Xacobean Nautical Crossing

[kenwilltravel]

Hi all,
When my wife and I worked as volunteers in the Pilgrims Office issuing Compostelas earlier this year, an iron clad rule we had to follow was that nobody could receive a certificate unless they had walked the last 100 km (or biked the last 200 km) of their route. The one exception was the Spiritual Variant, which includes a 30 km boat ride. But even there, you had to prove you got your 100 km of walking in by starting either from Vigo (on the Coastal Portuguese) or Porriño or Tui (on the Central).
The reason I bring this up is that a few days ago, I got an email from a well-known Camino tour company advertising the "Xacobean Nautical Crossing." They described this as a 6-day sailing trip covering 90 nautical miles from Vigo up the Arousa estuary. The thing that caught my attention was it included only a 6-km walk, from O' Milladoiro to Santiago. 6 as in s-i-x. The company adds: "The Xacobean Nautical Crossing is the latest addition to the list of official routes eligible for the Compostela pilgrim certificate."
Is this a major change in the 100 km rule or just a one-time exception? Or am I missing something here? Just curious. Thanks.

 

[Kathar1na]

Is this a major change in the 100 km rule or just a one-time exception? Or am I missing something here?

I looked it up on the tour company’s website - it was easy to find - and while the description is as you quoted, it also says on the top of the page that the distance is 102 nautical miles and 6 km. This qualifies for a Compostela and it has been the case for a few years already.

I’m surprised that volunteers at the Pilgrims Office are not aware of it. The option to travel by sailboat is included on the first page of the credencial (“A Vela”) and as you can see on the Oficina’s statistics page, 10 pilgrims got a Compostela under this scheme in October 2019 and 108 pilgrims in August 2019. The conditions for obtaining a Compostela are also listed in the credencial: at least 100 nautical miles by sailing and the last few kilometres (“los últimos kilómetros”) on foot, for example the last 10 km, or from Monte do Gozo which is about 5 km. People usually start somewhere along the Northern coast of Spain but also from Bordeaux in France for example.

 

[kenwilltravel]

I looked it up on the tour company’s website - it was easy to find - and while the description is as you quoted, it also says on the top of the page that the distance is 102 nautical miles and 6 km. This qualifies for a Compostela and it has been the case for a few years already.

Great, that answers my question. Many thanks!