News Archives - CaminoNow

5Oct

By Melanie BritzNo Comments

General, News, Route information, Tips and Tricks

Top 10 apps for the Camino

With the news that the Camino Ninja app is again available to pilgrims and will be updated regularly going forward, the time is maybe ripe to look at some of the most helpful and beloved Camino apps, websites and resources. Here is our list of the top 10 apps to consider when doing the Camino, in no particular order. 1. Camino Ninja After the passing of its creator in July 2022, the Camino Ninja app was not available on the app store or play store for a while, but it is back and has been updated (and will reportedly continue to be going forward, according to Peter Eich who has taken it over from its late creator Andy Jensen). It is now again available from both the Apple istore and the Google Playstore.It is free and offers offline information about accomodation and routes along...

Quieter Camino-summer, but August-influx reported

11Sep

By Melanie BritzNo Comments

Accommodation, News

Quieter Camino-summer, but August-influx reported

The latest pilgrim figures released by the Burea d'accueil des pѐlerins de St Jacques de St Jean Pied de Port show a quieter summer on the Camino compared to 2022, but a busier August-influx. This is after this year was the busiest April month since 2012. May 2023 numbers were 10% higher than May 2022, and April 2023 was 30% higher than 2022. Latest Camino de Santiago statistics 2023 The bureau, which assists pilgrims leaving from the official start point of the Camino Frances, St Jean Pied de Port in France, reports a strong influx of pilgrims in the last week of August. 6290 pilgrims left St Jean in June, and 5540 in July. This is compared to 6634 and 5690 last year. The number for August is up 1,86% from last year's figures, with 7329 pilgrims departing. Septembe...

Camino guidebook author John Brierley dies

6Jul

By Melanie BritzNo Comments

News

Camino guidebook author John Brierley dies

The well-known author of several beloved guidebooks to various Camino paths, John Brierley, passed away this week. He regularly maintained and updated all his guides and was in Spain about a month ago for this reason, when it became publicly known that he was seriously ill. John Brierley His daughter Gemma released the following message following his passing. "Dear all, In this beautiful camino community I wanted to reach out to you, some of my dear dad's closest camino companions, to let you know that he has now left us and is taking his first steps on his next great pilgrimage. In the end his passing was as graceful and peaceful as any of us could wish for. Slipping away in his sleep at home surrounded by his family and fully aware of the love and blessings pouring in...

26Jun

By Melanie BritzNo Comments

News

You can now hug the Apostle once again

One of the beloved ancient traditions of pilgrims on the Camino has returned after a three year hiatus due to the Covid pandemic.The Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela announced in a press release on June 13 that as of Wednesday June 14 at 10:30 the dressing room of the Apostle Santiago will be open again so that anyone who wishes to do so can hug the statue of the Saint.It is still recommend that pilgrims avoid kissing the statue or making direct contact with the face, for sanitary/health reasons. Access closed during Covid Access to the dressing room was closed to the public on March 13, 2020 due to the Coronavirus pandemic restrictions.The general hours to access the dressing room will be from 8:30 am to the closing of the Cathedral at 9:00 pm, but with interruptions when a Pilg...

To book or not to book – that is the question…

19Jun

By Melanie BritzNo Comments

Accommodation, News, Route information, Tips and Tricks

To book or not to book – that is the question…

Completo. Completo. Completo. The most dreaded word in a pilgrim's experience, except maybe for... blisters. That sinking feeling when all the albergues are full and you don't know where you will sleep tonight. This was the reality for numbers of pilgrims in May this year, when the Camino reached unprecedented numbers (see the full story with statistics here). When the Not so amazing bed race is a reality on the route it has several effects. It causes pilgrims to debate pre-booking their accommodation, losing some of the fluidity and freedom of the pilgrimage in the process. The old adage "the Camino provides" and the beauty of letting your journey unfold day to day organically then comes into stark competition with the reality of recent years' surge in popularity that makes this...

Record pilgrim numbers on the Camino Frances in the first 5 months of 2023

9Jun

By Melanie BritzNo Comments

News, Route information

Record pilgrim numbers on the Camino Frances in the first 5 months of 2023

Pilgrim numbers on the Camino Frances reached record numbers in the first 5 months of 2023.Just under 23 000 pilgrims left from St Jean Pied a Porte (SJPP) in the first five months of 2023.This is according to statistics of pilgrims registering with the Bureau d'accueil des pèlerins de St Jacques de St Jean Pied de Port. The bureau is where pilgrims register to get their pilgrim credentials and route information.This year's 22 971 pilgrims was the highest number of pilgrims for the first 5 months of any year, in the more than ten years since 2012 (when the current statistics start).The second highest number for January to May of a year was in 2019. 2019 was a record year when 21 484 pilgrims left the popular starting point.Looking at this April, 9604 pilgrims left in SJPP. This is also the...

Female safety on the Camino under the spotlight again

2Jun

By Melanie BritzNo Comments

News

Female safety on the Camino under the spotlight again

The issue of solo women's safety on the Camino came under the spotlight again, following an incident where a female pilgrim abandoned her Camino two weeks in after an encounter with a masturbating man on the trail.The pilgrim* posted on the a Camino Facebook group that she was walking to *Astorga and encountered a man hiding his face behind a tree while starting to masturbate when she walked by.The incident took place just after she crossed the road of La Casa de los Dioses (David's place).She was alone and scared and reported that she does not feel safe on the trail, thus booking her flight ticket home and abandoning her Camino after only two weeks of walking. "I feel foolish for thinking I could do this alone, but also very angry that the world is like this," she said.She reported speak...

No more suitcases, says 11 Albergues on the Camino Frances

2Jun

By Melanie BritzNo Comments

Accommodation, News

No more suitcases, says 11 Albergues on the Camino Frances

Eleven albergues within the Camino Frances has announced that they will implement a new measure from around the third week of June.The eleven traditional Jacobean shelters are prohibiting suitcases in the hostels managed by their associations, agreeing to be militant against what they term "attacks suffered by the route". Unprecedented May numbers of pilgrims According to their press release there is an extraordinary level of pilgrimage at the moment, unprecedented in a May month of the last ten years. They are advising municipalities among the Camino to be prepared to open municipal facilities such as sports centres or other similar spaces, which some towns have reportedly already done. Federation meeting The decision to ban suitcases from these albergues was take...