Pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela

[ivar]

According to La Voz de Galicia today, starting in 2009, Compostelas will only be given to those who uses the pilgrim passport issued by the church in Santiago.

There is no information in the article if this new pilgrims passport will have a cost, and if so how much it will be.

This will all take effect January 1st 2009.

More in the article in La Voz de Galicia here.

[Minkey]

There was a thread about this a couple of months ag causing something of a debate..

[marktqm]

Yes, I remember. Has there been an uproar from the associations, or has the issue been eclipsed by the poligono in O Pino?

[michael]

Does it say how to get hold of the official compostela?

michael

[ivar]

Nothing on that yet... I don't think they are available yet (although the paper version of La Voz had a picture of it today).

Ivar

[sillydoll]

I think Michael meant how does he get hold of the official credential. These will probably continue to be issued by churches, church run refuges, monasteries etc.
In 2002 I bought the official fold-out credential in Roncesvalles.
In 2004 when I walked the Turonensis I used a CSJ of South Africa credential.
(The Compostela is the certificate you receive at the end of your walk. If you admit to walking with no religious or spiritual intent, you are issued with a different certificate. There are photos of both on page 2 or 3 of the Camino France Photo Album.)

[lynnejohn]

OK, this is making me crazy. So the credencials I received and used from the pilgrims' office in SJPdP and at the Asociacion de Amigos del Camino de Santiago de Sevilla - are these still going to be accepted, or is there going to be a more "official" credencial issued from the cathedral in SdC, OR, is the cathedral going to delegate this responsibility to RC churches in various localities and the associations will be relieved of this activity?

Peace.

lynne

[ivar]

So the credencials I received and used from the pilgrims' office in SJPdP and at the Asociacion de Amigos del Camino de Santiago de Sevilla - are these still going to be accepted, or is there going to be a more "official" credencial issued from the cathedral in SdC

Yes, this is how I understand the newspaper article. They argue in the article that now, there has not been one standard and that many pilgrims arriving in Santiago do not know the minimum requirements of getting a compostela and start to argue with staff at the pilgrims office.

What they want to do is to create one official credential.

Ivar

[JohnnieWalker]

which presumably will also be issued by the various Amigo associations...