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<p>Leonie Galil wrote:
<blockquote TYPE=CITE><b><font face="Palatino Linotype"><font color="#0000FF"><font size=+0>While
I personally do not care, for or am against this kind of topic, it does
not really belong on a site such as this and smacks of cheap tourism. There
are probably more appropriate places to inquire.</font></font></font></b></blockquote>
This reference to cheap tourism jogged my memory of some recent postings
on this (and other sites related to the Camino.)
<br>I have deleted them now, so must rely on recollection, but there have
been queries about whether regugios provide private rooms, whether they
provide meals, the temperature of the hot water in the bathrooms, and so
forth.
<br>Now, such questions may represent only naivety on the part of those
who posed them, but on another level I worry that they are indicative of
a trend in which doing the Camino and obtaining a Compostela are coming
to be regarded as a just a different and cute new thing to do on your vacation.
<br>It is obvious that there has been a huge upsurge of interest in the
Camino in the last couple of years and this is not necessarily a bad thing.
<br>However, we need to remember that from mediaeval times, the pilgrimage
to Santiago de Compostela has been -- and remains -- a religious pilgrimage.
<br>We should be aware of the danger of allowing it to become just
another package holiday.
<br>(Just for the record, I don't have a problem with queries about bullfighting.
Like it or not, it is an integral part of the whole Spanish experience).
<br>Tony.
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