The Way of Sant James

The Manager of the Xacobeo, Rafael Sánchez, is taking part today in the 1st International Gathering on the Heritage of the Routes to Santiago de Compostela, being held in the historic Asturian town of Grao, located on the Primitive Route.

The event is organized by the FICS (International Brotherhood of the Way of St. James), presided by Carmen Pugliese from Italy and featuring a representative from Icomos, an organization dedicated to preserving UNESCO heritage sites, and other officials.

Also attending the gathering will be experts and representatives from pilgrims’ associations in France, Portugal, Belgium, Brazil, the United States, Italy and Spain, as well as volunteer hostel hosts from the Way, since one of the foundations of the gathering will be to uphold the tradition of hospitality on the Way of St. James as an intangible heritage inherent to pilgrimages throughout history.

The purpose of the forum is to reflect and underscore potential attacks to the heritage and routes of the Way of St. James. The workshops will also feature a presentation of the first real-time online application for reporting damage to heritage sites along the routes to Santiago de Compostela. Pilgrims can use this digital tool to send in their reports, information and photos of any irregularities they find along their way involving altered signs, illegal construction along the edge of the route or neglect of the natural or ecological landscape.

The conference panel during these workshops will feature dignitaries like María Josefa Sanz Fontes, Professor of Science and Historiographical Techniques at the Universidad de Oviedo, Miguel Ángel Cajigal, a graduate in history from the Universidad de Santiago and member of the boundary teams for the North, Winter and Portuguese routes, and Lugo university professor Ricardo G. Polin, a pioneer in researching the Primitive Route in Galicia.