making the new total for the year to date 447,704. More than were issued in the whole of 2023 (446,078) which was itself a new record year. And there are still nearly 3 months left of this year.

I walked the Camino Frances in 2009. Even then, a couple of hostels were full by the time I arrived so I had to walk on to the next town. From Sarria, of course, the route was much more busy. This year I have read that on some days, over 3000 pilgrims collect their Compostellas from the Pilgrim Office. That's against a total of around 145,000 pilgrims for the whole of 2009. The number for the busiest month, August, has doubled from 2009 to 2024 and I cannot imagine the effect on the Albergues and on the Pilgrim Office.