Discrepancy on the Pilgrim's Office's website re Compostela

[jefferyonthecamino]

Those that can read Spanish will note that the English translation does not match the Spanish text regarding the walking requirement to request the Compostela.

• Peregrinación a pie o a caballo: haber caminado 100 km por cualquiera de las rutas reconocidas como oficiales por la S.A.M.I. Catedral de Santiago.
• Do the last 100 km on foot or horseback, or the last 200 km by bicycle. It is understood that the pilgrimage starts at one point and from there you come to visit the Tomb of St. James.

We must assume that the Spanish version is the correct one.

I have contacted the PO about this.

 

[Kathor1]

The moment I have been waiting for !

Please note that I am not expressing an opinion about which text where may be the correct one and what words, or missing words, may mean in practical terms. I just want to share how the text in the current credencial issued by the Cathedral of Santiago looks like - see photo below.

The Cathedral's credencial was redesigned some time ago and this current version is available since August 2024 (I checked FB posts where the first photos were posted at the time).

The current text of the Spanish version of the Pilgrim Office's website is also not terribly new. It dates back to September/October 2024.

Thank you to @jefferyonthecamino for actually contacting the PO and trying to bring light into the confusion that is reigning in social media and to @ivar who has up-to-date photos of the Cathedral issued credencial in the Forum Shop where this credencial can be ordered.

 

[VNwalking]

Ambiguous, isn't it?
2 stamps per day, at least 100km on foot.
And the completion point is Santiago.
No mention of continuity, nor where the 2 stamps per day must start.

It's not an easy feat on some caminos to find those 2 stamps. Hopefully people who walk more remote caminos can cajole the volunteers to accept photos as proof.

 

[MikeJS]

Ambiguous, isn't it?
2 stamps per day, at least 100km on foot.
And the completion point is Santiago.
No mention of continuity, nor where the 2 stamps per day must start.

It's not an easy feat on some caminos to find those 2 stamps. Hopefully people who walk more remote caminos can cajole the volunteers to accept photos as proof.

I have never got 2 stamps a day and never tried to. Also, never had an issue getting a compostela. That said, I was not worried if I got one or not…..

 

[Tincatinker]

I’m beginning to think that much as many who seek a Compostela have not a clue as to the conditions for claiming one neither do the Pilgrims Office.

 

[joramos]

Those that can read Spanish will note that the English translation does not match the Spanish text regarding the walking requirement to request the Compostela.

• Peregrinación a pie o a caballo: haber caminado 100 km por cualquiera de las rutas reconocidas como oficiales por la S.A.M.I. Catedral de Santiago.
• Do the last 100 km on foot or horseback, or the last 200 km by bicycle. It is understood that the pilgrimage starts at one point and from there you come to visit the Tomb of St. James.

We must assume that the Spanish version is the correct one.

I have contacted the PO about this.

​

From the Pilgrims Office in Santiago de Compostela's website (https://oficinadelperegrino.com/en/pilgrimage/the-compostela/):

To get the "Compostela" you must:

• Make the pilgrimage for religious or spiritual reasons, or at least an attitude of search.
• Do the last 100 km on foot or horseback, or the last 200 km by bicycle. It is understood that the pilgrimage starts at one point and from there you come to visit the Tomb of St. James.
• You must collect the stamps on the “Credencial del Peregrino” from the places you pass through to certify that you have been there. Stamps from churches, hostels, monasteries, cathedrals and all places related to the Way are preferred, but if not they can also be stamped in other institutions: town halls, cafés, etc. You have to stamp the Credencial twice a day at least on the last 100 km (for pilgrims on foot or on horseback) or on the last 200 km (for cyclists pilgrims).

You can do the Way in stages, "provided they are in chronological and geographical order." However, if you only do the minimum required distance (last 100 or 200 km), you must always get your Credencial stamped at the start and end of each stage, including the corresponding date, to show that the pilgrim has "resumed the Way in the same place where they last stopped" (i.e. you should always get the stamp at the starting point even though you have already stamped the card in the same place at the end of the previous stage).

This distance and stamp questions have been addressed in this forum ad nauseum.

Walk the last 100 kilometers, or bicycle the last 200 kilometers to Santiago de Compostela, for religious, or spiritual reasons, or attitude of search, obtain the required stamps, you can get the Compostela.

Buen Camino!

 

[Kathor1]

distance and stamp questions have been addressed in this forum ad nauseum.

@joramos, I am not sure why you copy-pasted this long English text? Nobody is interested in it and we can all read it directly on the website.

The interest lies with the Spanish text(s). They are newer than the English versions because apparently the English did not get updated when the Spanish version of the website got updated. Some phrases are now different in Spanish compared to before, and some words are missing compared to before. The question is whether this is relevant. Also, some quite new content has been added - also missing in the English texts.

@jefferyonthecamino, instead of sharing his personal opinion and his personal interpretation concerning these changes, has contacted the Pilgrim Office and asked for clarification.

Perhaps more peregrin@s ought to follow his example ...

 

[Tincatinker]

Make the pilgrimage for religious or spiritual reasons, or at least an attitude of search.

Ah, and that's the knackerer innit as my Grandma would have said. (her language always was as fruity as a costermongers').

Most, it seems to me, are in search of the best views/albergues/restaurants/'experiences'/trousers or trainers and a swinging Botafumeiro. Sight of the purpose has been lost in the fog of achievement.

While the PO are willing to issue a Compostela to anyone who can tick the necessary "been there, done that" boxes I'll retain my opinion that even they have forgotten what it is all supposed to be about.

Turismo Galicia have won

 

[joramos]

@joramos, I am not sure why you copy-pasted this long English text? Nobody is interested in it and we can all read it directly on the website.

The interest lies with the Spanish text(s). They are newer than the English versions because apparently the English did not get updated when the Spanish version of the website got updated. Some phrases are now different in Spanish compared to before, and some words are missing compared to before. The question is whether this is relevant. Also, some quite new content has been added - also missing in the English texts.

@jefferyonthecamino, instead of sharing his personal opinion and his personal interpretation concerning these changes, has contacted the Pilgrim Office and asked for clarification.

Perhaps more peregrin@s ought to follow his example ...

I copy-pasted the long English text regarding how to get the Compostela because; 1st, it is/will be a point of reference from a more official source, not personal; thus, of great interest to all non-Spanish speakers who plan to do the pilgrimage, and that accounts for 25%-30% of pilgrims annually; 2nd, since it is posted on the Pilgrims Office website, the official designate by the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela to issue the Compostelas, pilgrimage information, particularly requirements getting the Compostela, would be pilgrims believe and trust that the information posted therein are the most accurate and most up-to-date (in Spanish, English, French, German, etc); Cathedral de Santiago de Compostela website also refers to the same Pilgrims Office website on how to get the Compostela.

If the information posted on the Pilgrims Office is outdated and inaccurate, then they are at fault, and must rectify the error. It is encumbent upon them that If the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela made changes to the pilgrimage requirements, they, the Pilgrims Office, must make the latest appropriate changes and correct information at the earliest time; either in Spanish, English, French, etc.

The English language information on the Pilgrims Office, the official representative of the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela as far as the Camino Santiago pilgrimages are concerned, is where most if not all non-Spanish speakers default for Camino information.

 

[trecile]

There are a few other threads on this topic:

L

Thread 'Clarification on 100km'

Dec 27, 2024

Has there been any clarification on the 100km rule for the Compostela? Wanting to verify,that as long as you walk 100km on the Camino, and end up in Santiago, it does not have to be a *continous* 100kms.

Is this what the understanding is?

Thank you.

• LizzieW
• credencial/sellos/compostela
• Replies: 19
• Camino de Santiago Forum: Santiago de Compostela – The Destination

• 

Thread 'New Compostela Rules'

Dec 22, 2024

New rules for obtaining the Compostela have just been announced. It is not anymore necessary to walk/bike/ride/sail the LAST 100km into Santiago, any 100km on any Camino will do AS LONG as the last stage you do ends in Santiago. Source:

• SYates
• Replies: 99
• Camino de Santiago Forum: Santiago de Compostela – The Destination

• 
• 
• 

Thread 'Clarification on Compostela for mixed and non-standard routes'

Dec 28, 2024

I have a couple of questions for those of you that have changed routes after starting the Camino, and requested a Compostela. As background for my next Camino I am anticipating doing a combination of Frances and Invierno.

Per the Pilgrim Office website

• “The goal of the Camino is the Tomb of the Apostle in the city of Santiago de Compostela, so the pilgrimage is made in this sense. When you set out on the pilgrimage, you choose an official route and you follow the same chosen route, without alternating or mixing pilgrimage routes.

On the Spanish language version of...

• stewinyvr
• credencial/sellos/compostela
• Replies: 18
• Camino de Santiago Forum: Santiago de Compostela – The Destination

• 

 

[Tincatinker]

It’s almost a shame isn’t it. @Bradypus has recounted being refused a Credencial, never mind a Compostela, back in the day when the gate-keepers’ held fast. We have read accounts of those refused refuge because they were not “walking to Santiago”. We have heard of hearts broken by the absence of the Botafumeiro spectacle from Holy Mass.

And now we’re getting exercised by the failures of an institution that it is presumed is all knowing and yet cannot even keep its own website up-to-date. Why?

 

[Kathor1]

If the information posted on the Pilgrims Office is outdated and inaccurate, then they are at fault, and must rectify the error. It is encumbent upon them that If the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela made changes to the pilgrimage requirements, they, the Pilgrims Office, must make the latest appropriate changes and correct information at the earliest time; either in Spanish, English, French, etc.

Well, the simple fact is that there are large parts of the English version of the website www.oficinadelperegrino.com that have not been updated for years while the Spanish version gets updates now and then.

BTW, the website is only available in EN and ES versions. When you refer to "Spanish, English, French etc.", I presume that you mean the Register / Registro de Peregrino part of the website. This part is available in 7 language versions.

It is good that some people take an active interest and write and ask for clarification or even make suggestions for improvement of the website oficinadelperegrino.com. I've done so in the past. The response varies and sometimes never comes - in my experience at least.