The Camino de Santiago (“The Camino”) consists of a group of ancient pilgrimage routes to the tomb of Saint James the Apostle, located in the Cathedral in Santiago de Compostela, Spain.  Ancient tradition has it that pilgrims would start walking from their front door, then join up with more established paths and trails as they continued on towards Santiago.  Today, over 500,000 pilgrims receive their compostela upon arrival in Santiago each year, evidencing the completion of their pilgrimage.  To qualify for a compostela, pilgrims must document with at least two stamps per day that they have walked at least 100 kilometers and finish their pilgrimage in Santiago. 

Pilgrims can now apply up to 30 kilometers walked from other routes outside Spain to apply to their Camino de Santiago pilgrimages. Two routes in the United States are currently recognized by the Pilgrim Office in Santiago for this requirement:  The Camino de las Americas First Coast route starting in St. Augustine Florida, and the Camino de San Antonio in Texas. 

Camino de California has applied for a similar designation and soon hopes to be able to offer a “transitory certificate” for pilgrims walking at least 30 kilometers (18.65 miles) along the Camino Real and finishing in one of California’s historic 21 missions.  This certificate would then be able to be presented in the Pilgrim Office in Santiago to be applied towards their Spanish camino.  Please check back to this site for further updates.