Finisterre

[Ana Young]

As Rosina cites, as an hospitalera I encountered quite
a few pilgrims who came to the albergue at Finisterre
asking - and some demanding - the Fisterrana for
having bussed in from Santiago. The justification was
that they had walked all the way to Santiago, after
all, and earned the Compostela.

In quite a few cases it did no good to try to convince
people that earning the Compostela did not
automatically entitle one to the Fisterrana. This
particular "diploma" is given to pilgrims who walk or
bike the Camino de Fisterra - that is, any of the
traditional pilgrim routes to Finisterre. You can even
earn it by coming from Santiago alone, without having
done any of the route towards Santiago, as long as you
walk or bike the route.

I don't believe there's any particular rule concerning
backpacks. You have to walk but your backpack doesn't
have to go with you as far as I know.

All that matters is if the pilgrim did the walking or
biking: "But I walked all the way to Santiago. We took
a bus here because we had no more time to walk. So I
think we're entitled to the Fisterrana." (!)

In this albergue the Fisterrana, which is Finisterre's
version of the Compostela, is given out so being an
hospitalera here requires extra duties and not a
little bit of tact.

The main difference between the two diplomas is that,
other than the requirement of having walked or biked
in, no religious or spiritual intention is required
for the Fisterrana.

The Finisterre experience is different in other ways,
too.

What made this particular hospitalera job a bit
different too was the peculiar nature of this stop:
Since it was literally the end of the line many
pilgrims naturally wanted to spend more time in town
to rest, explore, see the sunset at Faro, etc.

But since the albergue is small (24 beds) and
Finisterre is getting more and more popular there's a
strictly-enforced rule that if pilgrims want to stay
an extra night, they have to wait til 9 or 10 the next
night to make sure there's space. (the 9-or-10 rule
varies depending on the season.) In the summer,
needless to say, there wasn't often space even on the
floor.

Another daily request: "Can I leave my backpack here
all day while I explore (on the second day)?" My boss
advised me not to let people do this and it didn't
take long to figure out the reason: I had to clean
each morning after the pilgrims left, and if everyone
left their stuff on the beds and on the floor, I had
to move everything to do the cleaning. And a cleaning
lady arrives each weekday after the volunteer finishes
the basic cleaning, so everything has to be out of the
way for her because she mops every day. So my most
common request was that pilgrims had to take their
stuff with them even if they were going to try for
another night.

The toughest job for the hospitalera here, by far, was
getting everyone in by 11 at night. This is later than
most albergues in deference to pilgrims' wishes to
celebrate the end of the road. But as the main lounge
is also the hospitalera's bedroom, I didn't get to
rest until everyone was in - after having been on the
job all day and night, seven days a week. Time and
again I or my boss would remind everyone that the
doors locked at 11 and time and again someone would
come knocking at midnight and many times much later,
after a night celebrating.

Other albergues simply lock the doors - period. But
other albergues are simply on the Road to Santiago (or
Finisterre), not at the end of it.

It was a singular experience where challenges like
this made the learning curve extra steep ... but for
all that, there isn't a single minute I don't wish
myself back there. Now, having had the experience, I
can't wait to embrace the pilgrims next time!

Ana from a gradually-warming Japan

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