‘I’ve never been more in the moment’: The life-changing effects of tackling Spain’s oldest pilgrimage – a 200-mile walk through the Cantabrian Mountains

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Restaurants offer huge pilgrim meals, at least four courses with wine, for €9.

My motley crew consists of a grizzled Spanish sea captain, Pepe, 54; a Spanish accountant, Roberto, 40; and two German women, Giulia and Sara, both 27.

We all have our reasons for making the trip. For me, it’s the idea of walking where thousands have trod before.

Roberto is atoning for a lost love; Sara wants to take a silver crucifix back to her Portuguese grandmother.

For Giulia, it’s all about being here during Holy Week. When we climbed the mountains on the Hospitales route, she sat on the path and silently wept.

And Pepe? He says he wants to ‘learn’ about himself.

It was our miserable day walking through Storm Hugo that brought us together.

Now, we celebrate cheap thrills together.

There is nothing to touch the ecstasy of vegetable soup after a morning in the rain, or tugging off my sodden boots, or showering in the grotty bathrooms.

This is Pepe’s fourth camino and he says the worst day will be when we arrive in Santiago de Compostela, because then our adventure will be over. I have heard much about the city’s cathedral, with its colossal incense-burners that swing above the congregation. I don’t know how I will feel when I get there next week.

But I can already sense the camino weaving its magic.

I’ve never been more in the moment — focusing only on the next step.

Getting the finish certificate will be an achievement, but pilgrimages are not only about the destination.

They are about the journey, the scrapes and the people you meet along the way — all of which can be strangely and wonderfully life-changing.

Travel facts 

British Airways (ba.com, 0344 493 0787) flies from Heathrow to Oviedo from £58 return. Accommodation and route details: santiago-compostela.net/camino-primitivo. 

 

 

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Read more:

  • Book Flights, Holidays, City Breaks & Check In Online | British Airways
  • Camino Primitivo ¿ Camino de Santiago

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