Numbers, numbers, numbers

Before

It is mid afternoon in the Pilgrims´Office. It is cloudy with bursts of sun and it is hot. The slightest breeze gusts through the wide open windows and the whirring fans help. There is the delicious smell of fresh empanda in the air. Sandra, one of my colleagues, leaves tomorrow and has brought fresh Galacian pie for everyone. It is also Rosa´s birthday. “Trenta y tres”, she whispered. Oh to be 33 again. She has brought a box of Belgian chocolates. People make coffee and pour glasses of ice cold water. We have food and drink. What we don´t have is a long queue of pilgrims.

After - 4pm today

Yesterday saw the end of the August holiday enjoyed throughout Spain. Television reports this morning focused on the number of accidents on the roads during the Great Return. This morning pilgrims have trickled in. For everyone it feels like a day off. The atmosphere is almost tranquil and there is some talk of an end of August drink this evening.

4pm - No queue

One day soon I´m going to tell you more about my friends here in the Pilgrims' Office. Today I´m thinking about my friend and fellow volunteer Christine who left yesterday after a long stint of 6 weeks. Christine is a doctor and carer. She is quite the most intelligent and funny person I have encountered in a long time. This year, overcoming many odds, she decided to spend her summer here in Santiago with her husband helping out at the Office. August brought many challenges: the day we issued 2,477 Compostelas, the days of three hour queues, no breaks and much noise either from singing or unruly pilgrims. Through the joy of arriving pilgrims we also got our fair share of heat, impatience and bad temper. Amidst it all Christine was a model of calm. She greeted every pilgrim with a warmth specially for them. She spoke in many languages explaining particularly to children what the Compostela is all about. I am sure that many pilgrims this summer will have had their Camino experience topped off perfectly by meeting Christine. Today she isn´t here. We miss her.

4pm - no queue

Today sees the end of the busy period. I´ve used the calm of the day so far to delve into the depths of the database. The results are very interesting. I´ve heard stories from far along the Camino that the expected numbers had not materialised. A comparison with the two previous years proves this view with only a small increase in numbers leaving from St Jean de Pied Port and Roncesvalles and a marginal decrease in those leaving from Pamplona. Not the double numbers expected. That has been reserved for the departure points much closer to Santiago, O Cebreiro and Sarria in particular.

We will have a few more in by the end of today so the numbers for this year will eventually be adjusted by another 200 or so. By that point I am hoping to be celebrating with the others if that comes to pass.

The comparative figures are for the months from 1st January to the 31st August for the years 2008, 2009 and this year. Enjoy!

Departure Point                                       2008       2009      2010
St Jean de Pied Port                                11269     10953     12103
Roncesvalles                                            6889       7842       9824
Pamplona                                                3156       3035       2982
Astorga                                                   3801       4125       5608
Ponferrada                                              5083       6205       9070
O Cebreiro                                              6101      7485       15365
Sarria                                                      16192     20329    45533

Total numbers in the period from all routes:

2008 – 94,576
2009 – 110,326
2010 – 186,781

Analysis of total for 2010

Country Number of pilgrims

España 128907 (69,02%)
Italia 11103 (5,94%)
Alemania 9850 (5,27%)
Portugal 5857 (3,14%)
Francia 5811 (3,11%)
Estados Unidos 2300 (1,23%)
Irlanda 1638 (0,88%)
Holanda 1528 (0,82%)
Polonia 1392 (0,75%)
Reino Unido 1342 (0,72%)
Brasil 1308 (0,70%)
Austria 1235 (0,66%)
Canadá 1121 (0,60%)
Belgica 1026 (0,55%)
Corea 992 (0,53%)
México 961 (0,51%)
Suecia 818 (0,44%)
Suiza 716 (0,38%)
Argentina 695 (0,37%)
Australia 694 (0,37%)
Dinamarca 600 (0,32%)
Hungría 532 (0,28%)
Venezuela 518 (0,28%)
Eslovaquia 460 (0,25%)
República Checa 457 (0,24%)
Japón 454 (0,24%)
Finlandia 434 (0,23%)
Colombia 433 (0,23%)
Noruega 370 (0,20%)
Eslovenia 340 (0,18%)
Sudáfrica 178 (0,10%)
Ecuador 169 (0,09%)
Rumania 162 (0,09%)
Perú 152 (0,08%)
Chile 143 (0,08%)
Nueva Zelanda 142 (0,08%)
Rusia 136 (0,07%)
Andorra 133 (0,07%)
Uruguay 124 (0,07%)
Puerto Rico 114 (0,06%)
Lituania 110 (0,06%)
Bolivia 86 (0,05%)
Estonia 74 (0,04%)
Luxemburgo 68 (0,04%)
Croacia 66 (0,04%)
Paraguay 51 (0,03%)
Grecia 49 (0,03%)
Israel 49 (0,03%)
Bulgaria 45 (0,02%)
Rep. Dominicana 43 (0,02%)
China 42 (0,02%)
Ucrania 40 (0,02%)
Marruecos 38 (0,02%)
Cuba 32 (0,02%)
El Salvador 29 (0,02%)
Rep. de Corea 28 (0,01%)
Filipinas 26 (0,01%)
Guatemala 25 (0,01%)
Panamá 25 (0,01%)
Costa Rica 23 (0,01%)
Malta 20 (0,01%)
Letonia 19 (0,01%)
Taiwán 19 (0,01%)
Myanmar 18 (0,01%)
Nicaragua 17 (0,01%)
India 15 (0,01%)

Mode of transport

Mode Number of pilgrims

On foot 161422 (86,42%)

Bicicleta 24371 (13,05%)

Horseback 946 (0,51%)

Wheelchairs 30 (0,02%)

Gender

Gender Number of pilgrims

Men 105134 (56,29%)
Women 81635 (43,71%)

Motivation

Motivation Number of pilgrims

Religious 100809 (53,97%)

Religious and other 75726 (40,54%)

Not religious 10234 (5,48%)

Departure point

Departure point Number of pilgrims

Sarria 45539 (24,38%)
Cebreiro 15365 (8,23%)
S. Jean P. Port 12106 (6,48%)
Tui 11597 (6,21%)
Roncesvalles 9826 (5,26%)
Ponferrada 9070 (4,86%)
León 8388 (4,49%)
Astorga 5608 (3,00%)
Ourense 4562 (2,44%)
Oporto 4015 (2,15%)
Ferrol 3715 (1,99%)
Vilafranca 3564 (1,91%)
Burgos 3005 (1,61%)
Pamplona 2982 (1,60%)
Valença do Minho 2737 (1,47%)
Oviedo - C.P. 2529 (1,35%)
Resto Portugal 2107 (1,13%)
Triacastela 2104 (1,13%)
Le Puy 1996 (1,07%)
Irún 1836 (0,98%)
Lugo - C.P. 1794 (0,96%)
Sevilla 1715 (0,92%)
Vilalba 1527 (0,82%)
Resto C. León 1512 (0,81%)
Samos 1506 (0,81%)
Ribadeo 1418 (0,76%)
Francia 1342 (0,72%)
Oviedo 1239 (0,66%)
Resto Asturias 1010 (0,54%)
Santander 922 (0,49%)
Somport 795 (0,43%)
Logroño 730 (0,39%)
Neda 671 (0,36%)
Holanda 589 (0,32%)
Lisboa 575 (0,31%)
Vigo 561 (0,30%)
Bilbao 545 (0,29%)
Mondoñedo 527 (0,28%)
Zamora 506 (0,27%)
Salamanca 495 (0,27%)
Gijón 484 (0,26%)
Porriño 482 (0,26%)
Ponte de Lima 482 (0,26%)
Avilés 467 (0,25%)
Madrid - C.F. 465 (0,25%)
Sahagún 447 (0,24%)
Vega de Valcarce 441 (0,24%)
Alemania 388 (0,21%)
Puebla de Sanabria 335 (0,18%)
Resto Asturias - C.P. 328 (0,18%)
Gudiña 323 (0,17%)
Jaca 304 (0,16%)
Abadin 304 (0,16%)
Frómista 272 (0,15%)
Resto País Vasco 272 (0,15%)
Laza 271 (0,15%)
Muxia 263 (0,14%)
Lourenzá 246 (0,13%)
Rabanal del Camino 239 (0,13%)
Allariz 235 (0,13%)
Fonsagrada - C.P. 216 (0,12%)
Baamonde 216 (0,12%)
Sto. Domingo de la Calzada 212 (0,11%)
Carrión de los Condes 211 (0,11%)
Resto Cantabria 192 (0,10%)
Bélgica 183 (0,10%)
Braga 182 (0,10%)
Verín 182 (0,10%)
Puente la Reina 172 (0,09%)
Otros 159 (0,09%)
Lourdes 158 (0,08%)
Resto C. León - V.P. 157 (0,08%)
Suiza 152 (0,08%)
Chaves-Portugal 150 (0,08%)
San Sebastián 149 (0,08%)
Mérida 141 (0,08%)
Xunqueira de Ambia 139 (0,07%)
A Guarda 135 (0,07%)
Hospital de Orbigo 133 (0,07%)
R.Pais Vasco 127 (0,07%)
Zaragoza 126 (0,07%)
Grandas de Salime - C.P. 125 (0,07%)
Granja de Moreruela 124 (0,07%)
Vezelay 120 (0,06%)
Cataluña 120 (0,06%)
Madrid 113 (0,06%)
Valencia 111 (0,06%)
Arles 109 (0,06%)
Hendaya 102 (0,05%)
Montserrat 101 (0,05%)
Barcelona 99 (0,05%)
Francia 99 (0,05%)
Resto Andalucia 98 (0,05%)
Fonsagrada 96 (0,05%)
Murcia 95 (0,05%)
Cáceres 93 (0,05%)
Resto Galicia 83 (0,04%)
Cadavo 82 (0,04%)
Finisterra 81 (0,04%)
Estella 79 (0,04%)
Resto de Extremadura 72 (0,04%)
Com. Valenciana 70 (0,04%)
Canfranc 69 (0,04%)
Monforte de Lemos 69 (0,04%)
Granada 67 (0,04%)
Tineo - C.P. 65 (0,03%)
Grandas de Salime 64 (0,03%)
Navarra 55 (0,03%)
Austria 54 (0,03%)
Resto Europa 51 (0,03%)
Córdoba 47 (0,03%)
Tineo 47 (0,03%)
Castilla la Mancha 45 (0,02%)
Italia 45 (0,02%)
París 44 (0,02%)
Vegadeo 43 (0,02%)
Molinaseca 41 (0,02%)
Nájera 40 (0,02%)
Com. Valenciana 39 (0,02%)
Castilla La Mancha 38 (0,02%)
Castrojeriz 31 (0,02%)
Salas 30 (0,02%)
Valladolid 29 (0,02%)
Huelva 28 (0,01%)
Cast. La Mancha 26 (0,01%)
San Juan de Ortega 24 (0,01%)
Roma 23 (0,01%)
mirallos 22 (0,01%)
Reino Unido 21 (0,01%)
Malaga 21 (0,01%)
La Rioja 21 (0,01%)
Badajoz 18 (0,01%)
Ortigueira 16 (0,01%)
Vincios 16 (0,01%)
Baiona 16 (0,01%)
Cataluña 15 (0,01%)
Grado 15 (0,01%)
Valcarlos 15 (0,01%)
La Mesa 14 (0,01%)
La Bañeza 13 (0,01%)
Polonia 13 (0,01%)
A Rúa 13 (0,01%)
Pontevedra 12 (0,01%)
Otros 11 (0,01%)
Otros 10 (0,01%)
Benavente 10 (0,01%)
Otros 10 (0,01%)
San Sebastian 10 (0,01%)
Dinamarca 9 (0,00%)
Rábade 9 (0,00%)
Republica Checa 8 (0,00%)
Inglaterra 8 (0,00%)
Fonfría 7 (0,00%)
Irlanda 6 (0,00%)
Finlandia 5 (0,00%)

Employment status

Status Number of pilgrims

Employed 43593 (23,34%)
Students 35746 (19,14%)
Technicians 22055 (11,81%)
Self employed 18532 (9,92%)
Retired 16681 (8,93%)
Teachers 13442 (7,20%)
Civil servants 10579 (5,66%)
Manual workers 9790 (5,24%)
Housewives 7133 (3,82%)
Temporary unemployed 4147 (2,22%)
Directors 1511 (0,81%)
Priests 1066 (0,57%)
Artists 913 (0,49%)
Farm workers 672 (0,36%)
Religious Orders 488 (0,26%)
Sailors/fishermen 264 (0,14%)
Sportspeople 114 (0,06%)

Ages of pilgrims

Range     Number of pilgrims

30 - 60 108457 (58,07%)

< 30 56361 (30,17%)

> 60 21963 (11,76%)

Routes

Camino Number of pilgrims

Frances-Camino de 131357 (70,33%)
Portugues-Camino 22917 (12,27%)
Norte-Camino de 11841 (6,34%)
Via de la Plata 9987 (5,35%)
Primitivo-Camino 5205 (2,79%)
Ingles-Camino 4410 (2,36%)
Otros caminos 525 (0,28%)
Muxia-Finisterre 344 (0,18%)
Otros 195 (0,10%)