@danielle aird quoted a post of mine from 2011 a little earlier, and it made me wonder whether my views on this had changed in the intervening time, and why.
While I still hold to the view I expressed then that I wouldn't shun someone because they had not carried their own pack, I think that there are other dimensions to this topic.
The first is that it is clear to me that this has long been an accepted practice, and I say this because my first credential which I got in 2010 contains, in French, this: '
Walking pilgrims have priority over those on bicycles. Those performing their pilgrimage with the support of a car must seek separate accommodations from the Pilgrims' Shelters.' There is a somewhat similar clause in the English translation of the credencial from the cathedral in SDC, '
Groups organised with support car or by bicycle are requested to seek alternative shelter to the pilgrim hostels.'
Further, the cathedral requirement for the compostela is, amongst other things, to
'Do the last 100 km on foot or horseback, or the last 200 km by bicycle.' There is no mention of carrying a pack anywhere that I can find on the Pilgrim Office website. That might be the traditional way, but that is a personal choice we make. And because there is no requirement to walk with a pack, there isn't going to be any requirement to explain why one might have done that or not. It is completely irrelevant, even when forum members feel that their reasons for making this choice need to be considered in some way.
But the rise of pack taxi services and the move into this marketplace by the Correos has created the circumstances where one doesn't need to be in a larger (physical) group in order to arrange for the support of a car. One can almost seamlessly become part of a large virtual group by virtue of the pack taxi services. So my question is 'Should one analyse this membership of a large virtual group in the same manner as if one were in a somewhat smaller group who arranged a support vehicle?' And right now, I cannot see any reason not to do that.
So what? By obtaining a credential, and by extension agreeing to the terms in it, it would be reasonable to expect that someone who is using a pack taxi would also
not seek to use pilgrim shelters/hostels, or at least not those that operate to support pilgrims in the traditional style (on foot, by bicycle or on horseback) carrying their pack. But even the Spanish Federation of Friends of the
Camino de Santiago Associations allows some leeway on this matter, and appears to only seek to apply this restriction during the summer months.
Which gives rise to this - at some stage, a hospitalero will have to make a judgement about whether or not someone whose pack arrives by taxi will be allowed to stay. And while the reasons for not carrying a pack are not of interest to the Pilgrim Office, and perhaps should only be a matter of interest to fellow pilgrims as a topic of polite conversation and nothing more, they might very quickly have great significance if it is going to make the difference between staying somewhere or having to move on to find other accommodation.
As for the mantra 'its my Camino'? It is indeed, and of course each of us walk it in our own way. But clearly it isn't going to stop someone who has to make a judgement about that from doing so.