Walking El Camino

After walking the El Camino for the seventh year in a row, Bob Creaney spoke to the club about his experiences walking this pilgrim walk in Northern Spain. 

Pilgrim walks arose from places like Canterbury to Rome and Fife now even had its own Pilgrim Way to St Andrews Cathedral. The El Camino has no fewer than five official starting points all leading to the shrine of the apostle Saint James the Great heading for the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in in Galicia north west Spain.

The remains of the saint are reputed to be buried at the cathedral and these walks are undertaken for both religious reasons and as penance for crimes. 

Wars, Plagues and reformation caused diminished popularity from 14th century onwards. Pilgrims clothing used to be taken off them and burned before they entered the cathedral. A Walter Starkie book has recreated interest.

Bob revealed that the Camino has many possible routes including from France and North Africa. The five routes he has covered if not in full but in part, are as follows:-

1 The Camino Francés which starts in the Pyrenees (about 500 miles) and is the flatest

2 The Camino Primitivo or original that starts at Oviedo.

3 The Camino Portugués starting at the cathedral in Lisbon or at the cathedral in Porto.

4 The Camino del Norte that starts in the Basque area and but not popular route because of its changes in elevation.

5 The Camino Inglés is traditionally for pilgrims who travelled to Spain by sea and disembarked in Corunna,  pilgrims then made their way to Santiago overland. It is so called because most of these pilgrims were English.

Bona fida pilgrims (perigrino) carry a document known as the Pilgrims Passport and must collect two official St James stamps per day on it and cover a minimum of 100 kilometres.

Albergue can be used for accommodation but they are unbookable and unpredictable.  Bob uses Camino Ways, an Irish company, that does managed stages with accommodation. 

He said a downside was that walks can take you through towns and cities but they can be very social events. Bob told an amusing story of 24 Australian women he met on one walk. Since they all walked at their own pace he met them all at different stages and when re-united with his wife at Santiago had a bit of explaining to do to explain how all these women knew Bob!

Warned local population do not speak much English. Most of the terrean is flat. Bad points quite urban, roads that are not easy on your feet. Must carry a toilet roll and have good walking shoes. Highly commercial in certain places and accordingly expensive.

Clubs vote of thanks was proposed by Aileen North, she described how much she had enjoyed hearing about Bob’s experiences even though she admitted the talk was interesting and inspiring, the El Camino was not for her.