[Gocamino] credential in Portugal

[Robert Spenger]

I doubt very much that you would find any in Lisbon.  I had the  
official Spanish version before I started in Lisbon in 2001, so I   
didn't have to try to find one. I managed to get it stamped at the  
cathedral in Lisbon, but it wasn't easy — it was easter Sunday and  
the new Cardinal of Lisbon was giving his first Easter sermon as a  
Cardinal. The place was packed with the television equipment and  
personnel.

There were no albergues for Santiago pilgrims at that time, so I was  
getting stamps from anyone I could find that had a rubber stamp. In  
one coastal village, the owner of the pensão where I stayed did not  
have one, so she send me back to the bartender who had sent me to the  
pensão in the first place and he told me that the one place in town  
that might have one was a beauty parlor up the street. (Note: the one  
hotel in the town was closed down for renovations.) Since he had some  
command of English and my Portuguese was minimal, he took me up there  
to explain what I needed. In another town in that same area, no one  
seemed to have a regular inked stamp, but the church had a massive  
device that embossed a symbol into the credential.

Nowadays, there may be some available at Porto. The local Santiago  
organization there was quite enthusiastic at that time and have  
apparently been active since then, so they may have credentials  
available by now. I believe that you would have to contact them ahead  
of time via their website. I think that this is the URL:

http://www.caminhoportuguesdesantiago.com/PT/

For a recent report, check out:

http://72.14.253.104/search? 
q=cache:Zs4gTTPrM2QJ:www.americanpilgrims.com/pdf_files/ 
camino_portugues.pdf+caminho+santiago+porto&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=10&gl=us

The most likely place to get a regular credential would be at Tui,  
just over the border (the Rio Minho/Minõ) in Spain. There is a  
refugio there (but it wasn't open in May of 2001) and if credentials  
aren't available there, the cathedral might have them. Since Tui is  
over the requisite 100km from SdeC, there should be no problem about  
getting it honored.

Bob S.


On Jun 27, 2007, at 7:03 AM, Charles O'Brien wrote:

Clearly I haven't been paying proper attention to this discussion or I'd
already have the answer to this question. I'm walking from Porto  
(perhaps
Lisbon, not sure yet) on October 4 and I assumed that I could pick up
credentials somewhere in Portugal. (Had thought of getting  
credentials from
the American society as I did in 1998, but they were designed for a  
fitter
and more athletic pilgrim; I walked so slowly that the hospitaleros/as,
police clerks, bartenders, etc., were hard pressed to find room for  
their *
sellos.* I remember the clerk in the Dean's office smiling and  
shaking his
head. . . but I digress.) To the point: will whatever "passport" I  
obtain in
Portugal be honored in Galicia and at the Cathedral (assuming I can  
crawl
that far)?

Thanks

Chuck
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