According to the Oficina del Peregrino pilgrimage authority, more than 430,000 pilgrims received the coveted certificate of arrival in Santiago de Compostela, the destination of the Way of St. James, this year. But who, when planning their own hike along the Way of St. James, dreams of a journey into the "Ich" in order to get to know his "Es" better and thinks of the devotional religiosity of places of pilgrimage such as Lourdes or Fatima, will be very surprised in Santiago de Compostela, because here it is like a sporting event.
The relief of the new arrivals at having made the journey is so great that hats and jumpers are blown up and people pose for a company photo. We see and hear a group of 30 with the same T-shirts synchronized, banging their sticks on the street loudly and rhythmically so that the shells on their backpacks just rattle. And so the 96,000 inhabitants of Santiago are told day in and day out: "We are here!".
Even the bagpipe player doesn't mind, who is annoyed anyway that one of the pilgrims absolutely wants to play with him while he's thinking about the income he still needs for supper.
But you shouldn't let the hustle and bustle distract you from the mighty cathedral with its magnificent high altar, which is also quite touristy and not very religious. What does Saint James think about it in his crypt, whose grave was discovered in Santiago (Sanctus James => Saint James) between 818 and 834 due to a light phenomenon (Camopstela => Campus stellae => star field)? But perhaps he feels at home in Jerusalem, because to this day St. James' Cathedral in Jerusalem claims to be in possession of his skull. It would be possible, after all, after his return to Palestine, Jacob the Elder was killed on the orders of King Herod Agrippa I in 44 AD. decapitated. Many legends surround the saints and blessed of the Christian faith communities and since we are finally in a place of faith in Santiago, we do not want to start having doubts, even if the idea of a Way of St. James connecting Jerusalem with Santiago de Compostela is right seems tempting.
If we had made a pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela, we probably would have been disappointed. But since this impressive place of pilgrimage was on our tour of the western countries by electric car and we were more of a tourist here, the beautiful old town and the magnificent cathedral cast a spell over us.
