Monday 11 March 2013

The Madrid Route - new edition of the guide

The route passes the Roman Aqueduct in Segovia
I'm pleased to tell you that the third edition of the CSJ guide to the route from Madrid to Sahagún is now available to download here: Guide: Camino de Madrid (Madrid to Sahagún)

This guide is one of a series of on-line guides published by the Confraternity of Saint James http://www.csj.org.uk/guides-online.htm and will also soon be available on the CSJ website. If you download a guide please leave a donation.

The on-line guides are written by pilgrims and are kept up to date with the information which pilgrims send to the editor when they have walked a route. Pilgrims providing guides for other pilgrims. The guides are updated regularly and up dates are available here http://www.csj.org.uk/guides.htm
Max walking the route
I wrote the second edition of the guide and I received a very helpful e mail from a pilgrim called Max Long. He had walked the route and had a lot of current information. I'm glad to say with very little persuasion Max agreed to edit the third edition and the fruit of his hard work is now available.
This edition of the guide has up to date information on accommodation,more walking notes, better elevation graphs and topographical maps to give some context. The maps are thanks to the work of another pilgrim Peter Robbins http://pilgrim.peterrobins.co.uk/

A summary of the route:
The way from Madrid to Sahagún designated by the Amigos de los Caminos de Santiago de Madrid was never a major historic pilgrimage route but there are documented accounts of pilgrims who passed that way. Regained from the Moors early in the Reconquest, Madrid grew in size and prosperity to become a medium-sized town by the time Felipe II chose it as his capital in the sixteenth-century. Its population and economy grew further and today Madrid is a major, modern, European capital city. With the renewal of interest in the Jacobean pilgrimage in the twentieth-century, especially its huge popularity in recent years, the Madrid Amigos decided to create this route to enable pilgrims from Madrid and central Spain to journey to the Camino Francés without taking transport. The route is about 320kms long and can be walked in about 12 days. However, Segovia, Simancas (for Valladolid) and Medina de Rioseco merit more than a brief visit.


The way is excellently waymarked throughout, so detailed walking directions are generally not necessary. Where they are needed Walking Notes have been provided in this Edition. Physically, the route is easy to walk. With the exception of the climb over the Sierra de Guadarrama, there are no hills or gradients of any significance. Graphs of the elevations throughout the route have been included in this edition, although these  are to be read with caution as they merely indicate the height difference between towns rather than being an accurate relief graph of the route.

Remarkably for such a direct route - almost a straight line from Madrid to Sahagún - there is virtually no road walking. The route uses footpaths, Vias Pecuarias (VPs), cañadas, farm and forestry tracks and even a short stretch of paved Roman road, and the paths are clear and well maintained. As a consequence, the journey is stress-free and one which lends itself to reflection and contemplation, a true pilgrimage route. But the corollary is that there are fewer towns, villages or pilgrims than on other routes with the exception of parts of the Via de la Plata, which the Madrid route closely resembles.

Buen Camino!




Guide: Camino de Madrid (Madrid to Sahagún)

Wednesday 6 March 2013

Please help me...a little research

Hola

I am preparing a presentation which I hope will stimulate debate about some of the assumptions often made about pilgrims and the welcome they receive on the Camino and in Santiago. I would be grateful if you could fill in the questionnaire and pass it on to other pilgrims you know. It will only take a few minutes and is completely anonymous.

Click here to take the survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/pilgrimswelcome

Thank you

John



Monday 4 March 2013

All the pilgrim numbers from Santiago - is the growth rate slowing down?


From the 1 January – 28 February 2012:  2135 pilgrims arrived in Santiago. In the same period this year 2187 pilgrims arrived. An increase of 2.5%  

Will the number of pilgrims walking the camino continue to grow at the same rate as in previous years?

That is one of the questions we’ll be looking at as the year develops. In the first two months the number of pilgrims arriving in 2013 is almost the same as in 2012. I will give a more detailed historical analysis of the growth rates next month at the end of the first quarter of 2013.

For the period 1 January 2013 – 28 February 2013    

Routes
Routes                                    Number of pilgrims
Frances-Camino de                  1508 (68,95%)
Portugues-Camino                    378 (17,28%)
Via de la Plata                           132 (6,04%)
Norte-Camino de                      72 (3,29%)
Ingles-Camino                          45 (2,06%)
Primitivo-Camino                     38 (1,74%)
Muxia-Finisterre                       9 (0,41%)
Other  caminos                         5 (0,23%)

Gender
Gender            Number of pilgrims
Men                1431 (65,43%)
Women           756 (34,57%)

Mode of transport
Mode              Number of pilgrims
On foot            2020 (92,36%)
Bicycle             155 (7,09%)
Horseback       11 (0,50%)
Wheelchair     1 (0,05%)

Reasons for making the pilgrimage
Reasons                      Number of pilgrims
Religious/others          1202 (54,96%)
Religious                    866 (39,60%)
Not religious              119 (5,44%)

Status
Status                         Number of pilgrims
Students                      706 (32,28%)
Employed                    429 (19,62%)
Self employed              226 (10,33%)
Technicians                 198 (9,05%)
Manual workers           137 (6,26%)
Teachers                     131 (5,99%)
Public workers             96 (4,39%)
Temp unemployed       85 (3,89%)
Retired                        57 (2,61%)
Farm workers              27 (1,23%)
Housewives                 25 (1,14%)
Directiors                     24 (1,10%)
Artists                         20 (0,91%)
Priests                         13 (0,59%)
Sailors                         7 (0,32%)
Sports                         3 (0,14%)
Religious                     3 (0,14%)

Ages
Age                  Number of pilgrims
30 - 60             1125 (51,44%)
< 30                 964 (44,08%)
> 60                 98 (4,48%)

Country          Number of pilgrims
Spain              993 (45,40%)
Portugal          331 (15,13%)
Korea              212 (9,69%)
Germany         90 (4,12%)
Ireland             79 (3,61%)
United States   64 (2,93%)
Italy                57 (2,61%)
France            38 (1,74%)
Brasil              30 (1,37%)
Japan              26 (1,19%)
Australia          23 (1,05%)
Holand             20 (0,91%)
UK                   17 (0,78%)
Argentina        15 (0,69%)
México            14 (0,64%)
Canadá            13 (0,59%)
Rep Czech       13 (0,59%)
Belgium           11 (0,50%)
Switzerland     11 (0,50%)
Hungary          8 (0,37%)
Denmark         8 (0,37%)
Austria             8 (0,37%)
China               8 (0,37%)
Chile                8 (0,37%)
South Africa    7 (0,32%)
Ecuador           7 (0,32%)
Poland             7 (0,32%)
Venezuela       6 (0,27%)
Uruguay          5 (0,23%)
Slovenia           5 (0,23%)
Perú                4 (0,18%)
Russia             4 (0,18%)
Bolivia             4 (0,18%)
Rumania          4 (0,18%)
New Zealand   4 (0,18%)
Croacia            4 (0,18%)
Finland            3 (0,14%)
Colombia         3 (0,14%)
Letonia            2 (0,09%)
Egipto             2 (0,09%)
Indonesia         2 (0,09%)
Suecia             2 (0,09%)
Taiwán            2 (0,09%)
Ucrania           2 (0,09%)
Cuba                1 (0,05%)
Eslovaquia       1 (0,05%)
Guatemala      1 (0,05%)
Líbano           1 (0,05%)
Paraguay         1 (0,05%)
Argelia            1 (0,05%)
El Salvador      1 (0,05%)
Israel               1 (0,05%)
Jordania          1 (0,05%)
Greece            1 (0,05%)
Turquía            1 (0,05%)


Starting point
Starting point                        Number of pilgrims
Sarria                                      637 (29,13%)
S. Jean P. Port                         239 (10,93%)
Tui                                          141 (6,45%)
Cebreiro                                  106 (4,85%)
Oporto                                     97 (4,44%)
León                                        95 (4,34%)
Roncesvalles                            81 (3,70%)
Ponferrada                               61 (2,79%)
Ourense                                   60 (2,74%)
Valença do Minho                    56 (2,56%)
Pamplona                                48 (2,19%)
Astorga                                   46 (2,10%)
Resto Portugal                         42 (1,92%)
Ferrol                                      39 (1,78%)
Burgos                                    38 (1,74%)
Vilafranca                                32 (1,46%)
Gudiña                                    27 (1,23%)
Oviedo - C.P.                          27 (1,23%)
Triacastela                               20 (0,91%)
Sevilla                                     15 (0,69%)
Irún                                         15 (0,69%)
Lisboa                                     14 (0,64%)
Resto Asturias - C.N                12 (0,55%)
Francia - C.F.                          10 (0,46%)
Le Puy                                    10 (0,46%)
Resto C. León C.F.                 9 (0,41%)
Jaca                                        9 (0,41%)
Lugo - C.P.                             8 (0,37%)
Santander                                8 (0,37%)
Bilbao                                     8 (0,37%)
Braga                                      7 (0,32%)
Finisterra                                 7 (0,32%)
Ribadeo                                  6 (0,27%)
Vega de Valcarce                    6 (0,27%)
Oviedo - C.N.                         6 (0,27%)
Porriño                                   6 (0,27%)
Allariz                                     6 (0,27%)
Alemania                                 5 (0,23%)
Sahagún                                  5 (0,23%)
Neda                                       5 (0,23%)
Logroño                                  4 (0,18%)
Samos                                     4 (0,18%)
Carrión de los Condes             4 (0,18%)
Fatima                                     4 (0,18%)
Navarra                                   4 (0,18%)
Salamanca                               4 (0,18%)
Ponte de Lima                          3 (0,14%)
Madrid - C.F.                           3 (0,14%)
Cataluña - C.F.                        3 (0,14%)
Avilés                                     3 (0,14%)
Chaves-Portugal                      3 (0,14%)
Puebla de Sanabria                  3 (0,14%)
San Sebastián                          3 (0,14%)
Somport                                 3 (0,14%)
Viana do Castelo                     3 (0,14%)
Resto Andalucia                      2 (0,09%)
Rest País Vasco - C.N.           2 (0,09%)
Lourdes                                  2 (0,09%)
Valencia O.C.                         2 (0,09%)
Granada                                  2 (0,09%)
Canfranc                                2 (0,09%)
Barcelona                               2 (0,09%)
Zaragoza                                2 (0,09%)
Holanda                                 2 (0,09%)
Roma                                    2 (0,09%)
Mondoñedo                           2 (0,09%)
Mérida                                   2 (0,09%)
Muxia                                    2 (0,09%)
Tineo - C.P.                           2 (0,09%)
Vigo                                      2 (0,09%)
Francia - C.N                         2 (0,09%)
Resto Europa                        2 (0,09%)
Bélgica                                  2 (0,09%)
Gijón                                     2 (0,09%)
Andorra                                 1 (0,05%)
La Bañeza                              1 (0,05%)
Lourenzá                               1 (0,05%)
Extremadura                          1 (0,05%)
Resto Asturias - C.P.             1 (0,05%)
Vezelay                                 1 (0,05%)
Cast. la Mancha - C.F.           1 (0,05%)
Com. Valenciana                    1 (0,05%)
Ponferrada. C.Inv.                 1 (0,05%)
St. Domingo                          1 (0,05%)
Montserrat                             1 (0,05%)
Granja de Moreruela               1 (0,05%)
Cáceres                                  1 (0,05%)
Abadin                                   1 (0,05%)
Estella                                    1 (0,05%)
Reino Unido C.Ing                 1 (0,05%)
Hendaya                                1 (0,05%)
Laza                                      1 (0,05%)
Barcelos                                1 (0,05%)
Faro                                      1 (0,05%)
París                                     1 (0,05%)
Zamora                                 1 (0,05%)
Castilla la Mancha                 1 (0,05%)
Resto C. León - V.P.            1 (0,05%)
Madrid - V.P.                       1 (0,05%)
A Rúa                                  1 (0,05%)
Suiza                                   1 (0,05%)
Puente la Reina                    1 (0,05%)
Viseu                                  1 (0,05%)