The Way of Sant James

• Nava Castro took part in the Way of St James Round Table in Pontevedra today, where she highlighted the Xunta de Galicia’s commitment to the pilgrimage routes in this province, where improvement work and initiatives will be stepped up next year
• The Turismo de Galicia director asserted that 2018 ‘will mark a turning point for the Portuguese Route and Portuguese Coastal Route’ looking ahead to Xacobeo (Holy Year) 2021
• Both routes have experienced significant growth and together they now account for more than 22% of all pilgrims doing the Way of St James
• The Winter Route has a new information guide, published this autumn, which will be joined by future actions included in the timeline established by the Xunta

Pontevedra, 27 November 2017

Turismo de Galicia Director Nava Castro took part in the Way of St James Round Table, held in the province of Pontevedra today, where she discussed the many resources which the Xunta de Galicia will be putting into the Portuguese Route and Portuguese Coastal Route in 2018. According to the timeline established in the Way of St James Master Plan, next year will be devoted to these two routes, with a range of improvements on the routes themselves, along with resources and infrastructure elements, promotion and outreach.

The meeting, the second this year, after a May gathering, brought together representatives of the government bodies associated with the four routes of the Way of St James that run through Pontevedra: the Xunta de Galicia, the Provincial Council and the municipalities along the Portuguese Route, Portuguese Coastal Route, Vía de la Plata and Winter Route. As Nava Castro recalled, the number of official routes in Pontevedra doubled last year with the passing of the new Galician Cultural Heritage Act.

‘Turismo de Galicia’s commitment to the Way of St James in the province of Pontevedra will intensify significantly next year,’ stated Nava Castro, who said that 2018 ‘will mark a turning point for the Portuguese Route and Portuguese Coastal Route’.

In fact, the autonomous community budget for the upcoming financial year includes the improvement and signage project for both routes, along the same lines as efforts on the Northern Route, the Primitive Route, English Route and Fisterra–Muxía Route since 2015. These measures will have an impact on pilgrim safety and improve the pilgrim experience and services. In the same area, it was agreed to ask the Ministry of Public Works to continue working to implement new measures to support the pilgrimage, as part of the line of action already begun.

There will also be cultural stimulus programmes, promotional initiatives, actions for students and outreach exhibitions to strengthen these routes through Pontevedra.

Completed actions

Nava Castro also took the opportunity to review some of the actions implemented over the course of this year, including work on provisional signage for the new official routes, hostel improvements for pilgrims with functional diversity under the Accessible Tourism Plan for Galicia and the Way of St James, and promotional initiatives to disseminate information about these routes among agents, journalists and bloggers in countries such as Ireland, China and Brazil.

These actions were in addition to the new guide to the Winter Route recently released. Both this route and the Vía de la Plata are also included in the Way of St James Master Plan timeline, ensuring that they will be fully prepared for the upcoming Holy Year, Xacobeo 2021.

These measures have been accompanied by the growth of the Portuguese Route, which is now the second most popular among pilgrims, after the French Route. Its importance has increased steadily in recent years as a result of the diversification process undertaken by the Xunta de Galicia in the Way of St James Master Plan, which highlights all nine land routes to Santiago that run through the Autonomous Community of Galicia.

Specifically, so far this year, 58,500 pilgrims have done the Portuguese Route, up 17.8% on the same period in 2016. In the case of the Portuguese Coastal Route, the increase has been as much as 181%, going from 2,600 pilgrims to over 7,200 following its official recognition. Together, the two pilgrimage routes account for 22% of all pilgrims.