Camino Inglés Background

History of the Camino Inglés

The Camino Inglés earned its name due to the large number of pilgrims from north-western Europe, notably England, who travelled by sea to the Spanish ports of A Coruña and Ferrol before continuing their pilgrimage on foot to Santiago. Records dating back to the 11th Century tell of pilgrims using these nautical routes and setting sail from the English ports on trade ships bound for the Western coast of Spain. However, the journey by sea was a treacherous one, so many chose to lengthen the land passage by taking the shorter channel crossing to France before continuing their journey by foot along one of the many routes through that country.

In the 14th and 15th century the 100 year war between England and France made the journey overland more dangerous and led pilgrims to once again use the longer nautical route direct to Galicia. The Camino Inglés became so popular during that period that the English Crown began to issue special licences to vessels carrying pilgrims. The English ports of Bristol, Portsmouth and Dartmouth were the most popular starting points with their records showing numerous ships named after Saint James. Ships also sailed from several ports in Ireland, with St. James Gate in Dublin being the main port of departure.

A Coruña and Ferrol became the most common starting points for pilgrims continuing their journey overland to Santiago. Pilgrim hospitals along the route attest to its significance, and records showing deaths of pilgrims from all over Northern Europe demonstrate its wide popularity during the medieval period. Numbers continued to rise until the Protestant reformation in Britain caused a sudden and sharp decline in numbers until this route was all but forgotten.

After many decades of lying dormant, the late 20th century has seen a revival of pilgrimage across Spain, including the Camino Inglés. In the year 2000 only 98 Pilgrims were recorded as having completed the Camino Inglés, but this has risen to over 24,000 in 2022. That represented just 5.3% of the 437,416 pilgrims arriving into Santiago.

The route

There are two different starting places for Camino Inglés. The shorter route of 76 kilometres is from A Coruña to Santiago. The long route of 120 kilometres is from Ferrol. These two routes merge to become one, for the final 42km from Hospital Bruma into Santiago.

Although we are flying into A Coruña, we will then travel by train up to Ferrol so we can walk the longer variant of this Camino.

Ready, steady, go.......

Well not quite. The bags are nearly packed. Hairs have been cut All the admin twaddle has been printed off, so we're not far from being ready. 

Great news has been received in the last hour. This informed us that our post-Camino flight from Santiago to Bilbao had been changed for "operational reasons". Instead of arriving into Bilbao at c16.30, it's no just before 21.00. And then we have to find our way by public transport to San Sebastian 100km away; for that is where our accommodation for the night has been booked. Happy days! Or should I say Happy Night! Hooray for Iberia/ Air Nostrum - which incidentally sounds more like a nasal decongestant than an airline!

At least it's a slightly different from the norm aeroplane (CRJ-1000)

On Tuesday (tomorrow) we fly to A Coruña via Madrid**. We'll have a night there, and a few hours to explore. Then up to Ferrol on Wednesday afternoon. And finally on Thursday morning the bimble begins. Not so much "ready, steady, go..." and more like "ready, steady, let's faff around for a couple of days". Nevertheless, I'm really looking forward to seeing a bit of both those cities for the first time

A marvellous view of A Coruña - sadly no game on when we are there!

**Just a 90 minute layover in Madrid, so hoping there'll be no repeat of las year's luggage loss when doing similar on our way back from Porto via Lisbon!