April 2014 trip: Collecting credentials, Sellos, and scrolls/ compostellas???

[RoryGentry]

I completed the Camino de Santiago in October 2013 with 2 friends. We are planning a quick trip back in April 2014, and we plan to do a "round trip" hike from Santiago to Finisterre to Muxia and back to Santiago:
Leg 1:
Santiago to Negriera (22.4 km), Negriera to Olveiroa (33.1 km), Olveiroa to Finisterre (31.2 km)
Leg 2:
Finisterre to Muxia (28.5 km)
Leg 3 (no bus for us!):
Muxia to Olveiroa (29.3 km), Olveiroa to Negriera (33.1 km), Negriera to Santiago (22.4 km) (No bus for us!)

That should give us a total of 200 km to hike in 7-9 days.

After reading through some of the threads in this section (some of which are slightly dated), have I read the following facts correctly/ are they still accurate in regards to credentials, collecting sellos, and receiving completion scrolls/ compostellas?

1. We can get a new credential in Santiago at the Galician Tourism office (Rue de Vilar, about 50 yards from the Pilgrim office), and they will give us our first sello for it.
2. We can receive a Finisterre completion scroll at the reception in the municipal albergue.
3. We can receive a Muxia completion scroll at the municipal albergue.
4. We can receive another Compostella when we return to Santiago.

Is there any reason to carry my credential from completing last year's camino? Are there any really cool stamps that we should make sure to find? Unlike our previous camino (we had to conserve some space), it seems like we will have plenty of room on our credentials to collect just about anything we can find on this trip.

 

[mspath]

Rory,

When in Santiago at the Galician Tourist Office to pick your Credencial for your camino to Finisterre/Muxia be sure to also ask for their comprehensive free multilingual list of all services on the paths. It's very handy and lists accommodation, shops, taxis, bars/restos. etc.

Buen Camino,

Margaret Meredith

PS Do you want a Google map with the etapas marked on it? I have on which I would be happy to sent you. You could then use that copy for your own base.

 

[peregrina2000]

Hi, Rory,

Sounds like a nice camino, and I think you will see more and more pilgrims who are walking back to Santiago from Finisterre/Muxia, it seems to have become quite popular.

Just a couple of comments. I haven't walked the circle, but I have walked both Santiago-Fisterre-Muxia and Santiago Muxia-Fisterre.

If going from Fisterre to Muxia, make sure to get a stamp in between. The only places are bar in Lires, or on the beach at Lires and maybe one other place. The hospitalero in Muxia is very persnickety about this.

You can also "even" out some of the stages by staying in Vilaserio instead of Negreira. Nice private albergue there and a public one that is reported to be basic but fine. There are also a couple more new places between Vilaserio and Olveiroa, but I haven't stayed in any of them.

Worth a stop -- the albergue in Dumbria is one of a kind, a massive modern structure built by the owner of Zara stores and sitting generally unused. Small rooms, good kitchen, adjacent to the polideportivo with internet and computers. When I walked Santiago-Muxia-Fisterre, I walked Santiago-Vilaserio-Dumbria-Muxia and I thought it was a very good way to break up the distances.

Buen camino, Laurie

 

[RoryGentry]

PS Do you want a Google map with the etapas marked on it? I have on which I would be happy to sent you. You could then use that copy for your own base.

I would appreciate that very much!

And Laurie, thanks for your input! We just came up with the idea of making this trip a couple of weeks ago, so we're making very quick plans.

 

[mspath]

What Laurie has written is right on the mark. You do need to get stamps on the way to prove that you have walked and not taken transport. The Dumbria albergue is state of the art with great showers, radiant heating (on full blast during my December 2013 stop), motion controlled lights and a lecture hall. Upon arrival if the door appears shut just push it and enter; the hospitalero will arrive late in the afternoon to stamp your Credencial. Another favorite stop in an old school and hardly state of the art but very friendly is the Albergue San Roque in Corcubion. In the dark from their dorm windows when you see the lighthouse beacon at Finisterre shining out to sea it is magical.

MM

 

[peregrina2000]

What Laurie has written is right on the mark. You do need to get stamps on the way to prove that you have walked and not taken transport. The Dumbria albergue is state of the art with great showers, radiant heating (on full blast during my December 2013 stop), motion controlled lights and a lecture hall. Upon arrival if the door appears shut just push it and enter; the hospitalero will arrive late in the afternoon to stamp your Credencial. Another favorite stop in an old school and hardly state of the art but very friendly is the Albergue San Roque in Corcubion. In the dark from their dorm windows when you see the lighthouse beacon at Finisterre shining out to sea it is magical.

MM

Thanks for adding that great tip on the Dumbria albergue, Margaret. When I arrived, the sign said someone would come open it up later (at 3 pm???, can't remember). So I washed some clothes out back in their washing sinks and then walked around the town, etc. When the hospitalero came at the appointed hour, he asked, why didn't you just go in? It hadn't even occurred to me to try the door with a sign like that! But yes, the door was unlocked. It will be locked up tight at night, though, which is reassuring, since you are likely to be alone in this big place (good fire door emergency exit, though, so you can leave whenever you want in the morning). When they close the polideportivo, they come lock up the albergue.

Buen camino, Laurie

 

[Madidi]

Rory you are correct in that you will be eligible for certificates in Fisterra and Muxia walking as you have set out. But as far as I am aware, you must walk to Santiago from Muxia via Fisterra in order to qualify for a C ompostella from the Pilgrims Office. I would check this out with the Pilgrims Office before you set out on your caminos.

Good luck.

 

[RoryGentry]

Rory you are correct in that you will be eligible for certificates in Fisterra and Muxia walking as you have set out. But as far as I am aware, you must walk to Santiago from Muxia via Fisterra in order to qualify for a C ompostella from the Pilgrims Office. I would check this out with the Pilgrims Office before you set out on your caminos.

Good luck.

Hmmm- so we might have to reverse our route? Interesting...

 

[Madidi]

Rory, Compostellas are awarded to pilgrims 'arriving' in Santiago and to qualify you must walk at least 100k. See extract (and link to) below from the Pilgrims Office webpage. The direct return from Muxia is only 88km. The walk to Muxia via Fisterra is beautiful and well worth the effort: the return via Fisterra can only be as good if not better.


Therefore the Cathedral of Santiago decided that to gain a Compostela a pilgrim had to provide evidence on a credencial that they had walked or travelled on horseback at least the last 100kms of their journey to Santiago and, if travelling by bicycle, the last 200kms. That rule still stands today. (http://peregrinossantiago.es/eng/pilgrimage/the-compostela/)

Buen Camino.

S.

 

[RoryGentry]

Rory, Compostellas are awarded to pilgrims 'arriving' in Santiago and to qualify you must walk at least 100k. See extract (and link to) below from the Pilgrims Office webpage. The direct return from Muxia is only 88km. The walk to Muxia via Fisterra is beautiful and well worth the effort: the return via Fisterra can only be as good if not better.

I understand the 100 km rule... I've walked the Camino Frances before. Our next trip will cover at least 200 km:

Leg 1: Santiago to Negriera (22.4 km), Negriera to Olveiroa (33.1 km), Olveiroa to Finisterre (31.2 km)
Leg 2: Finisterre to Muxia (28.5 km)
Leg 3 (no bus for us!): Muxia to Olveiroa (29.3 km), Olveiroa to Negriera (33.1 km), Negriera to Santiago (22.4 km) (No bus for us!)

We will depart from and return to Santiago on foot. As long as we are collecting sellos along the way, wouldn't this qualify for a compostella?

 

[JohnnieWalker]

Hola

Greetings from the Pilgrims' Office. The route from Finisterre via Muxia to Santiago (and Muxia - Finisterre - Santiago) is a recognised camino route increasingly being used by pilgrims to Santiago. As the route is more than 100 kms pilgrims using this way qualify for the Compostela.

Buen Camino

John

 

[Madidi]

Greetings from the Pilgrims' Office. The route from Finisterre via Muxia to Santiago (and Muxia - Finisterre - Santiago) is a recognised camino route increasingly being used by pilgrims to Santiago. As the route is more than 100 kms pilgrims using this way qualify for the Compostela.

Cheers John, that clears that up!!

Go for it Rory, best of luck.

 

[RoryGentry]

Hola
Greetings from the Pilgrims' Office. The route from Finisterre via Muxia to Santiago (and Muxia - Finisterre - Santiago) is a recognised camino route increasingly being used by pilgrims to Santiago. As the route is more than 100 kms pilgrims using this way qualify for the Compostela.
Buen Camino
John

Thank you, John! You are my hero! It's always good to hear "straight from the source." Now we don't need to worry about reversing our route, etc... Thanks again John, and all who offered advice!

 

[peregrina2000]

Yes, this is an albergue! In Dumbria.

 

[unadara]

Another route to add to the list, we stopped in Lires? on route to Muxia , bought drinks and lunch and walked on. We did not get a sello, never thought of it as days route was 30km, on arrival at the Alberque we were not even allowed stay there, despite the fact i sat down and cried! Really! we showed the "person" all our stamps, all the way from SJPDP, no skips...no sello, no bed, no Compostella. Maybe on second thoughts i won't go back...I did like the 30km walk though.

 

[Thornley]

Casa Rural half way from Muxia or Finisterre if accommodation .
You are in Gods country when on the coast Rory ..................so take your time and enjoy.
Dare you to walk north to L'Coruna..lol
Buen Camino David

 

[Bogong]

Hi, Rory,

Sounds like a nice camino, and I think you will see more and more pilgrims who are walking back to Santiago from Finisterre/Muxia, it seems to have become quite popular.

Just a couple of comments. I haven't walked the circle, but I have walked both Santiago-Fisterre-Muxia and Santiago Muxia-Fisterre.

If going from Fisterre to Muxia, make sure to get a stamp in between. The only places are bar in Lires, or on the beach at Lires and maybe one other place. The hospitalero in Muxia is very persnickety about this.

You can also "even" out some of the stages by staying in Vilaserio instead of Negreira. Nice private albergue there and a public one that is reported to be basic but fine. There are also a couple more new places between Vilaserio and Olveiroa, but I haven't stayed in any of them.

Worth a stop -- the albergue in Dumbria is one of a kind, a massive modern structure built by the owner of Zara stores and sitting generally unused. Small rooms, good kitchen, adjacent to the polideportivo with internet and computers. When I walked Santiago-Muxia-Fisterre, I walked Santiago-Vilaserio-Dumbria-Muxia and I thought it was a very good way to break up the distances.

Buen camino, Laurie

The albergue in Logoso is one of the very best I stayed in over my whole Camino from St Jean P de P in France. They treated me like family and the mum had cooked a lovely cake and gave me a piece of it. Real sheets and towels, too! The Albergue Cabo da Vila in Fisterre is magical. The walk is worth it even just to stay in these two.

De Colores

John (aka Bogong)

 

[saltwaterpearl]

Casa Rural half way from Muxia or Finisterre if accommodation .
You are in Gods country when on the coast Rory ..................so take your time and enjoy.
Dare you to walk north to L'Coruna..lol
Buen Camino David

Oh, can you do that - continue past Muxia to A Coruna on foot?

That would be cool if it is possible. Then walk back to Santiago on the Ingles!

 

[mspath]

There is no path per se but you could wing it! See this Google map for some possibilities.
Also check out what this TurGalicia site offers re hiking.

 

[Bogong]

Rory, Compostellas are awarded to pilgrims 'arriving' in Santiago and to qualify you must walk at least 100k. See extract (and link to) below from the Pilgrims Office webpage. The direct return from Muxia is only 88km. The walk to Muxia via Fisterra is beautiful and well worth the effort: the return via Fisterra can only be as good if not better.


Therefore the Cathedral of Santiago decided that to gain a Compostela a pilgrim had to provide evidence on a credencial that they had walked or travelled on horseback at least the last 100kms of their journey to Santiago and, if travelling by bicycle, the last 200kms. That rule still stands today. (http://peregrinossantiago.es/eng/pilgrimage/the-compostela/)

Buen Camino.

S.

I'm not sure that the "rule" is actually enforceable, but there seems little else they can do to ensure some people actually walk from Sarria. I spent weeks travelling in Spain after my Camino, and was told some interesting but perhaps unsurprising things. First, possession of a Compostela is seen as an aid to getting a job. Second cheating is widespread. In Granada I saw a notice from a bus company on a public noticeboard offering a bus trip for the Sarria/Santiago leg, pre-booked accommodation, no walking, appropriate stamps and the virtual guarantee of a Compostela at the end. One of the ladies I crossed paths with on the walk told me that she had occasioned upon a busload of pilgrims, who would be dropped off a little way outside a village, walk in and get their stamps, and be picked up just beyond. Spanish people told me private parties do the same sort of thing by car. Not quite sure what can be done about this or even whether it's wrong. In medieval times this was a trade route and some pilgrims probably would have hitched a ride on horse or oxen carts etc whenever they could, also the Camino is up to the individual, and not a cause to sit in judgement on what others choose to do.

My last six days into Santiago I splodged through rain and mud, arriving at 9am after spending the previous night in a hostal in Labacolla trying to dry out (useless as it rained the next morning, too). I arrived filthy, soaked through, and very smelly. However there seemed numbers of other pilgrims who claimed to have walked in the same morning who seemed to be sporting the latest in new hiking gear, not a spot of rain or mud even on their shoes and no heel wear (I completely wore out two pairs of trekking boots on my walk). There must be a very good wilderness outfitters just before the Pilgrim Office.

It must make it extremely difficult for those who enforce the "rules" but with the increasing commercialisation creeping into practically every type of activity these days I guess we will just have to learn to live with it and make sure our own consciences are clear.

De Colores

John

 

[Kanga]

It's just a piece of paper with some printing and your name spelt in Latin. It's not the document that matters, it's what it represents. To those who have done nothing it represents nothing. To those who have struggled and achieved, it represents that struggle and achievement. My Compostela hangs on the wall as a reminder to me, not anyone else.

 

[Katycamino]

Yes, 'to thine own self be true'. I
found myself waiting in line at the Pilgrim Office for my credential and being quite irritated as behind me was a camino group leader whom I had seen taking a taxi in the last stages. And yes he did get his compostela.
But then I thought that it's not my business and these folk have to live with their own actions.

 

[peregrina2000]

I'm not sure that the "rule" is actually enforceable, but there seems little else they can do to ensure some people actually walk from Sarria. I spent weeks travelling in Spain after my Camino, and was told some interesting but perhaps unsurprising things. First, possession of a Compostela is seen as an aid to getting a job. Second cheating is widespread. In Granada I saw a notice from a bus company on a public noticeboard offering a bus trip for the Sarria/Santiago leg, pre-booked accommodation, no walking, appropriate stamps and the virtual guarantee of a Compostela at the end. One of the ladies I crossed paths with on the walk told me that she had occasioned upon a busload of pilgrims, who would be dropped off a little way outside a village, walk in and get their stamps, and be picked up just beyond. Spanish people told me private parties do the same sort of thing by car. Not quite sure what can be done about this or even whether it's wrong. In medieval times this was a trade route and some pilgrims probably would have hitched a ride on horse or oxen carts etc whenever they could, also the Camino is up to the individual, and not a cause to sit in judgement on what others choose to do.

My last six days into Santiago I splodged through rain and mud, arriving at 9am after spending the previous night in a hostal in Labacolla trying to dry out (useless as it rained the next morning, too). I arrived filthy, soaked through, and very smelly. However there seemed numbers of other pilgrims who claimed to have walked in the same morning who seemed to be sporting the latest in new hiking gear, not a spot of rain or mud even on their shoes and no heel wear (I completely wore out two pairs of trekking boots on my walk). There must be a very good wilderness outfitters just before the Pilgrim Office.

It must make it extremely difficult for those who enforce the "rules" but with the increasing commercialisation creeping into practically every type of activity these days I guess we will just have to learn to live with it and make sure our own consciences are clear.

De Colores

John

I've seen quite a shift in the attitude of the people working in the pilgrims office when it comes to giving out compostelas. I remember being subject to several minutes of consultation among the staff when my credencial showed that I walked from Madrid to Sahagun to Ponferrada onto the Invierno and into Santiago. After a few questions, I got my compostela, but it did hold up the line for some precious minutes and made me feel a bit like someone who was under suspicion. Now, though the staff is not oblivious to the rules, there is far less scrutiny and quizzing.

And I think this shift is a good thing -- it essentially reflects the sense that, come on, if you are going to lie about walking 100 km, it doesn't cheapen the compostela, it reflects on you, what can that paper actually represent to you? I actually think that being able to get past the understandable irritation we feel when we see the "cheaters" get a compostela is a good camino lesson in itself -- our camino (and our compostela, if it's important to you) is in no way diminished by what anyone else did or didn't do.

Buen camino, Laurie

and p.s., I am pretty sure that the notion that getting a compostela is a good resume builder for a job (or a prerequisite for a job) is an urban legend that just won't die.

 

[Thornley]

The only longer interview I received was by the father in law..lol

We could have been mistaken as freeloaders?? as we collected the certificate after continuing to Muxia .
After a few days there returned to Santiago for a good 3 days holiday in this lovely city.

*****This was in 08 and i know of others walking in that day who never worried at all about the bit of paper until they reached the coast.

On many occasions in 08 we saw " pilgrims" place items in their car a few blocks from the alberque we had booked into whilst looking for a local restr. for lunch.
They saw us also and their eyes were lowered.

Ours [ 08 ] is in a draw somewhere...................too old for the job interview....