How the Camino Helps Villages/Towns Survive

[SBurgess]

Much has been written in this forum on the number of pilgrims walking the Camino--both positive and negative including the number of pilgrims. This article shows a different (positive) viewpoint.

On the Camino de Santiago, Tourism Is Helping Small Towns Survive

Hikes that help.

www.afar.com

 

[Lindsay53]

Good article although it is only referring to the Camino Frances. On other routes it seems the Camino is only incidental. Not that the people are less friendly or welcoming but that the town or village has a life and economy independent of the passing pilgrims.

 

[SBurgess]

You are correct Lindsay53. I should have made it clear the article referenced only the Camino Francés.

 

[Pafayac]

On other routes it seems the Camino is only incidental.

Not in France: on Via Podiensis, you can cross villages of just hundreds of inhabitants with a bakery, a bar, sometimes a grocery... You would never found so many shops in comparable village outside of the Camino.

 

[Saint Mike II]

Yes this article focuses on the Camino Frances, but it is the most walked Camino. When Rebekah and Paddy arrived in Morantinus I understand there were only 8 people living there. Today it’s a thriving community a couple of alberques, one at the Eastern end serves great morning coffee.
Hontanas is another village that survived so Lt because of the significant increase in pilgrims between 2005 and 2015. I tried to estimate the value to the Spanish economy of the Frances, Norte and Primitivo, working on 2015 pilgrim numbers and 30 Euros a day, over 35 days my back of the envelope was over 200 million Euros. Now before you ask questions or dispute mine just do your own research. So has the various Camino routes “saved” northern Spain, well I can’t say definitely but I suggest it must have helped. Thanks for posting the article. Cheers

 

[Bradypus]

So has the various Camino routes “saved” northern Spain, well I can’t say definitely but I suggest it must have helped.

The Camino revival has had an astonishing effect on the villages directly on the main routes - especially the Frances. I have seen places like Foncebadon effectively being rebuilt from a ruinous ghost town with one solitary inhabitant and many other villages which had lost their bars and shops being revitalised. But as the Guardia Civil officer says in that article the effect is very narrow in scope - you do not have to travel far off the path to see the effects of serious rural depopulation and economic hardship. The idea that the Caminos have "saved" northern Spain is very far-fetched.

 

[yesshesaid]

Much has been written in this forum on the number of pilgrims walking the Camino--both positive and negative including the number of pilgrims. This article shows a different (positive) viewpoint.

On the Camino de Santiago, Tourism Is Helping Small Towns Survive

Hikes that help.

www.afar.com

great article; I wondered about this and have had many questions answered! Thank you!

 

[peregrina2000]

One thing that made an impact on me was when I saw how narrow this band of “Camino prosperity” was. I remember leaving Palas de Rei after merging onto the Francés from the Olvidado. I was looking for a way to get off-route to avoid the crowds. I read that there was a CR not too far from the Castillo de Pambre, which I had never seen, so I took the detour and stayed there. It was pretty amazing to see the little hamlets just a stone’s throw from the camino, untouched by the prosperity, inhabited by several old people, and with the housing stock in pretty bad shape. Some prosperity is surely better than none, but differences were really stark.

 

[WGroleau]

It was pretty amazing to see the little hamlets just a stone’s throw from the camino, untouched by the prosperity, inhabited by several old people, and with the housing stock in pretty bad shape. Some prosperity is surely better than none, but differences were really stark.

I was goig north from the Francés near Iguzquisa and encountered a seemingly grumpy fellow who said sternly (in Spanish) “¡I’ve never seen you before; you’re not from around here!” But when I answered in Spanish, he transformed into a very friendly fellow.

Most of the villages I visited (many) within twenty kilometers of the Francés seemed to be doing reasonably well. But there was one near Vía de la Plata where the only permanent resident was the hospitalero and his wife.

 

[John Cook]

It's a shame some of the sheeple that walk the Frances don't walk on some of the lesser walked Caminos though and spread the wealth.
COVID had a devastating effect on some of the albergues on the Norte, VdlP and the Portuguese between Lisbon and Porto.
This means the few people that do walk these beautiful routes have to walk longer distances between albergues and many of the villages along these ways look like they could do with a few more visitors.
Apart from racing the Fatima pilgrims to the beds south of Porto, there's no bed race either.

 

[Rebekah Scott]

It's a shame some of the sheeple that walk the Frances don't walk on some of the lesser walked Caminos though and spread the wealth.
COVID had a devastating effect on some of the albergues on the Norte, VdlP and the Portuguese between Lisbon and Porto.
This means the few people that do walk these beautiful routes have to walk longer distances between albergues and many of the villages along these ways look like they could do with a few more visitors.
Apart from racing the Fatima pilgrims to the beds south of Porto, there's no bed race either.

Insulting pilgrims and calling them "sheeple" disqualifies your entire argument.

The Camino Frances is the 'plus ultra,' and if pilgrims decide to walk it, so be it. It's what people mean when they say "the Camino," like it or not. Some other paths have historic claim as pilgrim paths to Compostela, but there's just nothing that can compare to the pilgrim infrastructure, tradition, and "vibe" on the Frances.

Covid did a number on a lot of albergues on a lot of paths. If pilgrims have to walk farther between stops, that's part of the deal they sign up for.

THe whole argument of the Camino "saving" small villages only holds water in a handful of towns I know of. The hardworking farmers who kept their villages alive for the past several hundreds of years would be insulted at this presumption. In a given town only a few local families receive any direct financial benefit from pilgrim traffic, and pilgrims are noted for being tight-fisted and increasingly demanding.
IMHO, Pilgrims should not congratulate themselves too quickly.

 

[David Tallan]

It's a shame some of the sheeple that walk the Frances don't walk on some of the lesser walked Caminos though and spread the wealth.

As Rebekah says, "sheeple" is insulting. There is a reason Rule #1 on these forums says "Please do not be rude, sarcastic, or insulting." That isn't the tone we want for discussions here.

That said, and speaking as someone who walked both the Camino de Madrid and Camino de San Salvador this year, both of which are, by anyone's reckoning among "the lesser walked Caminos", the word is not just insulting but unwarranted.

There are many valid reasons to walk the Frances. In addition there are valid reasons not to want to walk one of the lesser walked Caminos, especially as a first Camino. Much as I appreciated the Camino de Madrid, enjoyed it, and would happily walk it again, I would never recommend it to anyone (except a Madrileño) as a first Camino.

Please consider your words a little more carefully before posting. I will mention that we are probably still within the window of time during which you can edit your post, should you choose to do so.

 

[John Cook]

It's a shame some of the sheeple that walk the Frances don't walk on some of the lesser walked Caminos though and spread the wealth.
COVID had a devastating effect on some of the albergues on the Norte, VdlP and the Portuguese between Lisbon and Porto.
This means the few people that do walk these beautiful routes have to walk longer distances between albergues and many of the villages along these ways look like they could do with a few more visitors.
Apart from racing the Fatima pilgrims to the beds south of Porto, there's no bed race either.

I would like to apologize for my use of the word 'Sheeple' and accept it was unacceptable.

I do feel for the communities along the other Camino routes though and wish that more people would try some of these routes, if their fitness level allows them to do the distances required.

I met a pilgrim on the Portuguese Camino last week that had just finished the Frances and he was saying how overcrowded it felt. I don't know where he got his figures from but he said he was in a wave of 400 and it was a similar figure for the previous day. When I walk into an empty bar or village shop, I feel sorry that my meagre expenditure isn't helping them. I've walked three other routes and never been in a wave of more than 20. I've met 14 others walking from Lisbon and I thought this was the second most popular route.

Once again, I apologize for my earlier rudeness. However, I do urge others to consider some of the other routes, they're beautiful too and so are the locals.

 

[Tincatinker]

I would like to apologize for my use of the word 'Sheeple' and accept it was unacceptable.

I do feel for the communities along the other Camino routes though and wish that more people would try some of these routes, if their fitness level allows them to do the distances required.

I met a pilgrim on the Portuguese Camino last week that had just finished the Frances and he was saying how overcrowded it felt. I don't know where he got his figures from but he said he was in a wave of 400 and it was a similar figure for the previous day. When I walk into an empty bar or village shop, I feel sorry that my meagre expenditure isn't helping them. I've walked three other routes and never been in a wave of more than 20. I've met 14 others walking from Lisbon and I thought this was the second most popular route.

Once again, I apologize for my earlier rudeness. However, I do urge others to consider some of the other routes, they're beautiful too and so are the locals.

A pilgrim walks into a bar (no this isn’t one of those racist stereotype jokes): a pilgrim walks into a bar- they buy a beer, a bocadillo or a ration of tortilla de patatas. They use the facilities. They move on. Later the village throws a festivo to celebrate the event. It is discussed at every village gathering until even the grandchildren remember it even though they weren’t there.
OK, so not really but pilgrims on the forgotten roads are still an event and even just a few a month or even a few dozen a year keep the Refugios open and the Camino in the minds of the so minded.

500 pilgrims a day do exactly the same thing in a similar but different bar. No festivo. Just tired people who worked hard all day and then went home with a guaranteed pay check.

The two bar owners happen to meet at one of those conventions they all go to whenever the opportunity arises. They discuss the benefits that pilgrims bring. They’re honest folk, plain speakers, not given to hubris. Their conclusion: some. A pilgrim is an event; pilgrims are a business. The pilgrim is grateful for their beer and their bocadillo. Pilgrims want decaf skinny frapachinos, gluten free bocadillo and some sincere gratitude for their custom.

I truly and sincerely believe that the premise of the article cited in the OP is badly researched and unsupported b*llocks. But that the promotion of the Camino Frances has resulted in an economic benefit to a few small communities in between the established towns and cities is irrefutable. As is the benefit experienced by the local communities of the Costa Brava, Costa del Sol from mass tourism.

I don’t think we have anything to feel proud about, let alone smug