Australia is fascinated by the Camino de Santiago

Before leaving for San Sebastián, the Leaders took a guided tour of the starting point for the stretch of the Camino that begins in Pamplona. The route to Santiago de Compostela is yet another great tourist attraction in Spain, and the number of pilgrims is constantly increasing: between January and October this year, the Camino registered more pilgrims than in 2015 as a whole, and over 54% were foreigners from 168 different countries. The number of pilgrims who made it to Compostela in 2015 stood at over 262,000 people.

The tour started at the famous bridge of La Magdalena, which dates back to the 12th century, at the height of the Camino's popularity. The guide told the Leaders about the history of this iconic pilgrimage route for Catholics and its links to Pamplona over the centuries. The Leaders also visited two of the hostels where pilgrims spend the night, as well as other landmarks such as the city walls, the cathedral, the church of San Saturnino and the City Hall, which is the starting point for San Fermín, a festival which is highly popular among Australian travellers.

The Camino is extremely popular among Australian tourists. Australians are among the top 10 nationalities visiting the route; almost 4,000 Australians walked the Camino in 2015. In 2011, the Regional Government of Galicia decided to step up its promotion efforts in Australia, given that the number of pilgrims from Down Under had trebled over the preceding seven years. As a result, the number of visitors has increased by 800% since 2004.

The undeniable appeal of the Camino and other European pilgrimages has even inspired the creation of the “Aussie Camino” between Portland and Penola, in the south of Australia.

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