All the news and numbers too!

I’ve just got back from Santiago after an exhausting 5 days with pilgrims from the Confraternity of St James. 23 of them had walked up the coastal route from Oporto and 8 of us went out to join them. It was a week of fun. I’ll post some more stories and photographs in the next week. We had dinners, Masses, music, prayers, an address to St James in the Cathedral, songs around the organ and other hi jinks. More later.

First the news. Mari who runs the office in the afternoons and who got married last year is pregnant. She is overjoyed. You may also remember Susana who runs the Archicofradía. She also got married in the last year and yes, you’ve guessed it…she is also pregnant. Congratulations to them both. They are very happy indeed. Happy for them but worried about how to cope is Don Jenaro the Canon in Charge of Pilgrimages and the Office. I have assured him that I’ll help out when I can and that I promise not to take maternity leave.
In the Pilgrims’ Office there is a strange atmosphere. Most of the staff have either left or are leaving in the next few weeks and around 15 new people have been appointed to take over. All change. The pilgrims keep coming but in less numbers now.

Thursday was the last day of the “busy season” and one hour before closing I ran a report from the data base which is very interesting.

In the month of September 36,611 pilgrims arrived in the Office.

Therefore so far this year a staggering 227,442 pilgrims have been given Compostelas or Certificates.

This compares to 130,792 in the same period in 2009. Almost double.

Looking at departure points these comparative figures are for the months from 1st January to the 30th September for the years 2008, 2009 and this year.

Departure Point       2008    2009    2010

St Jean de Pied Port   13418  13206   14547
Roncesvalles               8184    9275     11505
Pamplona                   3839     3710     3594
Astorga                      4597     5004     6540
Ponferrada                 6076     7315     10930
O Cebreiro                7210      8739    18166
Sarria                        18906    24134   56759

Sarria clearly comes out on top as the most popular starting point just beyond the 100 kms distance to Santiago. I thought it would be interesting to look at the nationalities of people walking from Sarria. As I thought Spain represents over 78% of these pilgrims. Which is an increase of 10% on last year. The comparisons are:

Top three nationalities departing from Sarria in 2010

Spanish – 78.53%
Italian - 5.75%
Irish - 1.81%

Here is a full analysis of the 227,442 pilgrims who had arrived one hour before the office closed on 30th September 2010:

Countries and number of pilgrims

Spain 155569 (68,40%)
Italy 13187 (5,80%)
Germany 12508 (5,50%)
France 7656 (3,37%)
Portugal 6832 (3,00%)
United States 2718 (1,20%)
Ireland 2128 (0,94%)
Poland 1824 (0,80%)
Holand 1787 (0,79%)
United Kingdom 1712 (0,75%)
Brasil 1672 (0,74%)
Austria 1481 (0,65%)
Canadá 1412 (0,62%)
Belgium 1282 (0,56%)
México 1181 (0,52%)
Korea 1099 (0,48%)
Suecia 1072 (0,47%)
Suiza 904 (0,40%)
Australia 903 (0,40%)
Argentina 870 (0,38%)
Denmark 821 (0,36%)
Venezuela 696 (0,31%)
Hungría 633 (0,28%)
República Checa 604 (0,27%)
Finlandia 583 (0,26%)
Colombia 562 (0,25%)
Japón 552 (0,24%)
Eslovaquia 547 (0,24%)
Noruega 480 (0,21%)
Eslovenia 413 (0,18%)
Sudáfrica 249 (0,11%)
Ecuador 224 (0,10%)
Rumania 207 (0,09%)
Uruguay 194 (0,09%)
Chile 188 (0,08%)
Puerto Rico 186 (0,08%)
Perú 176 (0,08%)
Rusia 176 (0,08%)
Nueva Zelanda 172 (0,08%)
Andorra 166 (0,07%)
Lituania 123 (0,05%)
Bolivia 108 (0,05%)
Luxemburgo 108 (0,05%)
Estonia 101 (0,04%)
Israel 79 (0,03%)
Bulgaria 74 (0,03%)
Croacia 73 (0,03%)
Paraguay 60 (0,03%)
Grecia 55 (0,02%)
Rep. Dominicana 52 (0,02%)
China 46 (0,02%)
Ucrania 46 (0,02%)
Cuba 41 (0,02%)
Filipinas 41 (0,02%)
El Salvador 39 (0,02%)
Marruecos 38 (0,02%)
Guatemala 34 (0,01%)
Costa Rica 32 (0,01%)
Malta 32 (0,01%)
Panamá 32 (0,01%)
Rep. de Corea 30 (0,01%)
Letonia 24 (0,01%)
Nicaragua 23 (0,01%)
Swazilandia 23 (0,01%)
Albania 20 (0,01%)
Myanmar 20 (0,01%)
Taiwán 20 (0,01%)
India 18 (0,01%)
Singapur 17 (0,01%)
Turquía 17 (0,01%)
Islas Feroe 15 (0,01%)
Honduras 15 (0,01%)
Serbia 15 (0,01%)
Brunei 14 (0,01%)
Irán 14 (0,01%)
Pakistán 14 (0,01%)
Armenia 12 (0,01%)
Islandia 12 (0,01%)
San Marino 12 (0,01%)

Gender     Nº of pilgrims

Male          127229 (55,94%)

Female        100201 (44,06%)

Mode of transport   Number of pilgrims

On foot                     196941 (86,59%)
Bicycle                      29337 (12,90%)
Horseback                1111 (0,49%)
Wheelchair                41 (0,02%)

Motivation                Number of Pilgrims

Religious                     123914 (54,48%)
Religious and others     91379 (40,18%)
Not religious                12137 (5,34%)

Departure Point          Number of pilgrims

Sarria                           56748 (24,95%)
Cebreiro                      18212 (8,01%)
S. Jean P. Port             14628 (6,43%)
Tui                               14538 (6,39%)
Roncesvalles                11541 (5,07%)
Ponferrada                   10959 (4,82%)
León                            10309 (4,53%)
Astorga                        6564 (2,89%)
Ourense                       5791 (2,55%)
Oporto                        4850 (2,13%)
Ferrol                          4235 (1,86%)
Vilafranca                    4230 (1,86%)
Burgos                         3701 (1,63%)
Pamplona                     3612 (1,59%)
Valença do Minho        3438 (1,51%)
Oviedo - C.P.              3054 (1,4%)
Le Puy                         2713 (1,19%)
Rest of Portugal           2615 (1,15%)
Triacastela                   2560 (1,13%)
Irún                             2204 (0,97%)
Lugo - C.P.                 2141 (0,94%)
Sevilla                         1956 (0,86%)
Rest of C. León          1799 (0,79%)
Samos                        1738 (0,76%)
Vilalba                        1697 (0,75%)
France                        1685 (0,74%)
Ribadeo                      1623 (0,71%)
Oviedo                        1550 (0,68%)
Rest of Asturias           1233 (0,54%)
Santander                    1114 (0,49%)
Neda                           1084 (0,48%)
Somport                       925 (0,41%)
Logroño                       855 (0,38%)
Bilbao                          687 (0,30%)
Holand                         681 (0,30%)
Mondoñedo                 664 (0,29%)
Lisboa                          657 (0,29%)
Ponte de Lima              629 (0,28%)
Porriño                         616 (0,27%)
Zamora                        611 (0,27%)
Vigo                            608 (0,27%)
Avilés                          592 (0,26%)
Salamanca                   582 (0,26%)
Gijón                           576 (0,25%)
Madrid - C.F.             534 (0,23%)
Sahagún                      530 (0,23%)
Germany                     505 (0,22%)
Vega de Valcarce        498 (0,22%)
Rest of Asturias - C.P. 405 (0,18%)
Gudiña                         398 (0,17%)
Puebla de Sanabria       389 (0,17%)
Finisterra                      380 (0,17%)
Jaca                             345 (0,15%)
Rest of País Vasco       341 (0,15%)
Abadin                         334 (0,15%)
Baamonde                    330 (0,15%)
Frómista                       327 (0,14%)
Laza                             304 (0,13%)
Rabanal del Camino      288 (0,13%)
Muxia                           286 (0,13%)
Lourenzá                       275 (0,12%)
Fonsagrada - C.P.         261 (0,11%)
Carrión de los Condes   257 (0,11%)
S Domingo de la Calzada 249 (0,11%)
Rest of Cantabria            240 (0,11%)
Allariz                            235 (0,10%)
Bélgium                         222 (0,10%)
Verín                             207 (0,09%)
Braga                            206 (0,09%)
Puente la Reina             191 (0,08%)
Suiza                            185 (0,08%)
Lourdes                       184 (0,08%)
Hospital de Orbigo       183 (0,08%)
San Sebastián               182 (0,08%)
Rest C. León - V.P.     181 (0,08%)
Mérida                        171 (0,08%)
Xunqueira de Ambia    164 (0,07%)
Otros                           159 (0,07%)
Chaves-Portugal           159 (0,07%)
Granja de Moreruela     156 (0,07%)
R.Pais Vasco                147 (0,06%)
Zaragoza                      140 (0,06%)
A Guarda                     139 (0,06%)
Vezelay                        136 (0,06%)
Cataluña                       136 (0,06%)
Grandas de Salime C.P 134 (0,06%)
Arles                             133 (0,06%)
Hendaya                       127 (0,06%)
Valencia                        124 (0,05%)
Madrid                          123 (0,05%)
France                           117 (0,05%)
Fonsagrada                    116 (0,05%)
Montserrat                     113 (0,05%)
Barcelona                      111 (0,05%)
Rest Andalucia               110 (0,05%)
Cáceres                         102 (0,04%)
Estella                            101 (0,04%)
Murcia                           100 (0,04%)
Cadavo                          98 (0,04%)
Com. Valenciana            85 (0,04%)
Rest Galicia                    83 (0,04%)
Granada                         77 (0,03%)
Resto de Extremadura    76 (0,03%)
Navarra                         75 (0,03%)
Tineo - C.P.                   74 (0,03%)
Canfranc                        73 (0,03%)
Monforte de Lemos        73 (0,03%)
Grandas de Salime          72 (0,03%)
Austria                            66 (0,03%)
Rest Europa                    64 (0,03%)
Tineo                              62 (0,03%)
Molinaseca                     58 (0,03%)
París                               56 (0,02%)
Italy                                55 (0,02%)
Castilla la Mancha           53 (0,02%)
Córdoba                         50 (0,02%)
Com. Valenciana             46  (0,02%)
Rome                              31 (0,01%)
United Kingdom              25 (0,01%)
Poland                            20 (0,01%)
Denmark                        13 (0,01%)

Employement status Number of pilgrims

Employed                    52799 (23,21%)
Students                      43269 (19,02%)
Technical                     27616 (12,14%)
Self employed              23222 (10,21%)
Retired                        21013 (9,24%)
Teachers                     14926 (6,56%)
Civil servants               12898 (5,67%)
Manual workers          11711 (5,15%)
Housewives                 8733 (3,84%)
On state support          4964 (2,18%)
Directors                     1822 (0,80%)
Priests                         1376 (0,60%)
Artists                         1110 (0,49%)
Farm workers              803 (0,35%)
Religious orders           640 (0,28%)
Sailors                         337 (0,15%)
Sportsmen                   138 (0,06%)

Age Range    Number of pilgrims

30 - 60          131235 (57,70%)
< 30              68348 (30,05%)
> 60               27859 (12,25%)

Caminos

Camino     Number of pilgrims

Camino Frances 159804 (70,26%)
Camino Portugues 28345 (12,46%)
Camino del Norte 14228 (6,26%)
Via de la Plata 12031 (5,29%)
Camino Primitivo 6245 (2,75%)
Camino Ingles 5344 (2,35%)
Muxia-Finisterre 666 (0,29%)
Other routes 572 (0,25%)