Distance certificate for Camino starting on less well known routes outside Spain

[WanderingtheJakobsweg]

Hi
I've started with the (North) Munich Jakobsweg - although there are official marked and signposted Jakobsweg (Camino) routes, there are no stamps available on a lot of the early stages. I wrote my start point into the credential but although there's a working monastery with a church and the muscle on a sign they don't have a stamp. The first stamp I could get was 30km from the start, and then no more for another 80km or so, after which they become more frequent but still erratically so (sometimes two within a few km, then nothing for 40km).

Obviously it doesn't matter really, but I'm just curious - does anyone know whether I could get a distance certificate in Santiago from my start point or my first stamp? Surely they won't even really know how far apart the places I got the stamps I have in my credential are? It seems far fetched to think they'd know which churches/ places have stamps. My guidebook listed places as having stamps which no longer do or which weren't open when I passed through, but I also found stamps by chance in churches on the route not even mentioned in any context by the guide book.

 

[trecile]

I walked a combination of Caminos to reach Santiago in 2019. I kept track of my kms, and the volunteer at the Pilgrims Office used that number.

 

[WanderingtheJakobsweg]

Thanks Trecile! When you say you kept track - did you give the volunteer a list of the length of every stage? A list of all the Caminos and total distance you walked on each? Did you write on your credential? Or did you simply say "I walked 2500km from X place via the Camino A,G, K and Z"

 

[t2andreo]

Yes, any CONTIGUOUS (connecting) path that links to an accredited and acknowledged French, Spanish or Portuguese Camino route can be claimed on the distance certificate. The key to establishing the route of travel and stopping points has been the sello (rubber stamp) in your credencial.

While many places out of Southern France, Spain and Portugal might not have a special stamp for Camino / pilgrim use, they WILL always have a rubber stamp for business use. This stamp will have the name address, phone number, and perhaps a tax ID engraved on it.

For example, what does any legitimate business do when the computer cash register goes down? Answer: if they are trying to be tax-compliant with the authorities, they use their business rubber stamp to generate manual / paper receipts.

In my personal experience, I have obtained sellos in gas stations, wineries off the route, pharmacies, a small town tienda, a supermercado, and even a police station once.

These sellos / stamps are not Camino-fancy. But, they ARE sufficient for establishing that you were at that place, in chronological order. Affixing a date is done manually in any case.

Hope this helps the dialog.

Tom

 

[Kathor1]

Obviously it doesn't matter really, but I'm just curious - does anyone know whether I could get a distance certificate in Santiago from my start point or my first stamp? Surely they won't even really know how far apart the places I got the stamps I have in my credential are? It seems far fetched to think they'd know which churches/ places have stamps. My guidebook listed places as having stamps which no longer do or which weren't open when I passed through, but I also found stamps by chance in churches on the route not even mentioned in any context by the guide book.

I never asked for a distance certificate at the Oficina del Peregrino in Santiago and I walked for about 600 km or more before I even knew that one can or does get stamps on the chemins de Compostelle and on the Jakobswege so I am not really competent to reply but I reply nevertheless.

I can confirm that you can't get stamps everywhere the further away from Santiago you are. Small businesses like baker's and grocery shops may well have a stamp for administrative purposes but they don't keep the appropriate gear in the shop or store where they serve their everyday customers. If it is important to you you may be more lucky at tourist offices, town halls and perhaps even churches but they may be out of your way or have inconvenient opening times and are simply not worth the time and effort. Post offices may be the most promising stop where to get a stamp but again they may be closed if and when you pass.

Something I did for myself and just for fun: I retraced my steps in Google Earth and I now have a nice visual of my walk from home to Santiago plus a record of how many km I walked because the GE website / app calculates the length of every section that I walked. I assume, without knowing, that it is sufficient to make your distance plausible for the Oficina, you don't have to document every bit of such a long distance with stamps and they may happily accept it when you present them with a credible number of total kilometres walked.

Die Worte Guter Weg wollen mir einfach nicht über die Lippen kommen, also sage ich wie gewohnt: Buen Camino!

 

[trecile]

Thanks Trecile! When you say you kept track - did you give the volunteer a list of the length of every stage? A list of all the Caminos and total distance you walked on each? Did you write on your credential? Or did you simply say "I walked 2500km from X place via the Camino A,G, K and Z"

I think that I started telling the volunteer "I walked from SJPDP to León, then I walked Camino del Salvador...". I could see in his eyes that he was thinking "I have to figure out these distances and add them up?" I told him that I had been tracking my distance, and he was only too happy not to have to calculate it himself.

 

[WanderingtheJakobsweg]

thank you, that sounds pleasingly simple

 

[WanderingtheJakobsweg]

Yes, any CONTIGUOUS (connecting) path that links to an accredited and acknowledged French, Spanish or Portuguese Camino route can be claimed on the distance certificate. The key to establishing the route of travel and stopping points has been the sello (rubber stamp) in your credencial.

While many places out of Southern France, Spain and Portugal might not have a special stamp for Camino / pilgrim use, they WILL always have a rubber stamp for business use. This stamp will have the name address, phone number, and perhaps a tax ID engraved on it.

For example, what does any legitimate business do when the computer cash register goes down? Answer: if they are trying to be tax-compliant with the authorities, they use their business rubber stamp to generate manual / paper receipts.

In my personal experience, I have obtained sellos in gas stations, wineries off the route, pharmacies, a small town tienda, a supermercado, and even a police station once.

These sellos / stamps are not Camino-fancy. But, they ARE sufficient for establishing that you were at that place, in chronological order. Affixing a date is done manually in any case.

Hope this helps the dialog.

Tom

Thank you, that was suggested on another thread about stamps - I hadn't thought of asking for a non Camino specific stamp to establish location but its a fantastic idea!

 

[WanderingtheJakobsweg]

I never asked for a distance certificate at the Oficina del Peregrino in Santiago and I walked for about 600 km or more before I even knew that one can or does get stamps on the chemins de Compostelle and on the Jakobswege so I am not really competent to reply but I reply nevertheless.

I can confirm that you can't get stamps everywhere the further away from Santiago you are. Small businesses like baker's and grocery shops may well have a stamp for administrative purposes but they don't keep the appropriate gear in the shop or store where they serve their everyday customers. If it is important to you you may be more lucky at tourist offices, town halls and perhaps even churches but they may be out of your way or have inconvenient opening times and are simply not worth the time and effort. Post offices may be the most promising stop where to get a stamp but again they may be closed if and when you pass.

Something I did for myself and just for fun: I retraced my steps in Google Earth and I now have a nice visual of my walk from home to Santiago plus a record of how many km I walked because the GE website / app calculates the length of every section that I walked. I assume, without knowing, that it is sufficient to make your distance plausible for the Oficina, you don't have to document every bit of such a long distance with stamps and they may happily accept it when you present them with a credible number of total kilometres walked.

Die Worte Guter Weg wollen mir einfach nicht über die Lippen kommen, also sage ich wie gewohnt: Buen Camino!

Thanks Kather1na! You're right about it not really mattering about having a certificate - what would I do with it anyway... but it has a sort of appeal for some reason.

I'm not surprised that places don't have stamps on hand especially not "on demand" at all times when the admin offices aren't open. I guess it's worth a try though.


You're right Guter Weg doesn't really have the same ring to it as Buen Camino!