(USC) in collaboration with the Directorate-General of Tourism of the Regional Council of Galicia is organising a Course on the Spanish Language and St. James’ Way from 6th to 24th October 2008. For the first two weeks participants will improve their Spanish and will be given classes on different aspects of St. James’ Way, history, culture, art and gastronomy by lecturers from the USC. In the third week the students will walk a section of the French Way, from O Cebreiro, accompanied by a lecturer. Places are limited. Includes academic fees, board and lodging and medical insurance. More information at www.usc.es/spanish

A FORMER Bridgwater greengrocer has completed a gruelling 778km walk across Spain to raise money for two vital charities.

George Cossey, former owner of Cossey Fruit and Vegetables, took part in the St James pilgrimage from Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port in France to Santiago in Spain with friend and fellow fundraiser Joe Bass.

Taking part in the pilgrimage was an ambition for George ever since he took a family holiday to western Spain 20 years ago.

People of all ages and cultures have been walking the Way of St James as a pilgrim route for over a thousand years.

It has been viewed as one of the three pilgrimages on which a plenary indulgence could be earned, the others being the Via Francigena to Rome route and the pilgrimage to Jerusalem.

After extensive preparation, the pair set off on their journey at Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port on April 13 and arrived at their final destination, Santiago, on May 15.

advertisementA proud George said: "It was a remarkable experience. On the way, we stopped off in basic accommodation, such as pilgrim refuges and hostels, but we met so many different kinds of people from 29 countries.

"We even met a 73-year old woman who had started her journey in Bordeaux!"

He added: "Although there were people on the pilgrimage who were not as fit as us, it was wonderful to see so many people taking part.

"Witnessing the pilgrims' mass at midday in Santiago made the whole trip worthwhile and, although we walk a lot, we have yet to plan any more pilgrimages."

Together, the pair have raised over £4,000 for the St Margaret's Somerset Hospice and St Julia's Hospice in Cornwall.

Forget the flamenco. What about some stirring reels from a Galician piper?

Far from the golden sands of Andalucia, beyond the great plains of Castile, a different Spain awaits along the Atlantic, a land of cloud-wrapped crags, apple orchards – and equally fine beaches. ‘Green Spain’ stretches from the stylish resorts of the Basque coast, through mountainous Asturias to reach Galicia, with its lingering Celtic heritage

The Basque Country, Asturias, Cantabria and Galicia are all distinct regions, but they hold in common a zest for life, in particular a love of eating well. Lunch, the main meal, never kicks off before two; dinner is served some time after nine.

Whoever passes this way crosses paths with the Catholic Christian pilgrims who, for centuries, have followed the Camino de Santiago across northern Spain to Santiago de Compostela, where St James the Apostle supposedly lies buried.

Today’s pilgrims, around 100,000 in an average year, choose which sections of the trail to walk or ride, and what to spend on creature comforts along the way. Pilgrim hostels stand ready with bunkrooms, but countless bars, cafes and hotels also cater to the itinerants.

On the Basque coast, San Sebastian is an elegant nineteenth-century resort where Queen Maria Cristina used to bathe within the privacy of her transportable cabin. With its pair of perfect sandy bays and its fin-de-siecle charm, this could be the most delightful small city you’ll find anywhere in Europe.

Apart from their ancient and inscrutable language, the Basques keep up a rich tradition of gastronomy. Tapas is the best-known expression of Spanish culinary arts, and Basque pintxos raise this art to a pinnacle. Meanwhile, three-star Michelin chef Juan Mari Arzak conjures up exquisite banquets for those in the know.

The route west continues through Guernica, the traditional Basque capital bombed by Hitler’s aircraft during the Spanish Civil War 60 years ago. The fishing towns, the hamlets and the homesteads of the Biscay coast appear through rain showers. Granite-walled towns huddle around harbours for the fishing fleets, which ensure that Spaniards consume more seafood than anyone else, barring the Japanese.

In Bilbao, once better known for steel than for style, the Guggenheim spaceship landed 10 years ago, but the world’s leading architects continue to redefine the city. Bright, shiny colour-coded tramcars glide past the iconic art museum, with piped Tchaikovsky playing on board. Even so, pilgrims still tramp through the narrow streets of the old city, where the St James Cathedral has been completely rebuilt although its original Pilgrims Gate remains intact.

Our road continued west, through Cantabria into the Principality of Asturias, a lush, mountainous region which jealously guards its Spanish-ness – and produces superlative cheeses. In Asturias, the Reconquest began, the eight-hundred-year campaign to win back Christian Spain from the Muslim conquerors from North Africa.

In Oviedo, the Asturian capital, we picked up the pilgrim trail once again. One wall of the Cathedral is pockmarked with slots where ladders were once fixed, so the weary and dishevelled pilgrims might scramble up to their own gallery.

Across the Ria do Eo begins Galicia, where the local people speak a version of Portuguese. Further southwest on the main pilgrims’ route, the thirteenth-century cathedral of Mondonedo blends Gothic and Baroque styles. Our most vivid memories, however, are from lunching on Galician fairground treats: pulpos a feria, cubed octopus with paprika; pimientos de padrone, baked green peppers; local smoked cheese, beans with clams, and all washed down with red wine from the Ribeira Sacra (‘sacred river’) region.

At Sobrado, another grand monastery has been restored although an echoing, mildewed chapel remains stripped of furnishings. Bunkrooms accommodate the passing pilgrims.

Near Melide, walkers tramp along stone-flagged paths, crossing a stream on a medieval stone bridge as the routes to Santiago converge. Those who have hiked at least 150km will soon present themselves to the Pilgrim Office in Santiago to receive their certificate. Three middle-aged Germans had tramped 740 kilometres from Pamplona, covering the distance in four weeks. None were normally active walkers: ‘every town you reach is like climbing a summit’, one told me.

The aisles are stacked with backpacks at the midday Pilgrims’ Mass at the Cathedral of St James in Santiago de Compostela, consecrated in 1211. Between celebrations of Mass, the faithful file up into a chamber behind the altar, brushing past the apostle’s head, then down into the crypt to view the legendary silver casket. In times past, pilgrims would ceremonially burn their travelling rags up on the granite slabs of the cathedral roof.

Housing, feeding and ministering to the pilgrims is a long-established custom. Santiago’s finest hotel, the Parador dos Reyes Catolicos, was constructed as a pilgrim hospital around 1520.

The modern-day pilgrim need not forsake the pleasures of the flesh. This is the way to enjoy Galician barnacles: take hold, twist and withdraw the edible portion, not much bigger than your thumbnail. Pardon? Well, move on to the clams or just hold fire until the three-kilogram baked sea bass makes a grand appearance. Lunch would not be complete without postres or sweets, which in Santiago includes the local almond cake, and of course thick black coffee.

Pilgrims often continue on to Finisterre or Fisterra, in Roman times the end of the known world. In spite of the disastrous Prestige oil spill of Dec 2003, these cold, dark Atlantic waters still teem with life.

Philip Game travelled as a guest of Spanish Tourism

In May 2005, Michael Walker and his wife set off on pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela, in northern Spain. We publish an extract of his pilgrim's diary

May 28, 2005 Bilbao to Ponferrada



By train (9.15am-3.45pm). Deep rocky chasms line streams and then “the plain” — flat, vast and treeless. Then more chasms and Ponferrada, a new town, characteristically joyless. But then we find the old town across the river with its castle in ruins and behind it a smart, new plaza where we have beer and potatoes in a spicy sauce while watching the town’s youth perform tricks on bicycles. Then a wedding — women in glorious reds and greens and most elegant. Much kissing. The men stop at the bar for a drink and a cigarillo. Then the bride in ivory white and her groom. They vanish into the church in the corner of the plaza.



May 29 Villafranca del Bierzo



A most extraordinary refugio run by a former monk, Dom Jésus Jato.



Old, rickety and delightful. We are put on our own in a dark overflow room of bunks and blankets because the place is full. Too late for supper, we go down into the town to eat an indifferent meal, struggling to make ourselves understood. It is always strange if exciting arriving in an alien culture, particularly when one can barely communicate. The Spanish “can talk”.



May 30 Triacastela



This is a large stone complex geared entirely to pilgrims (peregrinos). We ordered milky coffee and bocadillos (great hunks of bread with ham or cheese inside) and set off. The way is well marked with either an emblem of St James’s shell set in the wall or a yellow arrow. There are also milestones with little piles of pebbles perched on top.



After we had arrived we were invited to the church in a field on the edge of the village for a pilgrims’ service at 7pm. The priest summoned a French woman pilgrim to join him at the altar, together with a German in braces and me, the only English person there apart from my wife, Candy. We each in our respective language read a passage from Luke 24 about Christ’s mysterious appearance to some of the Apostles on the road to Emmaus after his crucifixion which I had found strangely moving some four or five weeks earlier when it was read at Clare Priory in Norfolk.



May 31 Samos



We are deliberately going slowly, having reckoned that otherwise we will arrive in Santiago far too soon. Our destination is Samos and a Benedictine monastery. No blankets, so spartan.



June 1 Barbadelo



Up and away at some ungodly hour. The air wet and crisp; mist hanging in the valleys. Silence. Emptiness. Peace. Back to the familiar medieval Pilgrim’s Way lined with oaks. Bagpipe music lures us to an albergue with a warren of rooms stuffed with beds. That evening, over supper, Pilar, a pretty Galician, comes up and asks why we are walking the camino. I reply we had recently lost one of our children, Sam, aged 19, and that we were walking the camino to try to make sense of it, to try to get closer to God.



June 3 Ligonde



Living this way is exhilarating. You never know what awaits you or whom. More than anything there is a most unusual camaraderie between us peregrinos despite our language barrier. It is as if we have all been liberated from the vexations of daily life.



June 9 Cape Finnestere - off the pilgrim route



This is the very end of the Old World (finis terra) — nothing was known beyond this point till 1492. I sat on the terrace of a bar looking at a fishing harbour much like Padstow, with fishing boats at anchor and chaps paddling in skiffs.



June 10 Santiago de Compostela



A two-and-a-half-hour bus journey back from Cape Finnestere through rugged, mountainous countryside of pine and eucalyptus forests ends at our ultimate destination: a medieval city in stone, of narrow streets lined with bars, restaurants, souvenir shops. The place is teeming with pilgrims, holidaymakers and street musicians playing the ubiquitous bagpipes. There are a few beggars; one very small and twisted sitting by one of the doors into the cathedral which is vast and ornate — Baroque gone mad with an over-the-top sanctuary behind the altar in gold, and many painted plaster or wooden cherubim framing a statue of St James, Sant Iago. Outside is a magnificent square (plaza) banned to traffic so that it can easily accommodate many hundreds of people.



We have been given our compostello, with our names in Latin, to prove that we have walked the camino. We attended the pilgrims’ Mass in the cathedral. It was quite a bunfight as sightseers poured in, chattering, at the back while a great conclave of red-robed priests conducted the service.



The sermon was long and incomprehensible, but the Pater Noster we could join in singing. I cannot say that we have had a religious experience walking the camino, but it has been a pleasantly contemplative one.



For information on how to do the camino de santiago, contact the Confraternity of St James



www.csj.org.uk



Foto: Timesonline

AVILES, Spain, May 29 /PRNewswire/ -- Novelist Paulo Coelho today announced the 20th Anniversary of The Alchemist, kicking off a yearlong celebration in Aviles, Spain and across the web. Coelho, invited by the Niemeyer Foundation, will host a special exhibition of his works and a live podcast taking questions both online and in person, and later posting the show on YouTube, Seesmic and MySpace.

The exhibition and podcast boast a complete behind-the-scenes look at Coelho's editorial work that led to The Alchemist becoming one of the world's best selling books, with more than 100 million copies sold in over 67 languages. The two-day event will also have a human element with a photography display demonstrating the diversity of its readers, the original manuscript and other related objects to the history of book.



"Every time I hear his name, I say with great pride that I, too am Brazilian," said Oscar Niemeyer, architect, centenarian, and founder of the Niemeyer Foundation. "I feel very honored to belong to the Advisory Council of the Niemeyer Centre and pleased to have the event in Spain," said Paulo Coelho.



To celebrate the twentieth anniversary, Editorial Planeta, Coelho's publisher issued a commemorative edition of The Alchemist along with previously unpublished materials as a tribute to the book and the author's extraordinary ability to communicate and in honor of the readers.



Coelho is also turning towards the web to communicate the event and in recent years has shared his work through BitTorrent, Netvibes, MySpace and YouTube. Most recently he has added Seesmic, the video conversation plug-in to accept questions before the event through his blog and on Seesmic.



"When you want something, the whole universe conspires to make your desire," Said Coelho. "Just learn to listen to what the heart dictates and to decipher the language that goes beyond words."



The Alchemist tells the story of a young Andalusian shepherd boy named Santiago, who leaves his native Spain to travel to Egypt after having a dream of finding treasure there. Along the way he meets with a mysterious alchemist, learning about life, luck and fulfilling his dreams. The Weinstein Company with Laurence Fishburne, star of "The Matrix" who is set to direct, produce and star in the project, is currently adapting the story for the screen.



About Paulo Coelho:



The Brazilian author Paulo Coelho was born in 1947 in the city of Rio de Janeiro. Before dedicating his life completely to literature, he worked as theatre director and actor, lyricist and journalist. In 1986, Paulo Coelho did the pilgrimage to Saint James of Compostella, an experience later to be documented in his book The Pilgrimage. In the following year, Coelho published The Alchemist. Slow initial sales convinced his first publisher to drop the novel, but it went on to become one of the best selling Brazilian books of all time. Other titles include Brida (1990), The Valkyries (1992), By the River Piedra I sat Down and Wept (1994), the collection of his best columns published in the Brazilian newspaper Folha de Sao Paulo entitled Maktub (1994), the compilation of texts, Phrases (1995), The Fifth Mountain (1996), Manual of a Warrior of Light (1997), Veronika Decides to Die (1998), The Devil and Miss Prym (2000), the compilation of traditional tales in Stories for Parents, Children and Grandchildren (2001), Eleven Minutes (2003), The Zahir (2005).



During the months of March, April, May and June 2006, Paulo Coelho traveled to celebrate the 20th anniversary of his pilgrimage to Saint James of Compostella in 1986. He also held surprise book signings -- announced one day in advance -- in some cities along the way, to have a chance to meet his readers. In ninety days of pilgrimage the author traveled around the globe and took the famous Transiberrian train that took him to Vladivostok. During this experience Paulo Coelho launched his blog, Walking the Path -- The Pilgrimage in order to share with his readers his impressions. Since this first blog Paulo Coelho has expanded his presence in the Internet with his daily blogs in Wordpress, MySpace & Facebook. He is equally present in media sharing sites such as YouTube and Flickr, offering on a regular basis not only texts but also videos and pictures to his readers. From this intensive interest and use of the Internet sprang his bold new project: The Experimental Witch, where he invites his readers to adapt to the screen his book, The Witch of Portobello. You can still subscribe in this experiment! Indeed Paulo Coelho is a firm believer of Internet as a new media and is the first Best-selling author to actively support online, free distribution of his work.



go to: http//www.blogtalkradio.com/paulo-coelho.



PHOTO: REUTERS

I want to do the Way of Santiago "the fetishes actor of some directors as Ingmar Bergman and protagonist as" the exorcist "received a tribute by his entire trajectory in the Fantasporto festival.

People remember him playing chess with the death in the seventh seal and also giving life to Merrin father in the exorcist or his character in Pelle the Conqueror. It has several imminent films of opening and shortly he confronts his illusionist project for the 2008, to put himself under the direction of Martin Scorsese in Shutter Island, in which he will share the protagonist with Leonardo Di

The chain of hotels hosteltur will create seven luxury hotels distributed by the Galician section of the French Way, network that it hopes to have operative for the next Holly Year of 2010.

Each establishment will count on 44 rooms and they will be located in Padornelo (O Cebreiro), Triacastela, Barbadelo (Sarria), Toxibó (Portomarín), Carballal (Palas de Rei), Castañeda (Arzúa) and Santa Irene (O Pino).

Between its supplied services it emphasizes the Galician cook, mini spa, attention to bikes and stables.

Through these facilities, the business men indicate that they try to reach a new "pilgrim of the way" and not to the present pilgrim of the Galician route.

They want the client that comes from the centre of Europe and that arrives at the destiny by organized trips.

Our friend Acacio Da Paz send us this article in galego

Viver no caminho.

Primeiramente peço desculpas pelos erros ou termos diferentes do nosso idioma português/brasileiro/galego. O mais importante é que por este meio e forma, posso compartilhar a minha descoberta com todo o Universo Galego.

O idioma comum ajudou, no meu caso, para a tomada de decisão de fincar minhas raízes no Caminho de Santiago. Com muito orgulho pude instalar-me aqui, nos 819 Km. do Caminho Francês, falando meu Galego/Português durante 9 anos em que exerci de voluntário-hospitaleiro; e hoje como proprietário de um refúgio de peregrinos, onde moro com minha companheira Italiana Orietta Prendin, que também fala Galego.

Muitos gostariam de viver no Caminho de Santiago.

Como , Por quê?

No caminho desde St. Jean Pied de Port até Fisterra pode-se dizer que se fala Galego; uma língua natal para nós, brasileiros, que facilita e dá oportunidades de fincar âncora no Caminho a qualquer peregrino originário desta nossa lusofonia.

Hoje existem 4 brasileiros que se dedicam ao caminho de Santiago como hospitaleiros fixos; que vivem e usufruem deste mundo fantástico que envolve peregrinos de todo o mundo. Mas ainda há outros voluntários brasileiros que se candidatam para os meses de maior fluxo de peregrinos.

Atendendo aos dados estatísticos fornecidos pela Oficina de Peregrinos, este ano de 2007 foram mais de 5.000 os peregrinos originários de países lusófonos que fizeram o Caminho: 4.001 peregrinos Portugueses e mais os 1.395 Brasileiros. E isto sem contar as próprias pessoas da Galiza. Deste modo, o idioma galego adopta uma posição de privilégio numa Rota Milenar que, assim, empapa da sua verdadeira origem lingüístico-cultural.

O caminho de Santiago é rico pela sua própria originalidade; é o que é. Cada um aqui pode exprimir o que carrega dentro de si e para todos, não importando o idioma, sexo, cor, ou credo, e ajuda a colocar para fora seus verdadeiros sentimentos e cultura.

A cada ano encontro com peregrinos que querem estar mais tempo pelo caminho e fazer dele a sua morada, seu albergue, seu caminho, e muitos perguntam como fazê-lo. Na verdade, não tenho a fórmula de como viver no caminho de Santiago. O importante é que cada um esteja ciente e consciente de que é um caminho sem volta. Depois de tomar esta decisão e começar a compartir a experiência, ela certamente muda a vida de qualquer ser humano. Não pretendo interferir esta grande tomada de decisão, mas apenas me coloco a seu lado para fazer melhor aconselhamento.

Este ano completo meus 9 anos fazendo parte deste percorrido. Humildemente vivo dele e para ele, aprendendo de todas as pessoas, verdadeiros peregrinos universais, que por cá se deixam ver. E me alegro imensamente de ter escolhido esta vida e este lugar, incomensurável fonte de conhecimento.

Entregando-nos podemos todos chegar aonde cada um gostaria de estar, mas é um caminho que necessita ser feito passo a passo. Todos podem estar em um caminho e fazer parte dele. Todos têm os mesmos direitos e todos podem estar aqui ou em qualquer lugar, pois um caminho não tem dono, não tem propriedade, somos livres para fincar nossa âncora em qualquer lugar que nos sentirmos bem.

Como fala meu amigo Paulo Coelho; quando desejamos alguma coisa o Universo conspira a nosso favor.

Estou aqui para facilitar o caminho dos amigos Peregrinos e da família peregrina que tem o desejo de ser um dia voluntário. Não sou o único a fazer isso, estou apenas oferecendo uma parte de mim para todos que gostariam de começar seu caminho, sendo facilitador com algumas informações básicas. Não é a verdade e tampouco um manual de sobrevivência, não é nada que não possam fazer todos. Estou de coração aberto para compartir as experiências do caminho donde hoje posso oferecer um pouco para aqueles que desejam começar outra maneira de caminhar.

Claro que estou aqui graças a muitas pessoas que me ajudaram e ainda me ajudam, e a todos aqueles que chegam em minha vida sempre facilitando meus passos e minhas etapas. Sem estas pessoas eu não poderia manter-me por tanto tempo, e a cada dia tenho a surpresa de conhecer mais e mais peregrinos que ajudam a fazer de meu dia mais alegre e mais feliz. Estes anjos do caminho; como chamamos, são o maior presente que o caminho oferece a cada um de quem vivemos nesta ruta. O aqui e agora é real, o universo conspira e fala com todos que abrem seu coração e a vontade chega para os momentos de mais necessidade.

Obrigado caminho , obrigado peregin@s do caminho, obrigado a todos que fazem parte de mim, que em cada passo dado chegam para unir todos os seres deste planeta que na realidade SOMOS UM SÓ, SOMOS TODOS PARENTES.

Todos podem, todos sabem e todos merecem estar aqui.

Acácio da Paz

(Peregrino do caminho de Santiago).

e.mail: acaciopaz@hotmail.com

That amount will be destined to support the infantile school that the athlete James Moiben has in Ziwa (Kenya), with about 200 children.

The first edition of the marathon of the Way, that will be celebrated the 2 of March, tries to collect money to help the infantile school that the Kenyan athlete James Moiben - who has residence in Spain has created in this country. The club Maratón Rioja has been organizing for years an athletic test in the La Riojan section of the Way of Santiago, more than 40 kilometres that they are crossed in two days.

Altogether they hope to have about 250 participants, and they try to collect as minimum 2,000 euros, it has explained, Eugene García, the president of the club Maratón Rioja

The School of Tourism San Lorenzo of Huesca initiates today the XVII edition of its Gastronomically Weeks, dedicated in this occasion to "the Cook of the Way of Santiago".

Between Tuesday and the next Friday it will be selected 16 recipes between the 70 that it will concur.

On Tuesday, the menu is made up of txangurro and cockles, tuna with green young garlic and chestnuts and crepes of cheese of tetilla (typical Spanish cheese).

The City council of Amposta and the Association of Friends of the Way of Sant Jaume of the Ebro, are pleased in inviting to all those that wish it to visit the photographic exhibition "Way of Santiago", that it will be inaugurated now in the fourth of December in the lobby of the Local Library ebastiá Juan Arbó. The exhibition has counted with the collaboration of the Association of Friends of Santiago de Zaragoza

It will remain open until day 16 of December



Schedule of visits: from 10 to 13 H. and from 16 to 20H.

After 2010 there will not be another Holly Year until 2021. Therefore is very possible that the Pope, Benedicto XVI, make the decision to visit Compostela during the next jubileo.

People next to the Vatican guarantee this hypothesis that by third time in the history of Santiago will welcome to his Sanctity.

The Madrilenian metropolitan newspaper ABC even gave already by confirmed the stays in the capitals of Spain and Galicia.

For Benedicto XVI it could be 2010 the only occasion to visit Compostela to participate in the celebrations of the Jubilee Year, since, given its age, the following call would considerably suppose an expanded term.

The area of Culture of the City council of Jaca has organized an open symposium in Albergue of pilgrims that will begin the days 12 and 13 of November, from six to eight in the afternoon.

It will include conferences.

Monday 12 will begin the symposium with a visit to the albergue. Next, it will take place two talks titled them "Peregrination from Somport to Santiago", in charge of Mariano Sevilla, and "the legacy of the Way of Santiago", in charge of Belen Luque. Tuesday 13 it will be another visit to the albegue at six o’clock in the afternoon. Later, Immaculada Suárez will pronounce a conference on the "Birth of the pilgrim refuge of Jaca"

The albergue of Jaca is located in the street de la Salud.

It has 32 seats of lodging and other services, as dinning room and kitchen.

Alatoz welcomed by fourth consecutive year the walk of the Route de la Lana to promote the Way of Santiago.

Last Sunday the walk was organized by the Association of Friends of the Way of Santiago de Albacete (ACSAB). As it is already usual every autumn, the ACSAB, with the collaboration of the City council of Alatoz and the University of Alicante, it organized a new edition of the March by the Route de la Lana in Alatoz, with the purpose of presenting the Ways of Santiago of Albacete.

The idea arose in November of 2004, when the first edition was celebrated, to promote the Ways of Santiago de Albacete.

The Xacobeo begins to privatize the management of its network of shelters.

The Government will assign the service to a company the 28 of November and from the first of January the refuges will stop being gratuitous.

The Xunta has initiated the proceedings to assign to the private capital the ordinary management of the public network of shelters of the Way of Santiago, concept that includes all those routes that arrive in Compostela the well-known (French) like seven considered smaller: English, Portuguese, primitive, arousana, Ruta de la Plata, the north and Fisterra.

There are many ways to go to Santiago de Compostela, although the passage of stars and the traditions has turned to the French Way the favourite of the pilgrims to arrive at the tomb of the apostle.

The fame of the route that starts from Roncesvalles attracts so much people that nowadays it becomes a route with too much pilgrims. For that reason, who flee from this decides to choose other alternatives like the Way of the North.

Of the five great routes that run by the peninsula, the Way of the North is second more journeyed, after the French and before of the Ruta de la Plata that leaves from the proximities of Seville.

The Way of the North begins in Irún and it has 32 stages, of which nine are in the Basque Country - four in Guipúzcoa and five in Vizcaya -.

Altogether are approximately 803 kilometers of walking by the mount and hard ascents that they have it recompense with the beautiful landscape.

We have the pleasure to announce the new extraordinary book guide of the Way of Santiago in 6 languages (English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish). With the title "THE WAY OF SANTIAGO" is developed by stages, with description of each one of them, from Somport (Aragonese French Way) and from Saint Jean Pied de Port (Navarrese French Way) to Santiago de Compostela. Each stage also contains, in addition to the description, the profile and the small-scale map, and brief review of each locality by where it runs. More than 1,000 photography’s of extraordinary beauty, all of them 100% pilgrim.