Mith great speed, five young pilgrims on wheels rattle down the steps to Obradoiro Square in front of the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela – and scare two slowly strolling clergymen. Just a few meters away, two dozen Mexicans celebrate their arrival with little dances and songs. “Llegamos, llegamos!” – “We’re here, we’re here!” they shout.
At the end of the Way of St. James there is a boom this year – even now in autumn. More than 430,000 pilgrims received the certificate of arrival in 2022, according to the pilgrimage authority Oficina del Peregrino. That is a good 20 percent more than in the entire previous record year of 2019. Many do not even pick up the certificate – and are not counted.
In the place of pilgrimage in northwestern Spain, which became popular in Germany thanks to Hape Kerkeling’s book “I’m Gone”, the tills are ringing louder than ever. The operators of the now very expensive hotels and private accommodation, souvenir shops and restaurants are rubbing their hands.
Source: Infographic WORLD
But not everyone is happy. Because unlike in Lourdes or Fátima, religiosity and devotion are no longer the focus of the stream of visitors. Litter, noise and vandalism are increasing. Many residents of the UNESCO-protected old town are angry or desperate, as you hear again and again if you even begin to bring up the topic in the center of Santiago.
“It’s almost as cool here as at Ballermann!”
“It’s a trend that started a few years ago, but this year it was particularly bad, in the summer it was just unbearable at times,” says Beatriz, who lives in the city. She had great difficulty concentrating in the home office because of the noise from outside. “When you come to the city at seven in the morning with 40 pilgrims, you have to understand that people live, work, study and sleep there. You can’t yell out loud. It’s about respect,” she says.
In the center of the capital of Galicia, it is very noisy during the day. Then a lot more in the evening. Especially on Rua de Franco. The bars and restaurants along the 400-meter-long party mile not far from the cathedral are all full at midnight on this autumn evening. Sometimes there are very long queues in front of the bars. “Another bottle, folks?” calls an Italian at a long table, and the group choruses, “Siiii, un’altra bottigliaaaa!”
You can often spot locals by wrinkling their noses, rolling their eyes, or quickening their pace. Completely different Henry. “It’s almost as cool here as at Ballermann!” exclaims the 21-year-old from Hamburg. “Only the beach and the sea are missing.” He has to repeat it three times at close range, almost screaming, it’s that loud. The lanky young man initially reluctantly accompanied his parents on the 500 kilometers between Miranda de Ebro and Santiago – but is now “totally surprised and happy”.
Pilgrims in Obradoiro Square in front of the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela
Those: dpa/Emilio Rappold
Santiago de Compostela is not just a jewel of religious architecture and a popular place of pilgrimage because tradition has it that the cathedral was built over the tomb of Saint James. It is also an old university town that has always hosted young people from home and abroad. But the majority of the students, some of whom are known to be not averse to partying, scold when asked about the behavior of many pilgrims – like Beatrice’s daughter Clara.
“I wasn’t there in the summer, but friends sent me videos of the huge and noisy crowds of pilgrims. It was scary, we’ve never had anything like it here before,” she says, adding, “There’s more and more garbage on the streets, more and more shoplifting.” Like so many here, Clara demands “more respect”. Some even speak of “war”: Pilgrims often come with megaphones, drums or trumpets – and buckets of water are poured on them from balconies.
Anger at pilgrims in Santiago de Compostela is growing
The police meanwhile say that crime has increased by around 30 percent in the entire region of Galicia and also in Santiago in 2022 compared to the same period last year. Whether this has something to do with the increasing number of pilgrims cannot or cannot be said.
The criticism is drastic in various media and social networks. The renowned daily newspaper “El Mundo” reported in a report on hordes of visitors who uttered “obscene screams” and “pissed everywhere”. Mass tourism “like in Venice or Mallorca” is bringing the small community with 96,000 inhabitants and a limited infrastructure “to the brink of collapse”.
In fact, the buses are often overcrowded, traditional trade is pushed aside by souvenir shops, hip bars and chains. Because of the Airbnb boom, there is a dramatic housing shortage. “We are being driven out of our city,” said an outraged “Compostelano” of the digital newspaper “Galiciapress”.
In the social networks, the visitors are compared to “marauding Huns” and “British football hooligans”. No exaggeration, says Monse Vilar, president of the citizens’ association “A Xuntanza”. She posts videos on Facebook showing huge groups of arriving pilgrims storming the roadway and bringing traffic to a standstill. Vilar: “These are uncivilized and irresponsible behaviors that go far beyond noise. This is not an amusement park, but an inhabited space.”
The Way of St. James brings money into the city’s coffers
Regional media warn that the Way of St. James could “perish from its own success”. In the 1970s, hardly anyone set out to walk the “Camino”. It was only a few dozen people a year back then. Even during the visits of the popular Pope John Paul II, only around 2000 pilgrims were recorded in 1982 and 5000 in 1989.
The boom came with the spiritual books of the Brazilian bestselling author Paulo Coelho. In 1993, the 100,000 visitor mark was broken for the first time, and in 1999 150,000. After Hape Kerkeling’s book was published, the Germans became one of the largest groups behind the Spaniards. According to official figures, in 2022 there were almost 25,000 so far.
The inhabitants of Santiago de Compostela counted on the insight of the pilgrims and in the summer stuck notes on posts and walls with “rules of conduct for the end of the Way of St. James”. The information is ignored by most visitors, it is said.
Residents in the center of Santiago de Compostela, annoyed by littering and vandalism, have posted ten rules of conduct
Those: dpa/Emilio Rappold
So the next thing to do was complain to the authorities. In vain: When we met Mayor Xosé Sánchez Bugallo, “he asked us to try a little,” said Vilar. Several regional media also reported on this statement by the mayor at the meeting with the neighboring representatives.
Meanwhile, the city is considering introducing an overnight tax to further capitalize on the boom in visitors. Santiago’s Archbishop Julián Barrio called for more understanding for the pilgrims and their joy upon arrival: “Do we want to ask seawater that it shouldn’t be salty?”
Even if tourism in Santiago, like elsewhere, is no longer limited to the summer months, the “Compostelanos” can hope for quieter times slowly and probably until mid-March. “But we all tremble before the next onslaught, especially in summer. It’s going to be hell,” says architect Juan Carlos. “My parents are retired and have money, luckily they can go away. They want to relax in Ibiza. It’s said to be quieter there than here, even in summer.”