Wet credential

[irrie]

I started the Camino Frances in St Jean Pied de Port. Tomorrow I will arrive in Santiago. This is what happened today during the very, very heavy rain: my credential got wet and some stamps are now almost unreadable!! Will I be able to get the Compostela? I heard they are very strict about the stamps.

 

[Tincatinker]

If your stamps from Sarria to SdC are legible you'll not have a problem

 

[irrie]

Hmmmm, that is just the problem…… the two stamps I got yesterday are almost unreadable.

 

[SabsP]

Hmmmm, that is just the problem…… the two stamps I got yesterday are almost unreadable.

Almost! So I hope that those in the Oficina will see the continuation of your Camino and your honesty.
I think you will be fine.
Fingers crossed!

 

[Jeff Crawley]

Sorry to hear your document got damaged but I saw some unbelievably torn, tattered and abused credentials when I worked in the Pilgrim Office - 800km can really take it out on a piece of card!
The clerks get a feeling for who is and who isn't a genuine pilgrim plus they know it rains in Galicia!
I'd be surprised if the clerk refuses you a Compostela if you have pages and pages going back to SJPP and, if they do, ask for an opinion from a senior member of the team. I always did.

Well done on completing your Camino!

 

[irrie]

Sorry to hear your document got damaged but I saw some unbelievably torn, tattered and abused credentials when I worked in the Pilgrim Office - 800km can really take it out on a piece of card!
The clerks get a feeling for who is and who isn't a genuine pilgrim plus they know it rains in Galicia!
I'd be surprised if the clerk refuses you a Compostela if you have pages and pages going back to SJPP and, if they do, ask for an opinion from a senior member of the team. I always did.

Well done on completing your Camino!

Thank you Jeff for your advice. I will report back here tomorrow. I keep my fingers crossed!!

 

[Former member 22438]

As voluntairy at the Pilgrims Office end of March to mid of April 2022 I got some pilgrims in front of my window with wet and soaked credentials and faded stamps.
But as said here above in several posts I never refused to issue a Compostela Certificate for that reason and did not hear my collegues about it.

 

[miguel_gp]

I am sure all wiil be fine if you have a credential with stamps from SJPdP and the dates of the stamps that are legible tie in with your arrival date. As said above by Jeff and Albertinho, my experience when working in the Pilgrim Office was that the staff were very practical and any doubt would be referred to senior staff not just dismissed out of hand by the clerk. Enjoy your time in Santiago (with your Compostela!).

 

[irrie]

Thank you all for your kind replies!! On the camino I have met so many really nice people, but on the forum there are ofcourse also nice people!! Now I am reassured.

 

[irrie]

I have got my Compostela! No problem! The proces is also very easy. I arrived at 11 and it took about 1 hour.
Greetings from a very happy peregrina!!

 

[Jeff Crawley]

I have got my Compostela! No problem! The proces is also very easy. I arrived at 11 and it took about 1 hour.
Greetings from a very happy peregrina!!

Excellent news! Heartfelt congratulations . . . . . so when is the next Camino?

 

[irrie]

Excellent news! Heartfelt congratulations . . . . . so when is the next Camino?

You read my mind! We are thinking about the via francigena, the italian part. Addicted

 

[C2G]

I started the Camino Frances in St Jean Pied de Port. Tomorrow I will arrive in Santiago. This is what happened today during the very, very heavy rain: my credential got wet and some stamps are now almost unreadable!! Will I be able to get the Compostela? I heard they are very strict about the stamps.

The same thing happened to me when I started in Le Puy. After my credential dried I put it in a small plastic bag to protect it and headed on. They didn’t even look at that in Santiago. They looked at the date I started in Le Puy and casually flipped the pages to Santiago and that was it. They gave me the regular compostela plus a larger one with more detail about how far I walked. I realized before leaving home that all the stamps might not fit in one credential so I added about 3pages worth of card stock paper to the foldout and when one side was full I turned it over to the other. I’m sure when they unfolded it in Santiago they could see the few wet stamps but it didn’t matter. They gave me my Compostellas. Just keep it dry from now on.

 

[trecile]

They gave me the regular compostela plus a larger one with more detail about how far I walked.

Just FYI - that second certificate is a distance certificate. The Compostela itself is free, the distance certificate is 3€.

 

[skevin]

If your stamps from Sarria to SdC are legible you'll not have a problem

I walked from Lisbon to Santiago- got the short straw with some young buck at the stamp office and apparently I didn’t get enough stamps on the last 100km bit. I mean seriously? The book was full. What an appalling situation. Refused to give me the certificate ( which wasn’t the point of the whole walk anyway). This time I’m not even bothered tbh. Disneyland comes to mind.

 

[Shalaw]

I have got my Compostela! No problem! The proces is also very easy. I arrived at 11 and it took about 1 hour.
Greetings from a very happy peregrina!!

Congratulations! Well done, you! And thank god you had no trouble getting your Compostela!

Sharon

 

[dbier]

Congrats...and I kept my credencial in a Ziploc bag the entire time.

 

[irrie]

Congrats...and I kept my credencial in a Ziploc bag the entire time.

I did the same thing but somehow on the very last day something wrong.

 

[C clearly]

apparently I didn’t get enough stamps on the last 100km bit. I mean seriously?

Whenever we inform people of the rule for 2 stamps/day on the last 100 km, we have people popping out of the woodwork to say they got their compostelas without 2 stamps per day (as if that negated the rule). So thank you for confirming that the rule is sometines applied strictly.

 

[skevin]

Whenever we inform people of the rule for 2 stamps/day on the last 100 km, we have people popping out of the woodwork to say they got their compostelas without 2 stamps per day (as if that negated the rule). So thank you for confirming that the rule is sometines applied strictly.

It’s insane. What a jobsworth he was. So you fail if you have 9? 8? Even if you have have 37 stamps to the last 100km but then have 8 youre told no? What a time to be alive.

 

[WGroleau]

I have got my Compostela! No problem! The proces is also very easy. I arrived at 11 and it took about 1 hour.
Greetings from a very happy peregrina!!

I didn't want a certificate. For me, the stamps in my journal were more valuable. (To each his own.) But having seen the line of pilgrims waiting, I'm surprised it only took an hour. Wow!

 

[Paul McAmino]

Just FYI - that second certificate is a distance certificate. The Compostela itself is free, the distance certificate is 3€.

Just off the Ingles. No money changed hands for the distance certificate. Last time, before automation, I had to pay the three euro if I wanted it. The little mailing tube still costs a couple of euro, but for some reason the distance certificate didn’t, don’t know why.

All the best,
Paul

 

[oursonpolaire]

You are not the first soggy pilgrim they have met. The volunteers at the office have seen it all.