World Youth Day - Madrid 16-21 August

[sillydoll]

A number of South African youth groups who are planning on attending the World Youth Day in Madrid in August will combine the International event with a Camino walk from Sarria to Santiago. So expect a rise in pilgrim numbers before or after those dates.
Youth from Schengen countries will have to apply for Visas but will receive them free of charge.

http://www.madrid11.com/en/news/1-n/451 ... -apoyo-jmj

 

[renegadepilgrim]

Having been to WYD in the past (Toronto in 2002), I would be sure to avoid the Camino during this time. There are going to be A LOT of young people doing this part of the walk. I have a friend from Mexico City who is planning to do it with his group. I'm guessing that because it is in Europe again, the numbers are going to be a lot higher than in some of the past locations. We had close to 800,000 in Toronto and it looks like the time it was in Cologne, Germany, they had 1.2 million young people. I also didn't realize it has been in SDC before. So cool! It was one of the most amazing spiritual experiences I had at that point in my life. It will also be good for the economy of Spain, lord knows they need it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Youth_Day

 

[sillydoll]

Walking to World Youth Day
This summer a group of 120 youth will lace up their hiking boots on July 23rd to get to Madrid by August 18th. The walk has three purposes, “The first is the personal growth of these young people, secondly to give witness to Christ in our world, and the third is social, we´re also raising money for a concrete project to help build a school in Burkina Faso,” said Fr. Lorda (Ferran Lorda was 15 years old when he attended his first World Youth Day in Compostela, Spain. He will be attending his 9th World Youth Day this August in Madrid. A lot has changed for Lorda since he first attended WYD in Compostela, Spain in 1989. Today he is Fr. Ferran Lorda, a diocesan priest at St. Theresa of the Child Jesus parish in Barcelona, Spain and he works with a thriving youth group that will be walking about 600 kilometers from Barcelona to Madrid to attend WYD day in August. When asked how such an idea comes into being, he is quick to say, “It starts with a joke!” )

In Saragossa the group will be joined by their parents and together the group will spend the day celebrating family.

“We want to acknowledge that World Youth Day touches the entire family. Parents sacrifice a good chunk of time with their children to let them go off to World Youth Day, the younger siblings see their older sibling preparing and then going off to the event. We want to celebrate the family for the sacrifices they make,” said Fr. Lorda.

Parents and children will be reunited again in Barajas, just outside of Madrid and they will make the final leg of the pilgrimage together.

 

[pal]

It seems that with all my pre-planning, I missed World Youth Day when choosing dates for my Camino. I am scheduled to leave SJPDP August 19, stop in Orisson on the 20th and on to Roncesvalles on Aug 21, which coincides with the Pope's visit to Madrid. Do those in the know believe the majority of traffic will be between Madrid and Santiago de Compostela or further east, i.e., Roncesvalles? Any one have an educated guess?

 

[renegadepilgrim]

I think most groups are doing the last 100km so you should be fine.

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