The Impact of the New AVE Route on Camino Pilgrimage, Business Owners' Concerns and Strategies

[peregrina2000]

I have used Gronze a lot for planning many different caminos, but recently started reading their occasional articles on different camino topics. They are purists, so don’t be surprised to find words like turigrinos in their reports.

Today’s report is very interesting. With the December opening of the AVE (high speed train) route from Madrid to Ourense, it looks like the business owners along the last part of the Francés are worried that Ourense will become a preferred starting point for those who want to walk 100 km and get a compostela. Arriving in Ourense after a 2 1/2 hour train ride, this could be a real attraction.

AVE a Ourense: El Camino en Galicia se redefine

Como es sabido, pues de este tipo de obras se suele hacer gran propaganda pese al retraso, aunque nunca es tarde cuando la dicha es buena, el AVE ha llegado por fin a Galicia el 21 de diciembre de 202

www.gronze.com

There’s a link in the Gronze article to another article in the Voz de Galicia which reports on how businesses on the Francés are trying to fight back. One of the more visible efforts comes from the businesses in Portomarín, which are apparently putting together package tours from the Ourense train station. What I don’t understand is how Portomarín, which is described in the Gronze article as the Benidorm of the Camino (and that is not a compliment) can become a starting point of choice since people who start there do not qualify for a Compostela.

 

[Bradypus]

it looks like the business owners along the last part of the Francés are worried that Ourense will become a preferred starting point for those who want to walk 100 km and get a compostela.

That concern seems to imply that the numbers walking will be spread more thinly by this development. Looking back over the 30+ years since my first Camino it appears the proliferation of new routes has not in fact taken numbers away from the Frances. Numbers walking it have increased astonishingly even while other paths like the Portugues or the Sanabres grow enormously in popularity. And beyond Spain new or recovered pilgrim routes have been spreading like a spider web across Europe without reducing numbers walking the Caminos. Covid has obviously put a spanner in the works for the moment but until 2019 the pattern has been one of growth all round.

 

[Former member 91017]

That concern seems to imply that the numbers walking will be spread more thinly by this development. Looking back over the 30+ years since my first Camino it appears the proliferation of new routes has not in fact taken numbers away from the Frances. Numbers walking it have increased astonishingly even while other paths like the Portugues or the Sanabres grow enormously in popularity. And beyond Spain new or recovered pilgrim routes have been spreading like a spider web across Europe without reducing numbers walking the Caminos. Covid has obviously put a spanner in the works for the moment but until 2019 the pattern has been one of growth all round.

I think perhaps COV worries are informing the response... anxiety that drops in numbers overall will remain "forever", but as things begin to climb back up, I am sure that your observations will prove true again... and settle anxieties...

 

[ivar]

I noticed that the AVE from Madrid will stop in A Gudiña. Making it easy to get there from Madrid might make this a popular starting point.

 

[Bradypus]

I noticed that the AVE from Madrid will stop in A Gudiña. Making it easy to get there from Madrid might make this a popular starting point.

My first Sanabres walk started from A Gudiña. Trains from Madrid to Ourense already routinely stop there. There is - or used to be - a limited long distance bus service too. It makes an excellent starting point for those who want a scenic route a little longer than the 100km minimum Compostela distance.

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

What I don’t understand is how Portomarín, which is described in the Gronze article as the Benidorm of the Camino (and that is not a compliment) can become a starting point of choice since people who start there do not qualify for a Compostela.

If I was a member of the Portomarín Chamber of Commence I would make the suggestion of a subsidized fare from Ourense. Pilgrims would spend a day in Portomarín with a discount coupon and then spend the night in town. Pilgrims would meet in morning and get bused to Sarria where they would walk packless back to town to spend night two.

 

[Vacajoe]

Not all walkers seek a Compostela, especially after their first Camino.

 

[Galuh]

For me is the best, to take the AVE from Madrid and start from Ourense (Not vaccinated no PCR) and for other people in the same position as me.

 

[Kathor1]

Perhaps worth mentioning, for practical purposes and of possible interest to those who have been at the train station in A Gudiña in earlier years: The brand-new AVE train station of A Gudiña, the "Gate to Galicia", is not in the town itself but a bit out of town.


(Click to enlarge)

 

[peregrina2000]

For me is the best, to take the AVE from Madrid and start from Ourense (Not vaccinated no PCR) and for other people in the same position as me.

I don’t want to derail (ok, my first pun of the day ) this thread, but just to say that people should inform themselves of the ever changing regulations when they are actually ready to travel to Spain. There are groups urging more restrictions, vaccination or test, for domestic trains.

https://www.larazon.es/castilla-y-leon/20211110/7b5nka562vhx7n3pjxy4efffu4.html

No point in speculating about what might happen, just a heads up to make sure you have the latest information.

 

[Hans-Georg Goebel]

I have used Gronze a lot for planning many different caminos, but recently started reading their occasional articles on different camino topics. They are purists, so don’t be surprised to find words like turigrinos in their reports.

Today’s report is very interesting. With the December opening of the AVE (high speed train) route from Madrid to Ourense, it looks like the business owners along the last part of the Francés are worried that Ourense will become a preferred starting point for those who want to walk 100 km and get a compostela. Arriving in Ourense after a 2 1/2 hour train ride, this could be a real attraction.

AVE a Ourense: El Camino en Galicia se redefine

Como es sabido, pues de este tipo de obras se suele hacer gran propaganda pese al retraso, aunque nunca es tarde cuando la dicha es buena, el AVE ha llegado por fin a Galicia el 21 de diciembre de 202

www.gronze.com

There’s a link in the Gronze article to another article in the Voz de Galicia which reports on how businesses on the Francés are trying to fight back. One of the more visible efforts comes from the businesses in Portomarín, which are apparently putting together package tours from the Ourense train station. What I don’t understand is how Portomarín, which is described in the Gronze article as the Benidorm of the Camino (and that is not a compliment) can become a starting point of choice since people who start there do not qualify for a Compostela.

When I walked the English Way in 2016, they said you had to start in Ferrol to meet the 100km rule and get a Compostella in SdC.

 

[henrythedog]

When I walked the English Way in 2016, they said you had to start in Ferrol to meet the 100km rule and get a Compostella in SdC.

That’s changed. A Coruña is now accepted.

 

[VNwalking]

. A Coruña is now accepted

Only so long as you document having walked the balance of the 100km at home.

 

[ISABEL linares]

I don't think Porto Marín is the Benidorm of the Camino,have a great memories of the place by the way Benidorm is a great place for many people.