Pilgrims' Opinions About Pilgrimage Routes: The Specific Case of the Portuguese Inner Way of Santiago de Compostela

2. Literature Survey

Santiago de Compostela is an extraordinary phenomenon in the contemporary religious/spiritual universe. The unique characteristics of the Jacobean Route, its rituals, symbols, and practices, the relevant historical and cultural aspects behind it, as well as its socioeconomic impacts, all contribute to that exceptional circumstance. The large numbers of pilgrims who annually make their way to Santiago de Compostela are living testimonies of the relevance of said phenomenon. In fact, statistics published by the Pilgrims Office (Oficina de Acogida al Peregrino, 2023) show how a large number of people of different nationalities, from different socio-cultural groups, different genders, and ages, annually travel great distances to complete the Jacobean pilgrimage. Between 2007 and 2021, in 15 years, more than 3 million people completed the journey and obtained their Compostela, a document that attests to the completion of the pilgrimage. From these data, it can be seen that the number of pilgrims who annually reach Santiago has always been increasing over for years. This increase was particularly pronounced in the Xacobeo years, such as 2010. In 2020, the pandemic naturally cut off the flow of pilgrims due to pandemic restrictions, with only 54,144 individuals completing the pilgrimage. However, in 2021, the number grew exponentially, with 178,912 pilgrims completing the journey.