Who Is Interested in Developing the Way of Saint James? The Pilgrimage from Faith to Tourism

Abstract

The Way of St. James in Spain is the main European pilgrimage route. Currently, it is a cultural, tourist, monumental, spiritual, and sports route. For this reason, the paper aims to discuss the concept of the “Polysemy of The Way”, by analysing how the new pilgrims’ motivations are creating an inclusive and complex space, which is making a shift from religious space to a multifaceted tourism reality. We study the characterisation and interaction of the new actors involved in its development, maintenance and promotion. As a result, its original “space of faith” is now a “live heritage space”, thanks to the rehabilitation of routes, monuments, and landscapes. The combination of these motivational and spatial transformations enhances the factors of post-secular pilgrimage, such as slow mobility, the liminality and the sense of community, which the same actors assume as priorities for territorial management.

1. Introduction

According to several authors (Cazaux 2011; Coleman and Eade 2004; Collins-Kreiner 2010a, 2010b; Eade and Sallnow 1991), pilgrimage is a complex and shifting phenomenon, with different implications at religious, political, social, and territorial levels. Subsequently, the academic field of pilgrimage routes relies on studies that, while reconstructing their past, add value and interpret the changing discourses that each era amounts to. Following this trend, the present study aims to highlight the complexity of not only the physical, but also and above all, the social space (Lefebvre 1974) generated along the line (Ingold 2007) of The Way of St. James1.

The pilgrimage route and the city of Santiago de Compostela itself were conceived with a strong religious significance. Since the Middle Ages, the city of Santiago de Compostela, together with Rome and Jerusalem, represented one of the main destinations of Western Christianity. According to tradition, the remains of the body of Apostle St. James the Great are found in Santiago. This inventio dates back to around 820–830 anno domini (AD), when Bishop Theodomir narrated that, after the death of the Apostle James, his relics were brought (traslatio) from Jerusalem to Galicia. After the discovery, whether it be real or alleged, of these holy relics, King Alfonso II the Chaste (791–842) ordered the construction of a basilica. The city of Santiago, thus, became the Christian bulwark on the western borders, a barrier against the Arab advance that at the time controlled all of southern and central Spain (Barreiro Rivas 1997) (Figure 1).

The first pilgrimages to Santiago began in the 9th century. At this time, the Catholic Church committed itself to converting these local and individual phenomena into something universal and collective. Many authors discussed the importance of The Way in the birth of a European identity and its role in the political construction of the space (Barreiro Rivas 2009; Caucci 1993; Chemin 2016; García Cantero 2010; Moralejo 1993; Portilla 1991), development, and construction of the territory (Bermejo López 2001; Lois González 2000; Passini 1984) for cultural, economic, and social exchange (Ashley and Geegan 2009; Soria y Puig 1993).

While identified as a pilgrimage to the city of Santiago, the space of The Way turned into a polysemic space in reference to the plurality of meanings, functions, and profiles of socially mobile individuals since its very origins (Lois González and Lopez 2012). In the Middle Ages, The Way was in fact travelled by pilgrims inspired by religious motivations, and merchants who exploited the presence of a road equipped with bridges and welfare services for commercial and economic purposes (Garcia de Cortazar 1992; Soria y Puig 1993; Suárez-Otero 2004). Indeed, The Way began to take on elements typical of a tourist attraction. It was given accommodation for pilgrims, as well as monumental, historical, and environmental attractions, and it even had its own guidebook: “Liber Peregrinationis” (Marchena Gómez 1993). In other words, this pilgrimage, like others, started to look like a precursor to modern tourism (Di Giovine and Elsner 2016).

The French Way, which dates back to the 12th century, is the main route along this pilgrimage, which was the most travelled in the past and itstill is today2. From this point of view, Lopez (2012) states that the polysemy of The Way can represent two things; firstly, The Way is polysemic in reference to the plurality of meanings and functions it assumed over the course of history and, secondly, it incorporates the many routes that lead to Santiago de Compostela (Figure 2). Indeed, the expression “The Way of St. James” refers to a set of routes to Santiago through the Iberian Peninsula and, especially during recent years, from abroad.

Regarding the issue of faith, we can establish several reasons for doing the pilgrimage. From the Middle Ages until the present day, the Christian faith was a motivating factor for following The Way of St. James. Today, nearly 30% of pilgrims state that they are believers, citing religion as one of the main reasons for undertaking the journey (CETUR and SA Xacobeo 2007–2010). This reason is, thus, hegemonic, with the Catholic faith representing an important component of the pilgrimage to Compostela even today. Notwithstanding, in recent decades, other reasons and beliefs emerged, serving as a reference for certain pilgrims. These may include spiritual reunion, a reencounter with one’s inner self, and conference with nature while slowly progressing along the route, generally on foot. Reasons may also encompass a faith in the benefits of physical exercise and direct contact with nature, As well as the principles of solidarity and community spirit that are an integral part of the pilgrimage.

This article comes in the wake of an ongoing debate on the multiplicity of meanings and discourses associated with The Way. While reconstructing its history, the main aim is to advance a comparative analysis of two main collectives responsible for its understanding: pilgrims and territorial actors. Firstly, the number and type of pilgrims are considered through the data available for the Holy Years3 over multiple years. Secondly, an analysis is conducted on the actors interested in developing The Way, with special attention on the organisations of special events such as the Jacobean Years. Spanning from the Francoist dictatorship (1939) until today, the analysis is divided into two main phases, in which the turning point is the Constitution of 1978. Since pilgrimage is made up of complex relationships between all social actors (Cazaux 2011; Eade and Sallnow 1991), the present contribution is aimed at pointing out the interactive dynamics of the abovementioned “characters” in producing and adapting the contemporary space.

To begin with, a short literature review is provided. Secondly, the methodology used is firstly presented for analysis with reference to the data used and methodological options. The analysis is then explained in the discussion part of the article, in which the reference context and the two analysed aspects are shown synthetically for each phase, namely, (1) the main actors promoting the process, and (2) the amount and characteristics of the pilgrims. The results of the analysis arethen addressed. The conclusions propose a parallel view of two relevant aspects that concerned the Jacobean phenomenon from the 1930s to the present day. There is, therefore, no intention to establish a direct correlation between the two aspects (number of pilgrims and type of actors involved in promoting and developing The Way). The aim is to shed light on how the two aspects, which actually go hand in hand chronologically throughout history, provide the necessary keys to understanding the development of The Way and its future perspectives.

2. Literature Review

While The Way was also characterised by a certain plurality of uses and values in the past, several authors (Celeiro 2013; Lois González and Santos Solla 2015; Rodríguez 2004) nevertheless observed a radical change in recent years. Santos Solla (1999) remarked that Holy Jacobean Year 1993 triggered a “re-semanticisation” process that turned The Way into Galicia’s main tourist product and the city of Santiago into an international tourist destination. This change inaugurated a new “era of tourism” that does not break with the past, but rather supposes a repositioning of its traditional image, i.e., from strictly religious symbols (pilgrimage and the holy city) to a wider cultural meaning (marked by the celebration of the modern Jacobean years). This change also entails a new idea of spirituality that continues to distance itself from the single religious meaning (Blom et al. 2016; Dewsbury and Cloke 2009; Farias and Lalljee 2008; Lopez et al. 2017a). Spirituality remains one of the main motivations people have for taking The Way and visiting Santiago, although today it is interpreted as a rediscovery of one’s self, a balanced relationship with nature, and a different way of experiencing social life, time, and one’s scenic surroundings (CETUR and SA Xacobeo 2007–2010; Lois González et al. 2016; Santos Solla and Lois González 2011). Here is where the renewed importance of knowledge of historical and cultural territory comes into play (CETUR and SA Xacobeo 2007–2010; Lois González et al. 2015; Santos Solla and Lois González 2011). The coexistence of these spaces (religious, spiritual, and cultural) that converge along The Way to create a wholly unique journey towards Santiago generates a polysemy, i.e., a wealth of meanings and values. These are the very values that pilgrims and their increasingly complex nature seek, driving them to set out on the journey.

The article discusses how Santiago is no longer only a religious destination, but also a tourist destination. As E. Cohen (1992) pointed out, however, it would seem rather complex to be able to distinguish the pilgrim from the tourist, admitting that the former sets off on religious grounds while the latter seeks an experience on The Way itself (this could also be referred to as slow tourism, experiential tourism, cultural tourism, eco-tourism, etc.). Tourism and pilgrimage are actually two social phenomena that present rather similar dynamics, so much so that modern tourism finds its origins precisely in the first pilgrimages (Collins-Kreiner 2010a). According to anthropologist Colin Turnbull (1992), pilgrims and tourists are akin insofar as their search for “something” that drives them to embark on their journey. The former is in search of something sacred, the latter of something secular. This something, however, need not necessarily be a single object, item, or experience. For instance, it so happens that pilgrims arriving in Santiago behave exactly as tourists merely visiting the city without having walked The Way (Castro Fernández et al. 2016). Secular tourism and religious pilgrimage overlap and intertwine, generating spaces that set the stage for the polysemy of travel per se. An emblematic site par excellence, the Cathedral of Santiago is both a sacred space, where pilgrims perform religious rites upon completing The Way (confession and mass to obtain indulgence), and a secular space, where tourists flock to experience historical and architectural heritage. Pilgrims can, therefore, also behave like tourists, even in a sacred space (Schramm 2004; Weidenfeld 2006).

As we indicated in the introduction, we should underscore that the meaning of faith in The Way diversified in recent times. Religious faith was maintained, but religious tourism in the strictest sense lost importance. However, the cultural and spiritual motivations for undertaking the pilgrimage are expressed with several variations: a rediscovery of one’s self, contemplation and communion with nature, returning to a sense of our physical body through slow movement, or faith in cooperation with others. Although this polysemy may provide for a broader scope of users interested in going to Santiago, whether by walking The Way or not, the creation of a complex space could nevertheless generate conflicts of use in which pilgrims and tourists alike are no longer capable of satisfying the authentic search for that very “something” that initially incited them to travel (Santos Solla 2013; Santos Solla and Pena Cabrera 2014).

3. Materials and Methods

The essence of the analysis contemplates an extensive timeline spanning from the beginning of the Francoist dictatorship (1939) to our present times. The dictatorship represents a key moment when narrating the history of the revival of The Way. The end of the dictatorship in 1975 and the new Spanish Constitution of 1978 are also some of the great political developments, even in terms of managing The Way. Choosing this time frame is useful in reconstructing how the actors interested in developing The Way and involved in organising Holy Years changed throughout the years. This selection proves to be critical in some respects, particularly regarding the research on the data concerning the amounts and types of pilgrims. In fact, there were no annual data before the 1970s. Data are only available when referring to the influx of pilgrims into Santiago during Holy Years. In addition to not being annual, the data werereconstructed from various sources (including the Official Journal of the Archdiocese of Santiago and the press at the time), whose results do not always match4. This does not simplify or entirely validate the comparison between what happened before and after 1970. The data comparison for the two different phases is nonetheless useful, since it portrays the incredible change that took place starting from the early 1990s, particularly from Jacobean Year 1993.

According to Lois González and Santos Solla (2015), the Jacobean pilgrimage is characterised by three fundamental elements of the Jacobean pilgrimage: motivation, The Way, and the final destination. Pilgrims’ motivation does not refer to arriving at the destination (which is the city of Santiago); rather it refers to the whole journey along The Way (Cazaux 2011; Lopez et al. 2017a), and it is likely for this reason that, at present, the experiential essence of this (religious or secular) pilgrimage attracts people of different faiths and religions, both institutionalised and personal. In order to comment on them, we take into account primary and secondary sources. The primary sources are the statistical reports from The Way of St. James Observatory, while the secondary sources refer to the relevant literary corpus and statistical series published by the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela. In this last case, the source for data on pilgrims starting from the 1970s was taken from the Compostela, a document certifying completion of the pilgrimage5. The data arecollected by the Pilgrim’s Reception Office (Oficina del Peregrino) in the Diocese of Santiago de Compostela. It should be noted that Compostela-based data, i.e., registrations of pilgrims after arriving in Santiago, arenot entirely reliable either until after 1985/1986, when the tradition of certification was confirmed at the end of the journey at the Pilgrim’s Reception Office (Rodríguez 2004). Still, at present, four critical points should also be noted regarding this data.

• Pilgrims arriving in Santiago via The Way are not required to register with the Office. A considerable number of pilgrims fly under the radar on this type of survey because they are not interested in receiving the Compostela certificate (or because they already received it, having done The Way before) or simply because they are not interested in general.
• The Compostela is a way of revealing only the pilgrims who end up in Santiago but not the ones who travel part of The Way without reaching Santiago. For this reason, they donot take into account some contemporary provisional variants; in fact, if, in the past, doing The Way involved having a lot of time, there are currently not just full-time pilgrims that travel to Santiago without stopping (they do The Way all at once), but also “part-time pilgrims”. These modern pilgrims reach Santiago in stages, in that they have little time and they do The Way at different times. For example, N.L. Frey (1998) calls the pilgrims that do The Way at weekends and tend to use pilgrimage associations “weekend pilgrims”. According to F. Cazaux (2011, p. 355), “this opportunity to accomplish the pilgrimage at various times of the year, following different routes and across several years, gave me the opportunity to apprehend the formation of the pilgrim community during different periods and to observe different methods of pilgrimage”.
• The Compostela is only issued when the pilgrims confirm that they did The Way for religious reasons, which is a criterion that alters the truthfulness of the values, especially in terms of the motivations stated when issued, because, while obtaining this document (now a symbol of Jacobean pilgrimage), the pilgrims do not always state their real reason (Santos Solla and Lois González 2011; Lopez 2014).
• Pilgrims identified as such through the Compostela must then be added to the tourists who arrive in Santiago or to other of The Way’s main locations. In order to address these critical issues and provide a new source of official data not exclusively linked to the Diocese of Santiago de Compostela, the abovementioned Observatory was founded in 2007. It was financed by the Galician government for three years until 2010. The data compiled by the Observatory during these three years areparticularly interesting for contemporary pilgrim profiling.

Ultimately, the symbolic meaning of the Compostela ensures that the pilgrims with more secular motivations declare different reasons (Santos Solla and Lois González 2011; Castro Fernández et al. 2016), choosing between three options: religious, religious and other, non-religious.

In addition, the analysis, therefore, contemplates not only the number and type of pilgrims but also the different actors interested in developing The Way, using the different organisations of Jacobean Years as a reference. Spanning from the Francoist dictatorship (1939) until today, the analysis is divided into two main phases, in which the turning point is the Constitution of 1978 (Figure 3).

Each phase is analysed by presenting the (1) context, i.e., political/social/cultural situation characterising the phase, (2) main actors who actively contributed to Holy Year organisation actions in each phase, and (3) pilgrims, showing the data regarding turnout and types.

4. Discussion

4.1. Phase 1: The Francoist Period—1939–1978

4.1.1. Context

While pilgrimages to Santiago never completely died out, it is nevertheless undeniable that the flow of pilgrims suffered drastic setbacks between the 15th and 18th centuries. Pilgrimages began again in the late 19th century, when the spreading Romantic Movement brought interest to the medieval period. The concept referred to as reinventio also had a fundamental role. In 1878, Cardinal Miguel Payá (Archbishop of Santiago between 1875 and 1886) backed an excavation to find the tomb of the Apostle St. James. According to legend, the Saint’s remains were carefully hidden for fear of possible theft by the Muslims, although they always remained inside the Cathedral. In 1884, Pope Leo XIII recognised the authenticity of the remains found by cathedral canon Antonio López Ferreiro, who was commissioned by Cardinal Payá to deal with the archaeological excavations. During the same period, Cardinal Payá supported Pope Leo XIII in the then very heated debate in which the infallibility of the Pope was questioned. Lois González (2013) also states that this mutual support between the Diocese of Santiago and the Church of Rome was fundamental, contributing to the birth of a new era of religious pilgrimages and establishing the binomial of the myth of Santiago with the reactionary Catholic tradition.

The political ideology of the Francoist dictatorship (1939–1975) later refocused on the figure of Saint James, and along with him the city of Santiago and partly The Way, as they became key symbols of NationalCatholic Spain (Álvarez Junco 2001). In 1937, the Apostle St. James was officially recognised as patron of state, and the Saint’s day, 25 July, was declared a national holiday. Lois González (2013, p. 13) addresses the exploitation of the legend of St. James, particularly during the first years of the dictatorship: “According to the regime’s propaganda, the Civil War (1936–1939) was […] a domestic crusade in which the image of St. James the warrior allied itself with Franco’s forces to lead them to final victory”.

In this context, in which the figure of St. James became the image of the Catholic bulwark against the communist and liberal forces, the regime, supported by the Diocese of Compostela, committed itself to recovering the historic centre of Santiago and many of its monuments (Castro Fernández 2007, 2010, 2013; Castro Fernández and Lois González 2006; Lois González et al. 2016). With these architectural interventions and restoration of monuments, the idea was to create a setting of traditional Christian retreat (even returning to Medieval values), in a context where Catholicism was the official religion of the Dictatorship, and the calendar, rites, and mandates were followed as the letter of the law. In the eyes of the regime, the Catholic Way was a metaphor for a return to historical Western Christian values (with the values and concept of “Western” as interpreted by an authoritarian government). In this regard, the preamble of Decree 2224 of 1962 signed by General Franco is particularly significant in that The Way was included on the list of historical assets to be protected under a “historical–artistic heritage” designation, and it asserted how Santiago and The Way were in those years symbols of national identity and unity, with the dictatorship using these instruments for its political propaganda. The wording of the preamble is as follows: “Whether it is called the Jacobean Route, Camino de Santiago, or Way of St. James, this pilgrimage retains deep sentimental and spiritual roots in our homeland which neither dissolved nor weakened over time. This feeling is superimposed on any other consideration or estimate of a material order so that this path is currently represented in our mind with the same vigorous strokes it offered in ancient times”.

4.1.2. Actors

This phase entails two main actors who exercise a certain power over decisions regarding The Way, namely, the Church, more specifically the Diocese of Santiago, and the Francoist government.

The Church was the main protagonist in organising and managing pilgrimages to Santiago until the early 20th century. Civil power only became interested in jubilee events for the first time in the Holy Year of 1926. The advertising promoted by the National Tourist Board (Figure 4) is the Spanish government’s first intervention to promote the city of Santiago for a Holy Year.

The exclusively religious line, which occasionally blended into tourism, cultural, or economic lines, whichoriented the early years of the 20th century, radically changed in the 1930s and 1940s, decades in which political power assumed a central role in Jacobean celebrations. To emphasise the importance that The Way and the city of Santiago acquired in this period, it should be noted that the “National Board for the Holy Year” was conceived in 1942 and tasked with organising and coordinating the promotion of the Jubilee and reception of pilgrims. Furthermore, the magazine Compostela was founded in 1948 and still stands as a point of reference for Jacobean culture.

After the strong political exploitation during the early years of Franco’s regime, the government’s role increasingly shifted towards promoting tourism, also aiming at an international context. Holy Year 1954 in particular marks an important point of reference because jubilee festivities became an occasion for public investments aimed at improving tourist accommodation of the city of Santiago for the first time. The government financed the expansion of the airport in Santiago, as well as the renovation of the historic Hostal de Los Reyes Católicos and Burgos de las Naciones as a place for pilgrims to stay.

Holy Year 1965, thus, represented the firsttime that civil power assumed a real central role with respect to the religious one, which it would never relinquish, becoming the main promoter, organiser, and financer of the celebrations. The campaign promoting the city of Santiago and The Way (i.e., the French one) began in Spain and abroad in these years through cinema, advertising, exhibitions, conferences, etc., a period during which the Compostela, the credential certifying the kilometres travelled on The Way, appeared for the first time. For the following Holy Year of 1971, the Spanish government confirmed its intention to promote the lore of St. James/Santiago, in which regard the Ministry of Tourism backed the jubilee. In fact, starting in 1965, the government’s role was no longer limited to promoting tourism, but expanded into building reception facilities in the wake of the results from its initiatives in 1954, proposing The Way as a living reality, and no longer just a historical memory.

The figure of Manuel Fraga Iribarne, Spanish Minister of Tourism from 1962 to 1969, appeared to assume prominence in this period for the first time, after which he would become president of Galicia from 1990 to 2005. His role proved to be key, since he was the first to back The Way of St. James as a potential tourist resource for Spain, which, in the 1960s, mainly offered the famous “sun and sea” tourism.

4.1.3. Pilgrims

The introduction of the Compostela for Jacobean Year 1970 represented a turning point in data collection to identify the number of pilgrims who, after covering at least 100 km on foot or 200 km by bicycle, arrived in the city of Santiago. Notwithstanding all its limitations (discussed in the paragraph addressing the method), this data collection promoted by the Archdiocese of Santiago is a turning point because it presents annual data not merely restricted to Jubilee years and also tallies the number of pilgrims, unrelated to tourists/visitors visiting the holy city without having taken The Way. The data available from 1970 to 1977 areshown below (

Table 1. Pilgrims registered at the Pilgrim’s Reception Office (1970–1977). (Holy Years are in bold) Source: Oficina del Peregrino (Pilgrim’s Reception Office).

Year	Pilgrims
1970	68
1971	451
1972	67
1976	243
1977	31

).

Figures from before 1970 do not reflect the number of pilgrims on The Way, but rather the number of visitors who went to Santiago. The absence of data can also be interpreted as an indicator of how the pilgrimage on foot may not have been a very significant phenomenon in those years.

Manuel F. Rodríguez (2004) obtained volume figures for all the Holy Years in the 20th century. They keep track of how many organised groups arrived in Santiago, the participants in each group, and their origin. In his research work, Rodríguez reports on summary data in which he considers comprising the Official Journal of the Archdiocese, printed press of the time, and other documentation. A comparison of the different sources is shown in the table (

Table 2. Organised pilgrims reaching the city of Santiago in the Holy Years. Source: Data reported by Rodríguez (2004) based on the analysis of the Official Journal of the Archdiocese, press, and other publications.

Year	Groups	Pilgrims
1943	128	100,000
1948	124	166,000
1954	364	225,000
1965	428	280,000
1971	496	305,000
1976	578	315,000

).

This data cannot be used to compare pilgrim data, since some indicate the number of visitors to Santiago for Holy Years while others show the number of pilgrims who travelled at least part of The Way on foot or by bicycle. Both pieces of data nevertheless portray a constant increase in the number of pilgrims and visitors. Finally, the data capable of reconstructing the profile of pilgrims/visitors are only capable of identifying the origin of participants from organised groups (

Table 3. Origin of groups of pilgrims reaching the city of Santiago in the Holy Years. Source: Data reported by Rodríguez (2004) based on the analysis of the Official Journal of the Archdiocese, press, and other publications.

Year	Groups from Galicia	Groups from Spain	Groups of Foreigners
1943	93	35	0
1948	84	36	4
1954	155	142	67
1965	205	185	38
1971	183	280	33
1976	271	266	41

).

Most of the groups came from Galicia until Holy Year 1948. Beginning in 1954, the percentage of pilgrims coming from other parts of Spain or other countries wasalways be greater than pilgrims coming from the Compostela region.

4.2. Phase 2: 1978–Present

4.2.1. Context

The Spanish political and administrative system transformed with the Constitution of 1978. Title VIII of the Constitution contemplates the creation of 17 autonomous communities (highest-level territorial subdivisions), configuring a regional order to counteract the centralism that characterised the period of the Franco dictatorship. While the central Spanish government’s role became mostly as a guarantor of the unitary operations of the system and respect for constitutional principles, the autonomous communities were given an extensive margin of freedom. These responsibilities and powers of the autonomous communities included the three main aspects concerning the development and maintenance of The Way, namely, the management of the historical–cultural heritage, tourism policies, and urban planning legislation.

This new administrative arrangement enabled the Galician Autonomous Community to become the promoter of the contemporary revival of the city of Santiago and The Way even ahead of the central Spanish government. These in fact became nationally and internationally recognisable symbols of Galician identity. It is no coincidence that, in 1981, the newly formed Galician Autonomous Community Parliament chose its headquarters in Santiago de Compostela, as a symbolic city of Jacobean culture. Furthermore, the feast of St. James, which falls on 25 July, was proclaimed “Galicia Day”, also called “Galician Father’s Day”.

The organisation of Holy Year 1993 was the autonomous government’s first real opportunity for planning and reviving the Galician region, which fits into the historical context of the early 90s, in which major events were viewed by the newlyborn Autonomous Communities as opportunities for programming and identification. Similar to the approach taken by places such as Seville for the Universal Exposition of Seville (Expo 1992) and Barcelona for the 1992 Olympics, Santiago viewed Holy Year 1993, also referred to as Xacobeo1993, as a great event in which the regional government invested ideas, energy, and money. It is, therefore, no coincidence that the Galician government (Xunta de Galicia) reiterated the need to assume Holy Year 1993 as a real “state project”; “after the events of Expo 1992 and the Barcelona Olympics, even northern Spain sought notoriety” (Xunta de Galicia 1994, p. 22)

All this happened after the international limelight in the 1980s was rekindled both for The Way and the city of Santiago. The historic centre of Santiago de Compostela and The Way (the French Way) were in fact recognised by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) as World Heritage Sites in 1985 and 1993, respectively. The Council of Europe also launched the Cultural Routes Programme in 1987. The Way of St. James was recognised as the First European Cultural Route in that religious and cultural contacts that were created for travelling pilgrims from different places across Europe constituted a critical initial stage of interculturalism and European unity. For this reason, The Way was cited as an example for applying a series of actions to other pilgrimage routes, including cooperation between Member States for the protection and conservation of pilgrimage routes and the promotion of cultural tourism.

The symbolic and media importance of the papal visits during the 1980s should also be kept in mind. Holy Year 1982 ended with the arrival of Pope John Paul II in Santiago. On this occasion, the Pope also recognised European values and identity in The Way of St. James. The Pope returned to Santiago in 1989 for World Youth Day, which was attended by almost half a million young people from all over the world. Both these visits were decisive for the international recognition of Compostela and The Way. This presence of the Pope in Santiago came to be seen as an attempt to reassign Christian values to the contemporary version of The Way, as well as an affirmation of religious faith in the new pilgrimage. However, this could not be further from the truth. The polysemic logic and active defence of diversity adopted by the public institutions responsible for recovering the touristic and cultural spirit of The Way prevailed. The Catholic faith, as stated by pilgrims, continues to be one of the important underlying motivations for doing The Way, but it is no longer the main reason. New ways of understanding the world place value on more abstract experiences such as spirituality, contemplation, and the feeling of the physical body walking. A certain post-secular or watered-down religious faith is now dominant in today’s pilgrimage to Compostela. In short, different narratives and “soft faiths” prevailed over the traditional Catholic faith which, notwithstanding, still holds ground as the primary reason for undertaking the journey in a smaller, yet significant percentage of cases.

4.2.2. Actors

The protagonists of this phase represent an evolution compared to the previous phase. As The Way is recognised as a tourist and symbolic resource (an image with which to show Spain and especially Galicia to the world), the number of actors interested in its development increases. Before 1993, jubilee festivities were mostly religious. State initiatives, especially relevant in the 1950s and 1960s, ere important but not incisive to the end; the infrastructural interventions were sporadic but not continuous, and the complementary cultural programming was limited to the summer period only. With the preparation for Holy Year 1993, however, interests and balances shifted, thrusting the Church, civil power (at its various scales), and associations into a new relationship.

The main role that the Church plays in this phase, which it still maintains today, entails monitoring the number of pilgrims. In fact, beginning in 1982, it sought and assumed nearly absolute control of the only documentation certifying completion of The Way by foot, horseback, or bicycle. The Church secured this control by creating the Pilgrim’s Reception Office in partnership with the Association of Friends of The Way to create a pilgrim’s credential, which concluded in 1988 and could only be stamped in places authorised by the church. In short, this regularisation and control process took shape little by little but ended shortly before Holy Year 1993.

As for the role of civil power in this phase, unlike the previous phase, it is necessary to distinguish the actions of the central Spanish government from those of the individual autonomous communities. The national dimension begins to take on the role of coordination and facilitator for relaunching the politics of The Way. However, the real protagonists are the individual autonomous communities, since they have the power to decide on its protection and delimitation. Amongst them, the autonomous community of Galicia has the best footing, turning the celebration of Holy Year 1993 into an opportunity to revive the entire region. It should nevertheless be taken into account that, for the first time, a specific denomination wascreated for the civil action plan, namely, “Xacobeo1993”, differentiated from ecclesiastical celebrations referred to as the “Compostelan Jubilee Year”. The prominent role of Manuel Fraga, former Minister of Tourism in the 1960s, as president of Galicia must also be kept in mind.

The increasingly important role of civil power in managing The Way was also detected through a growing number of rules and laws that increased exponentially during the 20th century. Jacobean law scholar José A. Corriente Córdoba stated that “nine standards were passed in the decade from 1960–1970, 26 from 1980–1990, and 87 from 1990 to today (1998). The increased output of standards is, therefore, directly proportional to the increase in pilgrims” (Corriente Córdoba 1999, p. 48). It could, thus, be added that the increase in standards is directly proportional to the interest and involvement of the target public in the regeneration, development, and management processes of The Way.

From 1993 onwards, the management of The Way and the preparation of Holy Years changed radically. Following the great success of Xacobeo1993, a new season opened up for the First European Cultural Route, in which the preparation of the Jacobean Years became an occasion for relaunching and planning for tourism and the territory. The Way became increasingly known in Europe and beyond, also thanks to films and literature (Chemin 2015; Lopez et al. 2015, 2018). From that moment on, the main actions promoted can be summarised in the following categories: regional delimitation and urban planning laws for The Way; cooperation agreements involving different autonomous communities and between communities and the national government; implementations of individual autonomous communities in preparation for Holy Years 1999, 2004, and 2010 (e.g., promoting tourism, dissemination of Jacobean culture, and expansion and improvement of the accommodation offer for pilgrims also through the construction of a network of public hotels).

Some additional actors also worth considering in this phase are Associations of the Friends of The Way6, which began spreading throughout Spain at this stage. One charismatic protagonist of these Associations was Elías Valiña, a parish priest from a small Galician municipality who decided to personally care for the signs himself along The French Way in the mid-1980s. Valiña was the first to use the yellow arrow, which would later become one of the main symbols of The Way. The conference held in Jaca (Aragon) in 1987 was also decisive for the cooperation of various Jacobean Associations that were already in operation. Coordination was established by the Spanish Associations of Friends of The Way, which, at the end of 1991, was consolidated into a state-wide federation (Spanish Federation of Associations of Friends of The Way of St. James). Even today, the Federation continues in its role in supporting and spreading Jacobean culture. In particular, the main actions of members in the Associations can be summarised in the following points: (1) information and help for pilgrims, travellers, or anyone interested in the different Ways; (2) creation of the figure of the volunteer Hospitaller and organisation of courses for stakeholders to provide free service in public hotels; (3) organisation and management of volunteer hospitals; (4) collaboration with institutions (church, municipalities, etc.) for the creation of places to welcome pilgrims; (5) historical–cultural studies and publications on The Way and Jacobean culture; (6) recovery of the paths along the Way and signs with symbols consisting of the yellow arrow and shell.

4.2.3. Pilgrims

The data relating to the number of pilgrims in this analysis period wereobtained entirely from the Compostela (Figure 5).

The data show that the number of pilgrims is constantly growing, peaking in Holy Years 1993, 1999, 2004, and 2010. The real shift, however, came in 1993, a key year for the organisation, management, and promotion of The Way and Santiago (Oficina del Peregrino 1980–2018).

The data collected from the Compostela, together with the statistics from The Way of St. James Observatory and other research, enable the reconstruction of an interesting trend for pilgrims, demonstrating changes in the type of users who chose to undertake the long Way since the 1980s. In this contribution, the focus is on the pilgrim’s motivation, which is considered a key aspect, although it undergoes continuous changes. Already N.L. Frey (1998) stated that, due to the variety of pilgrims along the route, it is difficult to generalise their motivations. Lately, K. Doi (2011, p. 274) also stated that “it is increasingly difficult to draw precise profiles of the pilgrims, who come more and more from several countries and backgrounds”. In spite of this, several sociological and anthropological studies are interested in discovering pilgrims’ profiles along The Way (Chemin 2015; Doi 2011; Kurrant 2019). Indeed, as time passes, this is not an easy exercise, because pilgrims’ motivations respond and correspond to the present culture, made up of new religious, spiritual, and secular trends that they convey along one of the most ancient and religious Christian routes.

Data from the Pilgrim’s Reception Office (Compostela) involve not only numbers but they also inform about pilgrims’ nationalities, motivations, sex, age, employment status, mode of transport on The Way (walking, cycling or riding), the starting place of the chosen route, and itinerary. The Pilgrim’s Reception Office keeps track of only religious or cultural motivations. The first data collected date back to 1989. In that year, 83.5% of the pilgrims arriving in Santiago declared that they went on the journey for religious reasons, 12.6% for religious–cultural reasons, and only 1.5% for cultural reasons. Twenty years later (in 2009), religious motivations werementioned by 42.6% of pilgrims, whereas 48.2% stated mixed reasons involving religious motivations, whilst 9.2% said that they did The Way for no religious motivation whatsoever. In 2018, the change in the percentages for reasons remained subtle, with 47.9% mixed (religious and other), 42.8% exclusively religious, and 9.3% non-religious (Figure 6).

Different sources from the Pilgrim’s Reception Office paint a clearer picture of how religion is no longer the only reason to embark on the pilgrimage to Santiago. According to a study conducted for Holy Year 1993 (Blanco Chao and Garrido Faraldo 1994), religious reasons decreased to 50%, notwithstanding the strong presence of organised groups of dioceses and parishes. In another study, Fernández Ríos and García Docampo (1999) indicated elements attracting people to The Way of St. James that include nature/scenery (71.4%), sociability (46.2%), religion (44.1%), art (32.4%), and others (21%).

There is a difference between the Observatory and the Pilgrim’s Reception Office methodologies. The latter refers to people that take the Compostela (the majority of pilgrims), whilst the Observatory’s surveys even include those who are not interested in the credential. The rate of reliability is at 95.5% with an estimated margin of error of 3.5%. In fact, the results concerning where the pilgrims come from were in line with those provided by the Pilgrim’s Reception Office and guarantee that the sample is represented. The questionnaire provided at the Pilgrim’s Reception Office and Monte do Gozo is made up of 28 questions, divided into four sections: (1) socio-demographic profile (origin, age, gender, level of education, salary, social and professional standing, etc.); (2) trip organisation (motivation, itinerary, company, accommodation, expenses, duration, etc.); (3) pilgrimage to Santiago; (4) money spent; (5) route distance; (6) arrival at the destination; (7) satisfaction evaluation (recommendation whether to repeat the trip, expectations, accommodation evaluation, signs, etc.). The amount of information gathered is high and, cross-referencing the data, it is possible to obtain other interesting results, such as the level of satisfaction, the quality of the accommodation, or the money spent. The important aspect is that the surveys are conducted at the arrival point which allows for the entire experience and satisfaction to be determined. However, it would have been all the more interesting to carry out surveys at the main departure points, because some authors (Frey 1998; Lois González and Santos Solla 2015) showed that the pilgrims’ motivations change along The Way.

The statistics from the Pilgrim’s Reception Office are of general interest. The Way of St. James Observatory was tasked with precisely defining the profile of the pilgrims and planning, managing, and improving the walkers’ offer and experience. Unfortunately, the Observatory did not last long and 2010 was its last year of surveys. Despite this, its usefulness is undeniable as it provided new data. For example, the motivations shown by the Observatory were richer and more varied in comparison with those proposed by the Archbishop; furthermore, the data show substantial differences between one Holy Year and a normal year, and the most detailed survey by the Observatory gives in-depth analysis (Lopez et al. 2017c).

The results of the research conducted by The Way of St. James Observatory are particularly interesting in regard to pilgrim profiling data from 2007 to 2010 (CETUR and SA Xacobeo 2007–2010). The first dossier referring to 2007 presents a framework with various reasons.

Table 4. Main reasons for doing The Way (Spiritual reasons, highlighted with grey background, are the most cited). Own preparation based on data from Pilgrim Profile Reports, Observatory of The Way. (CETUR and SA Xacobeo 2007–2010).

	2007	2008	2009	2010
	%	%	%	%
Historic–artistic heritage	25.8	25.0	23.9	21.2
Natural heritage	39.3	33.7	36.0	31.3
Spiritual reason	50.3	53.1	49.4	48.5
Religious motivation	38.1	38.3	39.5	47.6
Popular culture	16.2	15.7	14.6	14.7
Sport	22.8	19.8	20.8	19.7
Fun	17.1	14.8	19.2	17.1
Other	7.2	8.0	9.0	8.8

and Figure 7 summarise the reasons given by pilgrims interviewed by the Observatory staff from 2007 to 2010. Pilgrims could choose from eight options, which are listed in Figure 7 below. As it is possible to appreciate, in the data from the four-year reports, “spiritual motivation” was the dominant one. This is due to the fact that there are pilgrims that do The Way as an initiatory route to escape from their daily life, full of problems and distress, for the purpose of finding some answers from within (Lopez et al. 2017a). In some cases, The Way is a “therapeutic route”, in that it leads the pilgrim to experience deep cathartic and internal experiences (Frey 1998). Having said that, spiritual motivations recorded a slight decrease in their trend. As a matter of fact, spirituality seems to have decreased in favour of religious motivations. Indeed, this duality is due to the very nature of The Way. It went from being a religious spirituality to now embody a more secular spirituality. If, on the one hand, the importance that religious motivations still cover today cannot be excluded, such as the desire to express or renew faith, meditate, redeem sins, or ask for intercessions, according to N.L. Frey (1998), there is no shared definition of the spiritual journey among The Way’s pilgrims, but “it is generally related to this idea of the uncontained, non-structural, personalised, individual, and direct relationship one has to ultimate reality” (Frey 1998, p. 31). Also B. Haab (1996) considers that pilgrims along The Way interpret their spiritual journey in various ways; some are pilgrims from the beginning, others become pilgrims during the trip, and a third group of pilgrims finish it as tourists, and only later do they become aware of inner change. In the latter case, many decide to repeat The Way to understand the spiritual meanings of the trip more thoroughly. Other relevant motivations, such as “historic–artistic heritage” and “natural heritage” point out the cultural and ethnographic richness of The Way. Along the same line, material (churches, monasteries, cemeteries, etc.) and immaterial (rituals, practices, legends, etc.) heritage supports the management of sites where spiritual and heritage values coincide.

5. Results

The comparative analysis proposed in this study enables the superimposition of two key aspects that feed back into the actual complexity of the space generated by The Way, where the users (pilgrims) and the actors interested in its development multiplied over the years. As a consequence, the no longer exclusively sacred Jacobean space is endowed with facilities that can satisfy both pilgrims and tourists (Cazaux 2011; Lois and Lopez 2012; Pfaffenberger 1983). Already 30 years ago, N.L. Frey (1998, p. 254) wrote that “the pilgrimage (…) is amply interpreted as an ideal way to enjoy ‘leisure with meaning’ (…) the role of the pilgrim not solely as a religious traveller but as a more generalised seeker, wanderer, and adventurer became popularised and an ideal way to realise personal and social goals”. At present, the profile of the contemporary pilgrim also emerges as an increasingly secular traveller in search of an unprecedented relationship with themselves, nature, surroundings (landscape/scenery) and other pilgrims. This multiplicity of meanings sketches a picture of a Way that is no longer only a religious pilgrimage, one of an exclusive manifestation of a space of faith, but rather a complex and open polysemic space in which faith, tourism, and heritage indeed do coexist. Religion remains an important reason for pilgrims to take The Way, which, to a certain extent, contributes to its success. We are no longer looking at an exclusive or mostly direct offer to Catholics, but The Way rather increasingly includes the spiritual values of contemporary society (Santos Solla and Lois González 2011). The shift from religiousness towards spirituality and the progressively growing importance of the spiritual dimension reinforce the inclusive character of The Way, as well as from an economic standpoint, opening up new market horizons. Today, along The Way, a renewed reading of the old obligations of visiting churches and monasteries is offered, and, although they are still present on The Way, they are now resources for cultural and heritage tourism. Changing practices and behaviours support the need to consider multi-layered motivations that explain pilgrims’ biographies, rather than collective choices (Chemin 2015; Kurrant 2019).

Regardless of the motivation, the majority of pilgrims are seeking out authenticity through different aspects that the pilgrimage offers, including how to do The Way (Frey 1998). Currently, The Way can be tackled in many ways and, considering that it is now fashionable, trips by car and bus can also be organised, which are, however, not authentic. Likewise, it is believed that authenticity lies in doing The Way on foot, by bike, or at the most on horseback. In this way, even today the pilgrims consider The Way as an initiatory trip and, therefore, it attracts and welcomes pilgrims from different faiths whilst sharing resources and spaces. These changes are actually also contributing to the renaissance of the pilgrimage to Finasterre (Doi 2011; Lopez et al. 2017b), a fact that is not only justified by the patrimonial heritage but also by the geographical enhancement that the different institutions hope for (Margry 2015; Roseman 2008; Sánchez-Carretero 2015).

Similarly, the analysis of the second aspect, i.e., the main actors who invest in The Way, likewise yields complexity and ever-increasing variety as we approach the present day, also in this case with 1993 as a breakthrough year. In fact, it is possible to highlight how the Church in general and the Diocese of Santiago in particular were the main promoters of the celebrations of Holy Jacobean Years, which are purely religious celebrations. On the contrary, today, there is a plethora of stakeholders, amongst which the public actors assume a central role, managing and working within the complex space of The Way. The Way and also the city of Santiago are objects of urbanisation, tourist, cultural, economic, and commercial strategies and planning in which a multiplicity of actors coexist (several for institutional levels and interests).

According to J.E. Chemin (2015), this functional change also reflects the linguistic shift, according to which the general expression of pilgrimage is substituted by Camino, whichis the Spanish word used to refer to The Way. Indeed, the currentlyinternationally recognised Spanish word Camino is synonymous with The Way, although it may somehow express and suggest a stronger territorial identity and cultural baggage. As a matter of fact, P.J. Margry (2015, pp. 185–86) coined the expression “Caminonization”. “The worldwide growth of sacred or spiritual footpaths is primarily stimulated by the success and appropriation of the ‘Camino’ concept. This process, which I call “caminonization”, encompasses a proliferation of spiritual paths which stimulates people all over the world to depart on foot for a spiritual journey or a reflective quest on the meaning of life. (…). The metaphor connects modern pilgrimage again with the early medieval idea of peregrination. Caminonization cannot simply be equated with what is nowadays called ‘spiritual tourism,’ which usually implies more of a mixed program on the behalf of regional administrators and organisations, stimulated by policies on heritage and tourism and with a stronger focus on tourism than spirituality”.

The Way (The Camino) is a benchmark in cultural, social, economic, and political terms. Conceived as a European cultural project (Chemin 2015), at present, it is a multi-level project that relies on the interactive participation of formal and informal actors that contribute to its maintenance and permanence. Therefore, the same concept of faith undergoes a semantical change, in that it should no longer be meant as a strictly religious term; rather, it refers to the added value of the territory that pilgrims look for and desire before starting the route. The medieval religious faith that pushed for The Way was replaced by a post-contemporary faith (in the sense of belief) in the personal and therapeutic benefits deriving from the experience of The Way.

In the wake of this analysis, the question of how to manage this complexity still remains. In fact, there are risks linked to overcrowding sensitive areas such as sacred spaces, historical and cultural heritage sites, etc.

6. Conclusions

The original meaning of faith in The Way diversified in recent times. The “space of religious faith” became a “live heritage space” resulting from interaction of different actors. Their material and immaterial actions concern a post-contemporary process of heritagization, which fit new motivational and spatial transformations of the post-secular pilgrimage.

Initially, faith fed the construction of the space through social practices that contributed to its semanticisation, although faith is also one of the forces that modelled The Way’s landscape. As demonstrated, religious faith was maintained, but religious tourism in the strictest sense lost importance. This very transformation of the sacred space into national heritage stemmed from the faith of the pilgrims who travelled the route. The relationship between faith and heritage, meant as an element of the route, characterises the proper space of The Way. The tourism dimension tends to have a well-defined birth year, i.e., the Holy Jacobean Year of 1993. While the most recent changes are hardly marked by specific dates, they nevertheless overlap and coexist in a space that assumes the paradigm of “inclusiveness”. In other words, the plurality of motivations and attitudes, cultures, and religions that identify today’s pilgrims is not a limit but rather a feature of The Way. This is mainly because, if travelling The Way was considered above all a religious practice and expression of faith up until just a few years ago, this preponderance ceases to exist today.

The historical line along which the stages of The Way are positioned corresponds to a behavioural change of public and private actors, which also contribute to modelling its landscape and values. Despite a process of contemporary secularisation and the consequent overlapping of meanings, faith places no restrictions on local development for The Way, even in secular cases. Faith, linked to religion and, therefore, considered as an expression of culture, is “mined” with a view to achieving a varying degree of attraction to the territory. Therefore, in The Way’s case, there is still no conflictive dimension when “using” the same spaces in the different modalities. Perhaps this coexistence of interests lies precisely in the “welcoming” origins of The Way, since the territories werealways accustomed to welcoming different pilgrims and, with it, pilgrims with different motivations and interests.

In short, just as the term pilgrimage itself is used to describe secular and non-secular journeys, faith in pilgrimage sites also underlies a process of semantic transformation, through which it passes from an exclusive conceptualisation to a more inclusive vision. The question included in the title of the article (“Who is interested in developing The Way of St. James?”) aims to refer to a more inclusive concept inherited from faith as an “exclusionary” element to faith as an inclusive element, which tourism harnesses and transforms into a resource. Public and private, and religious and secular interests converge along The Way, and their nature will become increasingly varied in the present and future precisely because of this “more welcoming than ever” sense that it is adopting. Even when losing its historical sense, faith no longer is confined to a religious sentiment, as it is an added value for the territory and a resource for promoting it. Undoubtedly, the absolute or dominant belief promoted in the past by the Christian faith gave way to the coexistence of various partial or weaker narratives, many of them marked by tourism or culture, which define the rebirth and, to a great extent, the current success of the Compostela route.

The Way of St. James provides multiple future challenges in terms of the organisation and management of its space; therefore, the actors currently involved in promoting it and safeguarding it must be aware of the need to implement sustainable territorial policies so that the essence and experience of The Way is not in any way damaged. As shown, The Way of St. James is a cultural and religious route embarked upon for many other reasons. It is part of the context of new tourism experiences. Therefore, its historic purpose is in harmony with modern times. However, it is necessary to carefully analyse trends and market changes in the future. The suspension of the annual reports on pilgrim profiles led to the disappearance of an essential tool for tourism management in Galicia, in that the information provided by the statistics from the Pilgrim’s Reception Office is more limited. Understanding pilgrims’ motivations is fundamental for grasping the modern transformations of The Way; however, unfortunately, the Pilgrim’s Reception Office does not seem to be dealing with these data. The only additional information available at the moment is what was provided by the Observatory’s study; for this reason, a further future challenge is designing territory knowledge tools that will make monitoring transformations possible. One of such instruments is actually a new Observatory, devised as a knowledge tool at the service of interested public and private parties, which is highly significant.