[Gocamino] Santiago news et al

[blaroli at aol.com]

Hello you all,
Begging your indulgence, I'd like to share a message that a serv-list member sent me:
 
"Heaven is the place where all the dogs you ever loved come to greet you". 
(That, indeed, would be heaven to me)
 
Now for the good news:
 
1.The municipal and religious powers-that-be in Santiago met on November 30th and adopted a resolution to refine, and improve, the signs that lead from before Lavacolla to the Santiago Cathedral. Most of us, I'm sure, have wondered why the stone stelae that mark the French Camino every 1/2 a kilometer stop abruptly12 kilometers before reaching Santiago, adding to the confusion piled upon by having to go around the airport when one is dead-tired.  Well, fortunately, that deficiency will now be corrected; further, clearer signs throughout the city itself leading to the Cathedral from the various points of pilgrims' entry will be installed.
In addition, the group, called the "Arzobispado, Ayuntamientos and Sociedad Anonima of Xestion del Plan Xacobeo" reaffirmed the previously stated decision to increase the number of albergues so that there will be one every twenty kilometers throughout the Via de la Plata and the Portuguese and English Caminos (presumable the French, Primitive and Northern Caminos are already well served. The new albergues will be in place on time for the next Xacobean Holy Year.
It was also resolved that the Caminos would be cleaned, and that conservation programs would be initiated; the individual municipalities will be responsible for the French Camino and the Xacobean Association for all the others. The only issue not resolved was whether or not to charge 3 Euros per pernoctation in the albergues.
 
(BY THE WAY:  The Euro is now worth about $1.42 U.S. Dollars; the buzz in Vienna is that because of the US Government deficit, and the huge cost of the Irak occupation, the dollar will continue to fall, perhaps to $1.60 for Euro by next Summer and $2.00 by the end of next year.  The British pound is already worth more than $2.00 Dlls.)  
 
2. The almost-finished new albergue in Muxia will be ready for occupancy this month. It is situated in the O Enfesto zone, which is the highest point in Muxia. The albergue cost half a million Euros and was financed by the Muxia Xunta. The project was approved at the beginning of 2004 and after many administrative problems and delays it is finally finished. Muxia's mayor, Alberto Blanco, assures that the albergue will commence to receive pilgrims this month.
 
3. On the 22nd. of November the Santiago police found, at dawn, a donkey teethered to a large tree in the Alameda. The male donkey was in good shape, but appeared to have been abandoned. The Guardia Civil took it to a nearby farm where a female pilgrim from Chekoslovakia, Tereza,  kind of adopted it. That pilgrim, who had decided to stay in the Reborido farm, next to Santiago,  had adopted another donkey, a female, some months before. The male donkey spent two nights with the girl from Chekoslovakia before two Australian pilgrims, Andrew de Waard and Simon Laity reclaimed it, stating that they simply had tied the donkey up at the Alameda because they were staying at a nearby hostal and felt that the donkey would be well and protected under the large eucalyptus tree.  They claimed that they had purchased the donkey for 750 Euros in Sampastu, in France, and had travelled with it to Santiago; their intentions were to go on to Finisterre where they would then sell the donkey. Th!
 e Santiago president of the Association (for the protection of) Foreign Donkeys allowed them to take the donkey to Finisterra on condition that they return it to Santiago on their way back and leave it there for good. The Australians reluctantly agrees and left their passports with the Donkey Association as security for the return of the donkey.  Tereza has renamed the donkey Romeo since her other donkey is called Julia; presumably they will leave happily ever-after.
-Those of you interested in the details can read the whole story in the Nov. 24 edition of the Voz de Galicia. Mundicamino has duplicated the story and, I think, it can be read in English.-
 
4. The Santiago Xunta has commenced construction of a stable, and the like, at the Monte del Gozo albergue, to house horses and donkeys that come to Santiago as part of the pilgrimage.
 
 
Big hugs!
 
Rosina
 
 
 
  
 
 
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