Camino to Santiago de Compostela Information and stories about the pilgrimage routes to Santiago.: All the numbers from Santiago...10% increase in pilgrims, USA ranks fourth!

Hola

Greetings from Santiago where, at least for a while, the umbrellas have been put away. The sun is shining. The streets are alive with students and arriving pilgrims. Pilgrims' Masses are full to bursting. After a long and wet and cold period the extended hibernation of winter is over. The city is awake and raring to party. The sounds of street entertainers fill the air. Hoards of Japanese tourists are back piling off of buses to take pictures of any pilgrims who stand still long enough. Every morning for the last week there has been a queue of pilgrims waiting on the doors of the office opening.

Last month the figures for the year to date showed that a significantly smaller percentage of pilgrims had arrived compared to last year. This month that trend is reversed. Numbers are up 10% with the the United States of America now sitting 4th in the ranking of countries.

We are receiving reports of full albergues along the Camino Frances. The pilgrims are coming!

Pilgrim friend Fraluchi has sent me his own analysis:
"Pilgrim arrivals - Santiago de Compostela - May 2013

With 25’206 pilgrim arrivals during the month of May, the year-to-date period closed with 46’155.

Compared to the 41’935 arrivals for the same period in 2012, this represents a solid 10 % increase. And compared to 2011, the increase is a whopping 20%!

As could be predicted, the change in number of pilgrims from Spain has been modest: only a 3% increase compared to 2012 and a 3% decreasecompared to 2011. The growth has clearly been in the number of foreign pilgrim arrivals compared to the total arrivals: 61% in 2013, 59% in 2012, 52% in 2011.

Camino Francés pilgrim arrivals totaled 32’155 during the first 5 months of this year, representing 70% of the total. Of these, 8’221 (26%) had started their pilgrimage before Pamplona, and 11’727 (36%) from Sárria. Compared to arrivals during the same period in 2012, these represent an increase of 14% in the number of pilgrims starting before Pamplona, and 24% in the number of starters from Sárria. The “short Camino” seems to be gaining interest!?

Main foreign pilgrims arrived (in order of importance) from Germany, Portugal, USA, Italy, France, Ireland, UK, etc. Particularly pilgrims from the USA have substantially increased compared to 2012 (2’296 vs. 1’433, +60%). Also the number of pilgrims from Ireland and the UK, compared to 2012, has notably increased (2’534 vs. 1’766, + 43%)

So much for the first 5 months in 2013. It looks like a busy summer coming up!"

Here is the full analysis for the period:

The total number of pilgrims who have been received in the Pilgrims’ Office in Santiago between 1 January 20013 and 31 May 2013 = 46.155

Routes to Santiago

Camino Number of pilgrims

Camino Francés 32155 (69,67%)

Portugues-Camino 7349 (15,92%)

Via de la Plata 2272 (4,92%)

Norte-Camino de 1915 (4,15%)

Primitivo-Camino 1262 (2,73%)

Ingles-Camino 1011 (2,19%)

Muxia-Finisterre 95 (0,21%)

Otros caminos 95 (0,21%)

Ages

Age Number of pilgrims

30 - 60 26324 (57,03%)

< 30 10496 (22,74%)

> 60 9335 (20,23%)

Gender

Gender Number of pilgrims

Males 25543 (55,34%)

Females 20612 (44,66%)

Method

Method Number of pilgrims

On foot 40607 (87,98%)

Bicycle 5248 (11,37%)

Horseback 286 (0,62%)

Wheel chair 14 (0,03%)

Reasons for pilgrimage

Reason Number of pilgrims

Religious and spiritual 25051 (54,28%)

Religious 18688 (40,49%)

Not religious 2416 (5,23%)

Status

Status Number of pilgrims

Employees 10441 (22,62%)

Retired 7130 (15,45%)

Self Employed 6386 (13,84%)

Students 6353 (13,76%)

Technicians 5163 (11,19%)

Teachers 2483 (5,38%)

Public Workers 2254 (4,88%)

Manual 1707 (3,70%)

Unemployed 1183 (2,56%)

House people 1151 (2,49%)

Directors 813 (1,76%)

Artists 434 (0,94%)

Priests 230 (0,50%)

Farm workers 173 (0,37%)

Religious 117 (0,25%)

Sailors 73 (0,16%)

Sportsmen 59 (0,13%)

Oikoten 5 (0,01%)

Countries

Country Number of pilgrims

Spain 17869 (38,72%)

Germany 5217 (11,30%)

Portugal 3488 (7,56%)

USA 2360 (5,11%)

Italy 2262 (4,90%)

France 2150 (4,66%)

Ireland 1541 (3,34%)

UK 1089 (2,36%)

Holand 802 (1,74%)

Canada 794 (1,72%)

Australia 760 (1,65%)

Korea 755 (1,64%)

Brasil 678 (1,47%)

Austria 587 (1,27%)

Denmark 487 (1,06%)

Belgium 410 (0,89%)

Suiza 365 (0,79%)

Polonia 353 (0,76%)

Suecia 351 (0,76%)

Finlandia 294 (0,64%)

México 274 (0,59%)

Noruega 265 (0,57%)

Argentina 256 (0,55%)

Venezuela 244 (0,53%)

Japón 237 (0,51%)

Rep Checa 214 (0,46%)

Sudáfrica 174 (0,38%)

Hungría 164 (0,36%)

Colombia 154 (0,33%)

China 146 (0,32%)

Rusia 140 (0,30%)

NewZealand 102 (0,22%)

Eslovenia 99 (0,21%)

Eslovaquia 88 (0,19%)

Ecuador 77 (0,17%)

Bulgaria 75 (0,16%)

Rumania 68 (0,15%)

Lituania 54 (0,12%)

Uruguay 51 (0,11%)

Chile 48 (0,10%)

Ucrania 45 (0,10%)

Perú 44 (0,10%)

Singapur 40 (0,09%)

Malta 38 (0,08%)

Croacia 34 (0,07%)

Filipinas 29 (0,06%)

Estonia 27 (0,06%)

Letonia 24 (0,05%)

Costa Rica 22 (0,05%)

Israel 20 (0,04%)

Andorra 20 (0,04%)

Grecia 20 (0,04%)

Bolivia 19 (0,04%)

Puerto Rico 19 (0,04%)

Malasia 16 (0,03%)

Luxemburgo 16 (0,03%)

Taiwán 15 (0,03%)

Islandia 12 (0,03%)

Guatemala 10 (0,02%)

Cuba 8 (0,02%)

Rep Dom 8 (0,02%)

Líbano 7 (0,02%)

El SalV 7 (0,02%)

India 7 (0,02%)

Irán 6 (0,01%)

Turquía 6 (0,01%)

Indonesia 5 (0,01%)

Paraguay 5 (0,01%)

Panamá 5 (0,01%)

Jordania 5 (0,01%)

Nicaragua 5 (0,01%)

Angola 4 (0,01%)

Albania 4 (0,01%)

Marruecos 4 (0,01%)

Bangladesh 3 (0,01%)

Vietnam 3 (0,01%)

Emirates 3 (0,01%)

Pakistán 3 (0,01%)

Belorrusia 3 (0,01%)

Egipto 2 (0,00%)

Sri Lanka 2 (0,00%)

Tailandia 2 (0,00%)

Túnez 2 (0,00%)

Namibia 2 (0,00%)

Serbia 2 (0,00%)

Armenia 2 (0,00%)

Kazajistán 2 (0,00%)

Afganistán 2 (0,00%)

Starting point

Starting Point Number of pilgrims

Sarria 11727 (25,41%)

St Jean P Port 5368 (11,63%)

Oporto 2706 (5,86%)

León 2220 (4,81%)

Cebreiro 2004 (4,34%)

Tui 1814 (3,93%)

Roncesvalles 1730 (3,75%)

Ponferrada 1588 (3,44%)

Astorga 1211 (2,62%)

Valença do Minho 1189 (2,58%)

Pamplona 1123 (2,43%)

Ferrol 965 (2,09%)

Le Puy 882 (1,91%)

Burgos 803 (1,74%)

Sevilla 799 (1,73%)

Oviedo - C.P. 685 (1,48%)

Ourense 638 (1,38%)

Vilafranca 498 (1,08%)

Irún 495 (1,07%)

Resto Portugal 437 (0,95%)

Francia - C.F. 397 (0,86%)

Lugo - C.P. 392 (0,85%)

Triacastela 389 (0,84%)

Samos 333 (0,72%)

Ponte de Lima 256 (0,55%)

Lisboa 246 (0,53%)

Resto C. León 216 (0,47%)

Rates, S. Pedro 194 (0,42%)

Logroño 188 (0,41%)

Ribadeo 186 (0,40%)

Oviedo - C.N. 178 (0,39%)

Resto Asturias 163 (0,35%)

Salamanca 156 (0,34%)

Bilbao 140 (0,30%)

Somport 135 (0,29%)

Alemania 132 (0,29%)

Vilalba 128 (0,28%)

Santander 120 (0,26%)

Holanda 113 (0,24%)

Braga 105 (0,23%)

Zamora 100 (0,22%)

Avilés 97 (0,21%)

Sahagún 89 (0,19%)

Vega de Valcarce 84 (0,18%)

Chaves-Portugal 83 (0,18%)

Madrid - C.F. 79 (0,17%)

Barcelos 79 (0,17%)

Porriño 75 (0,16%)

Puebla Sanabria 74 (0,16%)

Gijón 74 (0,16%)

Resto País Vasco 67 (0,15%)

San Sebastián 66 (0,14%)

Finisterra 60 (0,13%)

Resto Asturias 59 (0,13%)

Jaca 57 (0,12%)

Gudiña 55 (0,12%)

Resto Cantabria 52 (0,11%)

Bélgica 52 (0,11%)

Lourdes 50 (0,11%)

Carrión Condes 50 (0,11%)

Frómista 49 (0,11%)

Suiza 49 (0,11%)

Vezelay 47 (0,10%)

Resto Andalucia 45 (0,10%)

Coimbra 44 (0,10%)

Hospital Orbigo 42 (0,09%)

Neda 41 (0,09%)

Cáceres 40 (0,09%)

Fonsagrada 38 (0,08%)

Valencia O.C. 37 (0,08%)

Puente la Reina 37 (0,08%)

Mérida 36 (0,08%)

Muxia 35 (0,08%)

Viana do Castelo 34 (0,07%)

Hendaya 33 (0,07%)

Navarra 33 (0,07%)

Grandas de Salime 32 (0,07%)

Resto Europa 31 (0,07%)

Ponferrada 30 (0,06%)

Sto. Domingo 30 (0,06%)

Granja 30 (0,06%)

Cataluña - C.F. 29 (0,06%)

Baamonde 28 (0,06%)

Rabanal 28 (0,06%)

Francia - C.N 28 (0,06%)

Viseu 28 (0,06%)

Guimaraes 27 (0,06%)

Xunqueira 27 (0,06%)

Com. Valenciana 26 (0,06%)

Granada 26 (0,06%)

Lourenzá 23 (0,05%)

Verín 23 (0,05%)

París 22 (0,05%)

Tineo - C.P. 21 (0,05%)

Resto C. León 21 (0,05%)

Aveiro 20 (0,04%)

Molinaseca 20 (0,04%)

R.Pais Vasco 20 (0,04%)

Fatima 20 (0,04%)

Vigo 20 (0,04%)

Barcelona 19 (0,04%)

Zaragoza 19 (0,04%)

Malaga 19 (0,04%)

A Guarda 18 (0,04%)

Cadavo 18 (0,04%)

Laza 17 (0,04%)

Madrid - V.P. 17 (0,04%)

Abadin 16 (0,03%)

Extremadura 15 (0,03%)

Estella 15 (0,03%)

Esposende 14 (0,03%)

Arles 14 (0,03%)

La Mancha VP 14 (0,03%)

La Rioja 14 (0,03%)

Montserrat 13 (0,03%)

Mondoñedo 13 (0,03%)

Canfranc 12 (0,03%)

Allariz 12 (0,03%)

Monforte 11 (0,02%)

Povoa de Varzim 11 (0,02%)

Austria 10 (0,02%)

La Mesa 10 (0,02%)

Cast. la Mancha 9 (0,02%)

Castrojeriz 9 (0,02%)

Nájera 9 (0,02%)

Huelva 7 (0,02%)

Com. Valenciana 7 (0,02%)

Benavente 6 (0,01%)

Baiona 6 (0,01%)

Roma 6 (0,01%)

FarThe total number of pilgrims who have been received in the Pilgrims’ Office in Santiago between 1 January 20013 and 31 May 2013 = 46.155

In the same period in 2012 - 41,963 were received. This is an increase of 10%