Compostella er IKKE til salg, men gives af Katedralen i Santiago til dem, der går de sidste 100 km af en Jakobsvejene/Camino de Santiago til Katedralen.
Her på siden under Praktiske oplysninger kan du læse om, hvorfor og hvordan du får et pilgrimspas (Credenditial), som du bruger undervejs på din pilgrimsvandring - først og fremmest i forbindelse med overnatning på herberger. Men pilgrimspasset er også "dit bevis" på, at du har gået til Santiago, hvis du ved ankomsten ønsker et Compostella, som uddeles på pilgrimskontoret i Santiago. Du skal have gået mindst de sidste 100 km og have to stempler i dit pas pr. dag fra den rute, du har valgt at gå. Stempler kan fås mange steder: bla. på overnatningssteder, i kirker eller i barer og på restauranter.
På en af de store engelsksprogede hjemmesider har der den sidste halvdel af denne måned (juli) været en til tider hæftig debat mellem en amerikansk kvindelig pilgrim og flere af de øvrige, da den amerikanske pilgrims var meget vred på en af de frivillige på pilgrimskontoret i Santiago, fordi hun havde fået sit ønske om et compostella afvist, fordi hun ikke havde stempler nok fra de sidste 100 km. Den frivillige talte åbenbart ikke så godt engelsk, hvilket førte til yderligere misforståelse og yderligere vrede hos den amerikanske pilgrim.
En af de frivillige, engelsksprogede, der var på vagt den pågældende dag har læst vredesudbruddet og givet hende et svar.
Du kan selv læse hele debatten på selve hjemmesiden her https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/threads/difficulty-at-pilgrims-office-in-santiago.42119/
Jeg vil nøjes med at vise to indlæg - først indlægget fra den vrede amerikaner. Dernæst svaret fra den frivillige. Jeg har valgt ikke at oversætte dem.
Først klagen:
My 2 daughters and I started the Camino at St. Jean Pied de Port on June 12, 2016. We ran into cold wet weather for the first week and a bit then the blistering heat of the heat wave. There was a point when I wrote this forum to find out about busses but in the end kept on walking. Finally on the 22 July 2016, my girls walked into Santiago with me hobbling on a damaged knee somewhat behind. We were all so upbeat and proud of our accomplishment until we went to the Pilgrims Office to get our Compostela. My one daughter drew a charming young man who was really interested in her journey. The other daughter drew a man who other than pronouncing her name correctly which is a rarity, was totally indifferent just stamped everything and handed her, her scroll. I drew the most miserable and stupid young woman alive I think. Wicket 13.
We were issued our original passports at the registry office in St. Jean Pied de Port, due to the length of our journey and the number of places we stopped we filled those completely so at a church bought new ones. These too were filling up but still had a little room in them. I handed both passports to her but she refused to look at the first one, kept saying "not enough stamps." I tried, both my daughters tried to explain that the second one started in Palais de Rey but all the other stamps were in the other passport. She obviously could not read as she wouldn't even look at the first one. She absolutely refused me the scroll. Finally my daughter was angry enough to say, we are not leaving until you do the right thing and give my mom the scroll she has earned. It took Kari saying this a few times before she relented and filled it out. This left a really bad taste in all of our mouths. A sad ending instead of the joy we expected. She should never be allowed to deal with the public with her lack of reasoning power. Because of this I cannot wait to get out of this town.
Dernæst svaret:
Hello! I've followed this tread with interest because I am currently one of the volunteers in the Oficina and was on duty from 3-8pm on Friday July 22. I wasn't at desk 13 and the first I heard of this event was when one of the other volunteers saw this thread on Saturday and showed it to the rest of us AND to the Oficina managers. To be honest, even though the post wasn't directed at me, I found the tone very upsetting. As someone else pointed out, we had more than 1900 peregrinos arrive on that day.
When I read over the complaint it occurred to me, as it has to a number of other people who have posted replies, that there was a misunderstanding over the requirement to have two sellos per day for the last 100km of any recognised route. I am fairly certain that the volunteer was able to read, but I suspect that she wasn't very experienced. At the first sign of an issue she should have called over one of the full time staff for advice (many of whom speak English in addition to a surprising number of languages). The compostela is given FOR FREE to a pilgrim who walks the LAST 100km of a recognised route to Santiago. If you arrive by horse or wheelchair, it is also the LAST 100km. If you are on a bike, it is the LAST 200km. I emphasise 'LAST' because we have had people show up who think that they can walk what they want and as long as it totals up to 100km they will get a compostela. This is not the case. Almost 50% of the people who do 'the Camino' start in Sarria which is 116kms away from Santiago. We do carefully look at the credenciales to see that people do have at least two stamps per day. We do this to have proof that the person actually walked all the way. Why would some people lies about this? In Spain, having a compostela is something that you can add to your CV as an indication that you can commit to something difficult. I have also heard of people using the Camino as a cheap holiday and so take taxis from one town to the next.
Volunteers with a bit of experience of the Camino are a bit more flexible when presented with a credencial (or two) that indicates that the perigrino(a) has started some distance away, like St Jean Pied de Port. I would certainly accept a credencial that has only one stamp per day fron St Jean BUT I would also explain that for the next Camino they need to make sure that they get at least two per day for the last 100km. I find that most peregrinos are very honest. Some may have started in St Jean, but add that they took a bus during part of the route. The important thing is that they walked from Sarria and have the stamps to prove it. So the volunteer probably only looked at the last credencial because she was checking to see if the two stamps per day from Sarria were there. That being said, as I indicated above, she should have asked for assistance. On the other hand, the peregrina should have also asked if she could speak to someone more senior. Like some of the others, I am a bit confused about the peregrina's use of terminology. People are either given (again for free!) either a compostela (if they have religious or spiritual motivations) or a certificate of completion (if they have cultural or touristic motivations). We don't call these 'scrolls'. Also, the places we sit are 'desks' or 'puestos' and not wickets. While the compostela/certificate of completiong is free, peregrinos can purchase, if they wish, a distance certificate. This costs 3 euros. This is written in Spanish (and in Gallego upon request). It has your name (as it is in your passport or ID card), when you started, where you started, the distance covered, when you arrived and the route you took. The Oficina also sells 'tubos', protective cardboard tubes, for 2 euros. We ask people if they want them and we explain the prices, but there is no requirement to purchase these AND there is certainly no push to get people to put money into the donation box. If you walk in with a correctly stamped credencial and want a compostela or completion certificate, that's fine by us and it doesn't cost you anything. What you do pay for at the start of your route is the credencial. The one that is sold in the Oficina is 1.50 euros. We have heard some stories of travel agents selling the credencial for a higher price! This is something that the Oficina wants to discourage.
I have to disagree with the person who asked why we didn't have a ticket system or separate queues for people who walked more than 100km. I have been a volunteer for the past four years and the system we have is easy for people of various languages and cultures to use. There is MUCH more space in the new Oficina. There are also chairs in the hallway for people who are tired! If you are too exhausted to queue with everyone else (and you don't know where they came from and what their circumstances are) you should probably check yourself into a hotel, have a good rest, and come back the next day. I would invite both the person who made comments about the lack of a ticket machine and the peregrina who posted her complaint to volunteer next year and see what things are like on the other side of the desk. You can do this by emailing: info@acogidacristianaenelcamino.es.
In closing, I am wondering what the intent of the peregrina with the complaint was when she posted her message. If she wanted to complain to a manager she could have done so at the time or in writing. This would have been more effective than posting a message on a forum. It seemed to me that she simply wanted to vent her anger. Again, I wonder if this is the most appropriate thing to do. I was, however, heartened by the comments by other forum members. The Camino, especially if you start from some distance away, should be about the journey, which includes the route as well as the people you travel with, and not a piece of paper.
peregrina nicole
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