The Camino de Santiago and its contemporary renewal: Pilgrims, tourists and territorial identities

Abstract

This article examines the features that characterise the renaissance of the Camino de Santiago in the late twentieth century. The Camino came into being as a major pilgrim's route in the Middle Ages, although, in later centuries, it saw long periods of neglect. Over the last few decades, this pilgrim's route has been adapted by a wide variety of public bodies that have embellished and renewed its heritage, a process shaped by numerous interests and reflecting a substantial diversity of ideologies and interplay of territorial identities. There has also been a resurgence in the number of pilgrims as a result of a militant effort favoured by the proliferation of Jacobean associations and studies. Pilgrims travel to Santiago on foot or by other means of transport that require the use of their own strength. A pilgrimage of this kind dovetails with the reasons for travelling: the search for unusual experiences, slow travel, contemplation of the landscape, learning about history and culture, and meeting new people. The final destination is the same as it has always been – the city of Santiago de Compostela, which was declared a World Heritage Site in 1985. Nevertheless, the experience of the Camino is currently associated with a multicultural and multireligious content.

Keywords:

• Camino
• pilgrimage
• shrine
• territorial identity
• Jacobean
• Santiago

Notes

1. The term inventio, or first inventio, refers to the process by means of which Theodomirus, Bishop of Iria Flavia (not far from Santiago de Compostela), tells of the discovery of the remains of the Apostle in a Campus Stellae, close to the current location of the city. The bishop forged a text in which he pretended to be the Patriarch of Jerusalem, alluding to the preaching done by James the Greater in Roman Gallaecia and the subsequent journey of his remains from Jaffa to the Galician coast, where they were to be laid to rest. The spot chosen for the shrine was approximately 20 km inland for reasons of security, the aim being to keep them safe from attacks by Vikings and Norsemen, a frequent occurrence during the eighth to tenth centuries. Pilgrimages to Santiago started after the date of this first inventio.

2. The second inventio refers to the process of the rediscovery of the remains of St James the Apostle in the nineteenth century, in the times of the canon and historian Antonio López Ferreiro and Cardinal Payá, a bastion of the most traditionalist positions of the Church and staunch defender of Papal infallibility. The Apostle's remains, discovered after having been hidden during the Middle Ages, were never subjected to scientific analysis to determine their authenticity.

3. Jacobeo, in Spanish, or Xacobeo, in Galician, are terms used to refer to the cult of St James and the pilgrimage to Santiago. They take as their starting point the name Iacobus, Iago, Jaume, Diego or James, the equivalent of Santiago according to which transcription of the classical languages is used. Xacobeo has now in fact become a tourist reference of the first order, since it alludes to the celebration of Holy Years (when the feast day of St James falls on a Sunday, the Church extends its indulgences and the Spanish authorities launch massive campaigns to promote the Camino). The Xacobeo is also the name of a publicly owned company in the Autonomous Region of Galicia, designed as a vehicle to disseminate the Camino de Santiago, whilst the Consejo Jacobeo is an official body that serves to coordinate the policies and actions of the central government and those of the self-governing regions through which the Camino passes aimed at conserving its historical and cultural value and organising campaigns to disseminate its heritage values.