Numbers

[Frank Metcalf]

Rosina,

Was that really 10 million per year going to Santiago ("the yearly average
of pilgrims over the past 5 years")?  You've previously mentioned--I think I
recall this--that about 60,000 foot, bike, and beast pilrims have received
Compostelas during each of the last couple of years.  So the 10 million are
overwhelmingly motorized transport pilgrims, all well and good, but the
requirement of "undertaking physical effort" seems somewhat ambiguous in
that case.

Also, does it realistically seem possible that 10 million pilgrims arrive in
Santiago annually?  In other words, an average of 27,397 new arrivals per
day, all year long? And all of them surely going to the Cathedral? I don't
think so, given the level of infrastructure and the lack of a mega-crush of
people when I was there in June for four days. Are we missing something, or
might the books have been cooked more than a little bit?

--Frank