4000 to 5000 Pilgrims per day in August 2004?

[Rebekah Scott]

My very first Camino experience was in (I think) 1993, a holy year. It was May. Along the Camino itself things were very quiet, we could walk several miles and see only a pilgrim or two. But the real crush was in Santiago de Compostela. On a Tuesday noon Mass, cathedral was completely mobbed. At first that was kind of cool, the hymns and psalm responses and passing of the peace were so stirring, done with all those voices! And one of the groups present had arranged for a botafumiero "performance," too. I could really feel ties with the centuries of pilgrims past.

Things got bad, though, when Mass was over. Busloads of people waiting outside for Mass to finish wanted to come in, the Mass-goers wanted to get out, it became impossible to move through the crush of shoulder-to-shoulder bodies. My traveling companion was overwhelmed and burst into tears. Fortunately, the people managed to move aside so we could get her out of there. It was nightmarish, like the end of a football game rush to the car park, but with incense.

Ive been back twice, and saw many more pilgrims on the Camino, but never such a mob in the cathedral. Thank God! I know how special it is to be there in a Holy Year, but I will not chance it again if I have a choice.

For what it's worth
Rebekah


Rebekah Scott, journalista
'The more I learn, the less I know.'

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