"A man walked to Santiago with a donkey… he wrote a book and in it suggested it would be impossible to do with children. We decided to try anyway!
We started in Astorga and slowly made our way a westward with the sun at our backs casting shadows in front of us with each step we took. Dusty paths, up hills, shady glades, stony tracks… beauty and challenge all the way. Even a broken arm for the 8 year old at O Cebreiro. We met many people… and met them again before they left us behind. We talked and looked and learnt and thought and experienced.
It was a wonderful memory-making walk."
Rob & Rachael, Jaala (18), Josiah (16),Kyle (15), Kaleisha (13), Levi (11)
Micaiah (10), Tessa (8), Ella-Rose (6)
Grandpa Joe (80 years old)
The numbers
The family counted as part of the total number of 168,678 pilgrims who have arrived so far this year. This is 4% more than the 162028 pilgrims who arrived in 2011.
Less Spanish pilgrims are arriving than in previous years. 54% pilgrims in 2011 were Spanish however this year that has dropped to 50%.
September has been busy with 27318 pilgrims arriving in the month compared to 26022 arriving in the same period last year.
The increased number of pilgrims from English speaking countries continues. This month we have noticed more people from the United States of America arriving than before. The end of month figures bear out this impression. As you can see below pilgrims from the USA top the table with a massive 78% more Americans arriving this year compared to last.
Pilgrims from English speaking countries
|
Country
|
2009
|
2010
|
2011
|
2012
|
Growth
|
|
|
729
|
880
|
981
|
1364
|
39%
|
|
|
1649
|
1414
|
1762
|
2119
|
20%
|
|
|
1549
|
2138
|
2423
|
3540
|
46%
|
|
South Africa
|
224
|
249
|
433
|
591
|
36%
|
|
United Kingdom
|
1436
|
1710
|
1978
|
3171
|
60%
|
|
United States
|
2145
|
2693
|
3111
|
5546
|
78%
|
|
New Zealand
|
164
|
173
|
187
|
273
|
46%
|
Full analysis of the statistics for the period 1 January 2012 – 30 September 2012
Total 168678
Countries
Country Number of pilgrims
Spain 85789 (50,86%)
Germany 13324 (7,90%)
Italy 11446 (6,79%)
Portugal 9073 (5,38%)
France 6923 (4,10%)
United States 5546 (3,29%)
Ireland 3540 (2,10%)
UK 3171 (1,88%)
Holand 2665 (1,58%)
Canada 2119 (1,26%)
Poland 2070 (1,23%)
Korea 1873 (1,11%)
Brasil 1826 (1,08%)
Belgium 1694 (1,00%)
Austria 1556 (0,92%)
Denmark 1432 (0,85%)
Australia 1364 (0,81%)
Switzerland 1081 (0,64%)
Sweden 1063 (0,63%)
México 864 (0,51%)
Norway 798 (0,47%)
Hungría 750 (0,44%)
Rep Checa 741 (0,44%)
Japón 688 (0,41%)
Argentina 678 (0,40%)
Finlandia 620 (0,37%)
South Africa 591 (0,35%)
Slovaquia 576 (0,34%)
Russia 427 (0,25%)
Colombia 385 (0,23%)
Venezuela 367 (0,22%)
Slovenia 350 (0,21%)
New Zealand 273 (0,16%)
Romania 223 (0,13%)
Bulgaria 175 (0,10%)
Ecuador 164 (0,10%)
Chile 156 (0,09%)
China 150 (0,09%)
Lithuania 139 (0,08%)
Perú 134 (0,08%)
Uruguay 126 (0,07%)
Israel 108 (0,06%)
Malta 97 (0,06%)
Puerto Rico 96 (0,06%)
Filipinas 90 (0,05%)
Estonia 90 (0,05%)
Andorra 86 (0,05%)
Luxemburgh 72 (0,04%)
Ucrania 66 (0,04%)
Croacia 60 (0,04%)
Greece 51 (0,03%)
Bolivia 49 (0,03%)
Islandia 48 (0,03%)
Letonia 46 (0,03%)
Paraguay 44 (0,03%)
Gender
Gender Number of pilgrims
Males 94707 (56,15%)
Females 73971 (43,85%)
Method of transport
Method Number of pilgrims
On foot 143298 (84,95%)
Bicycle 24822 (14,72%)
Horseback 520 (0,31%)
Wheelchair 38 (0,02%)
Reasons for pilgrimage
Reason Number of pilgrims
Religious or spiritual reasons 87873 (52,10%)
Religious reasons 70106 (41,56%)
Not religious or spiritual 10699 (6,34%)
Starting point
Starting point Number of pilgrims
Sarria 36572 (21,68%)
S. Jean P. Port 17432 (10,33%)
León 9279 (5,50%)
Cebreiro 9092 (5,39%)
Tui 7569 (4,49%)
Roncesvalles 7365 (4,37%)
Ponferrada 6943 (4,12%)
Oporto 6572 (3,90%)
Astorga 5054 (3,00%)
Oviedo 3534 (2,10%)
Pamplona 3502 (2,08%)
Burgos 3381 (2,00%)
Ferrol 3066 (1,82%)
Le Puy 2859 (1,69%)
Valença do Minho 2837 (1,68%)
Irún 2763 (1,64%)
Vilafranca 2463 (1,46%)
Rest of Portugal 2428 (1,44%)
Ourense 2102 (1,25%)
Sevilla 1962 (1,16%)
Triacastela 1891 (1,12%)
France 1728 (1,02%)
Lugo 1399 (0,83%)
Rest of C. León 1208 (0,72%)
Samos 1138 (0,67%)
Rest of Asturias 1092 (0,65%)
Ribadeo 1052 (0,62%)
Santander 1027 (0,61%)
Lisboa 846 (0,50%)
Logroño 836 (0,50%)
Bilbao 835 (0,50%)
Vilalba 814 (0,48%)
Ponte de Lima 790 (0,47%)
Holand 741 (0,44%)
Gijón 670 (0,40%)
Oviedo 645 (0,38%)
Somport 571 (0,34%)
Germany 521 (0,31%)
Avilés 506 (0,30%)
Salamanca 444 (0,26%)
Madrid 423 (0,25%)
Zamora 392 (0,23%)
País Vasco 379 (0,22%)
Mondoñedo 373 (0,22%)
Sahagún 371 (0,22%)
Bélgium 339 (0,20%)
Puebla de Sanabria 331 (0,20%)
Asturias - C.P 305 (0,18%)
Vega de Valcarce 293 (0,17%)
Braga 290 (0,17%)
Cantabria 280 (0,17%)
San Sebastián 261 (0,15%)
Chaves-Portugal 256 (0,15%)
Jaca 253 (0,15%)
Baamonde 248 (0,15%)
Muxia 240 (0,14%)
Status
Status Number of pilgrims
Employed 37483 (22,22%)
Students 32390 (19,20%)
Technicians 21664 (12,84%)
Retired 18549 (11,00%)
Self employed 18257 (10,82%)
Teachers 13291 (7,88%)
Pulbic workers 7535 (4,47%)
Manual 6247 (3,70%)
Unemployed 4261 (2,53%)
Housewives 3857 (2,29%)
Directors 1501 (0,89%)
Artists 1205 (0,71%)
Priests 1041 (0,62%)
Agricultores 541 (0,32%)
Religious 424 (0,25%)
Sailors 257 (0,15%)
Sportspeople 148 (0,09%)
Oikoten 27 (0,02%)
Ages of pilgrims
Age Number of pilgrims
30 - 60 95012 (56,33%)
under 30 49817 (29,53%)
over 60 23849 (14,14%)
Caminos followed
Camino Number of pilgrims
Frances-Camino de 117308 (69,55%)
Portugues-Camino 22633 (13,42%)
Norte-Camino de 11773 (6,98%)
Via de la Plata 7255 (4,30%)
Primitivo-Camino 5679 (3,37%)
Ingles-Camino 3254 (1,93%)
Otros caminos 402 (0,24%)
Muxia-Finisterre 374 (0,22%)
