Galician-ness of the compostela.

[Tom Priestly]

Having walked the first 200 and the last 90 km of the Camino frances
last September, I (mistakenly) thought I would get the full Latin
"compostela" in the Santiago office. When I did not, I was I admit
quite disappointed for a bit, but (I am glad to say) soon realized
that the Spanish "lesser" version, which I was given, was quite
enough: only a piece of paper, after all.

This does raise the point - not as far as I know discussed much - as
to why the Latin compostela appears to be such a "Galician thing". If
- to devise an extreme example - someone walks all the way from Le
Puy to Arzua and then takes a bus for the last 38 km, do not they
"deserve" a compostela at least as much as, and surely a great deal
more than, someone who walks no more than the 100-odd km from Sarria
to SdC? (Assuming that both parties in this comparison complete their
pilgrimage for equally and sufficiently pious reasons).

This raises (again) the meaning of the word "deserve". However, the
simple fact that the Spanish certificate is issued in cases where the
Latin one is not does define a hierarchy of worth.

I assumed, from my talk in the diocesan office, that it is a
bureaucratic phenomenon: the staff (who last September were
overworked, I dread to think of their workload and headaches this
summer) can quickly and easily check the stamps and dates for the
last three or four 'etapas', but would need a lot of time (and
training) to look over many weeks' worth of markings on credentials.

Still, it does leave the person, like myself, who walks more than the
requisite distance but most of it in a non-applicable Spanish
province, with the impression that in SdC the pilgrimage is
officially looked on as a particularly Galician thing - almost, as a
possession. . . (And I hasten to add, my impression was that it is
viewed in this way not by the young ladies in the office - who were
very apologetic and sympathetic - but by the officialdom behind the
scenes).

I suppose that such an impression is indeed mistaken - am I right?
And so, is this nothing more than an unfortunate, inevitable
by-product of necessary bureaucracy. . . ?

Tom Priestly
--
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Prof. Emeritus Tom Priestly
Modern Languages & Cultural Studies
University of Alberta
Edmonton AB
Canada T6G 1E6
phone 780-469-2920
fax 780-492-9106
e-mail: tom.priestlyaualberta.ca
http://myprofile.cos.com/priestlt69
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