To begin at the end: the remains of the apostle Saint James (or Sant Iago, in Spanish) are believed to repose in an urn, in a tomb, in a crypt, in the looming medieval cathedral of the city named after him. Santiago de Compostela was built around the saint’s burial site, as revealed to a shepherd by a guiding star almost a millennium after the body was carried here by stone boat from Jerusalem, with angels guiding the way.
Or so the story goes. It has since led more than 1,000 years’ worth of pilgrims to this convergence point of myth and history, via the network of cross-country trails known as the Camino de Santiago. In 2022, a record 438,000 people completed one of those routes, some of them covering only the final 62 miles (or 124 miles for cyclists) required to qualify for the official pilgrim certificate, the Compostela. It’s a measure of how popular the pilgrimage has become, drawing not just the Catholic faithful but recreational trekkers, mountain bikers, group tours and solo travellers, coming to work off their worries — or a few extra pounds — in the wilds of the Iberian peninsula.
There are seven main(ways) and while they all end in Santiago de Compostela, they’re not all confined to Spain. The French Way, from the foothills of the Pyrenees, has some of the best infrastructure and is by far the busiest. Lesser-travelled alternatives, meanwhile, trace the Portuguese coast, the Cantabrian Mountains and the inland plains of Castile and León. Each route offers its own distinct pleasures in terms of climate, landscape, physical challenges and regional cultures. But there are recurring features, with all paths marked by holy ruins, shrines, monasteries and (simple hostels that have served the routes since the Middle Ages).
