A2 · Elementary
10 min
culturehistorytravelspain
El Camino de Santiago
The Camino de Santiago
Fletcher breaks down this story in English. Octavio reacts and expands in Spanish. Follow along with the live transcript, tap any word for its translation. Elementary level — perfect for beginners building confidence.
So, Octavio.
I want to talk about something I've been curious about for years.
The Camino de Santiago.
I almost did it back in 2016, had my boots picked out, the whole thing.
Then life got in the way.
Bueno, el Camino es muy especial.
Well, the Camino is very special.
Yo camino una parte cada año.
I walk a part of it every year.
Wait, every year?
I didn't know that about you.
So you walk a section of the Camino de Santiago annually.
How long have you been doing that?
A ver, cinco años ya.
Let's see, five years now.
Pero primero, ¿qué es el Camino?
But first, what is the Camino?
Right, yes, let's start at the beginning.
For anyone who hasn't heard of it.
Give us the basics.
Es un camino muy largo.
It's a very long path.
La gente camina hasta Santiago de Compostela.
People walk to Santiago de Compostela.
Es una ciudad en el norte de España.
It's a city in the north of Spain.
So a long route, people walk it, and the destination is Santiago de Compostela, up in the northwest corner of Spain.
In Galicia, right?
And the reason people go there, the whole point, is a cathedral.
Sí, la catedral.
Yes, the cathedral.
La verdad es que es muy bonita.
The truth is it's very beautiful.
Tiene la tumba de Santiago.
It has the tomb of Saint James.
The tomb of Saint James.
Santiago, James.
Same name, just Spanish.
And this is one of the twelve apostles we're talking about.
So the claim is that his remains are buried there, in this cathedral in northwest Spain, which, I mean, if you think about it, is a long way from Jerusalem.
Es que es una historia muy vieja.
The thing is, it's a very old story.
La gente lo cree desde el año 800.
People have believed it since the year 800.
Más o menos.
More or less.
Since around 800 AD.
So over a thousand years people have been making this journey.
Here's what gets me.
A thousand years.
That's older than most countries.
That's older than the English language as we know it.
People have been walking this path since before the Normans invaded England.
Mira, en la Edad Media es muy importante.
Look, in the Middle Ages it's very important.
Los reyes de Europa caminan al Camino.
The kings of Europe walk the Camino.
Es como Roma o Jerusalén.
It's like Rome or Jerusalem.
So Octavio is saying that in medieval times, the Camino was one of the three great Christian pilgrimages.
Right up there with going to Rome or Jerusalem.
Kings walked it.
Not just peasants, not just monks.
Kings.
Bueno, y también es político.
Well, and it's also political.
España tiene una guerra con los musulmanes.
Spain is at war with the Muslims.
Santiago ayuda a España.
Santiago helps Spain.
La gente lo cree.
People believe it.
Now that's the part that always fascinated me.
During the Reconquista, the centuries long struggle to push Muslim rule out of the Iberian Peninsula, Saint James became a kind of war symbol.
Santiago Matamoros, they called him.
Which is, look, a pretty uncomfortable title by modern standards.
Sí, es verdad.
Yes, that's true.
Hoy no es bueno ese nombre.
Today that name is not good.
Pero es historia.
But it's history.
No podemos cambiar la historia.
We can't change history.
No, you're absolutely right about that.
You can't erase it.
But you can understand why it existed.
The point is, the Camino was never just about religion.
From the very beginning it was tangled up with politics, with identity, with the idea of what Spain was.
Mira, y hoy es diferente.
Look, and today it's different.
La gente camina por muchas razones.
People walk for many reasons.
No solo por la religión.
Not just for religion.
So Octavio's making an important distinction.
Today people walk the Camino for all sorts of reasons, not just religious ones.
And that's a massive shift, right?
From medieval holy pilgrimage to, well, what exactly?
What do you see when you're out there walking?
A ver, hay gente muy diferente.
Let's see, there are very different people.
Hay personas jóvenes, personas viejas.
There are young people, old people.
Gente de Japón, de Brasil, de todo el mundo.
People from Japan, from Brazil, from all over the world.
People from everywhere.
Japan, Brazil, all over.
I mean, the numbers are staggering.
I looked this up.
In 2023, something like 450,000 people received the Compostela, the official certificate.
That's nearly half a million people walking to the same place.
Es que son muchas personas.
The thing is, that's a lot of people.
Eso es bueno y malo.
That's good and bad.
Good and bad.
I had a feeling you'd say that.
Let's get into it.
What's the good part first?
Bueno, la gente conoce España.
Well, people get to know Spain.
Los pueblos pequeños tienen trabajo.
Small towns have work.
Tienen dinero.
They have money.
Hay hoteles, hay restaurantes nuevos.
There are hotels, there are new restaurants.
Right, so the economic argument.
Small villages along the route that might otherwise be dying, frankly, they have a lifeline.
Hotels, restaurants, shops selling hiking gear.
It's a whole economy built around people walking through your town.
That matters in rural Spain, which has been losing population for decades.
Sí.
Yes.
La España vacía.
Empty Spain.
Es un problema grande.
It's a big problem.
El Camino ayuda un poco.
The Camino helps a little.
La España vacía.
Empty Spain.
That's actually the title of a famous book by Sergio del Molino, about rural depopulation.
Whole villages abandoned as young people move to Madrid or Barcelona.
And the Camino is one of the few things bringing life back to some of these places.
So what's the bad part?
Es que hay demasiada gente.
The thing is there are too many people.
En verano, el Camino es como un centro comercial.
In summer, the Camino is like a shopping mall.
No hay silencio.
There's no silence.
No hay paz.
There's no peace.
Like a shopping mall.
[laughs] That's a vivid image.
So in the summer months it gets so crowded that you lose the thing that supposedly makes it special in the first place.
The solitude, the reflection, the space to think.
La verdad es que yo camino en octubre.
The truth is I walk in October.
Hace frío, pero hay poca gente.
It's cold, but there are few people.
Es mejor.
It's better.
October, cold but quiet.
That's the insider tip right there.
So here's the big question that interests me.
Is the Camino still a pilgrimage?
Or has it become, I don't know, a very long hike with good branding?
No, no, espera.
No, no, wait.
Es las dos cosas.
It's both things.
Para algunas personas es religión.
For some people it's religion.
Para otras es deporte.
For others it's sport.
Y para otras es buscar algo.
And for others it's searching for something.
It's all of those things at once.
Religion, sport, and a search for something.
I like that.
The searching part, that's what I keep hearing from people who've done it.
They went out there after a divorce, after losing a job, after someone died.
Looking for, I don't know, some kind of reset.
Mira, yo empiezo después de mi divorcio.
Look, I start after my divorce.
Es verdad.
It's true.
Camino y pienso.
I walk and I think.
Es muy simple.
It's very simple.
I didn't know that.
After your divorce.
So it was personal for you.
You walk and you think.
There's something honest about that.
No apps, no podcasts in your ears.
Sorry, well, except this one.
[both laugh] Just walking and thinking.
Bueno, y también la comida.
Well, and also the food.
En Galicia la comida es increíble.
In Galicia the food is incredible.
El pulpo, el vino, el pan.
The octopus, the wine, the bread.
And there it is.
I was wondering how long before we got to food.
The extraordinary thing is, you managed a full ten minutes.
Octavio says the food in Galicia is incredible.
Octopus, wine, bread.
I've had pulpo a feira once, in a restaurant in New York, and I thought it was amazing.
No, no.
No, no.
En Nueva York no.
Not in New York.
Tienes que comer pulpo en Galicia.
You have to eat octopus in Galicia.
Es diferente.
It's different.
Look, I knew you'd say that.
Everything is better in Spain, according to you.
But fine.
You're probably right.
One more reason for me to actually do this thing.
So let me ask you something practical.
Someone listening to this, they're learning Spanish, they think maybe they want to try the Camino.
What do they need to know?
A ver, hay muchas rutas.
Let's see, there are many routes.
La más famosa es el Camino Francés.
The most famous is the French Way.
Empieza en Francia y son 800 kilómetros.
It starts in France and it's 800 kilometers.
800 kilometers.
That's roughly 500 miles, for my fellow Americans.
The Camino Francés, the French Way, is the classic route.
Starts in Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, right on the French side of the Pyrenees, and crosses all the way across northern Spain.
Takes about five weeks if you walk the whole thing.
But you don't have to do the whole thing, right?
No, no.
No, no.
Necesitas cien kilómetros para la Compostela.
You need a hundred kilometers for the Compostela.
Mucha gente empieza en Sarria.
A lot of people start in Sarria.
Son cinco días.
It's five days.
So the minimum is 100 kilometers, about 62 miles, to get the certificate.
A lot of people start in Sarria, which is five days of walking from Santiago.
That's actually doable for someone with a week of vacation.
And here's the thing.
For a Spanish learner, this is maybe the best language immersion you could design.
Five days walking through small Spanish towns, eating in local restaurants, sleeping in shared hostels called albergues.
You have to talk to people.
Sí, es perfecto para aprender español.
Yes, it's perfect for learning Spanish.
La gente en el Camino es muy simpática.
People on the Camino are very friendly.
Hablan despacio.
They speak slowly.
People are friendly and they speak slowly.
That's the dream for any language learner, honestly.
No, you're absolutely right about that.
You know what, I think I'm actually going to do this.
Maybe not this year.
But soon.
Octavio, last question.
What is the best moment of the Camino for you?
La verdad, es la mañana.
The truth is, it's the morning.
Muy temprano.
Very early.
El sol sale y no hay nadie.
The sun rises and there's nobody.
Solo tú y el camino.
Just you and the path.
Es perfecto.
It's perfect.
Early morning, the sun coming up, nobody around.
Just you and the path.
I have to say, the way you describe it, it sounds like exactly the kind of thing this noisy world needs more of.
Alright, I'm sold.
I'm doing the Camino.
You're coming with me, right?
Sí, pero nada de hielo en el vino.
Yes, but no ice in the wine.
[laughs]
[laughs]
No promises.
[both laugh] Alright, that's our show.
Get out there and walk, people.
Even if it's just around the block.
Thanks, Octavio.
Gracias, Fletcher.
Thanks, Fletcher.
¡Buen camino!
Have a good walk!