Volume XVI (English Road)

Volumen XVI (Camino Inglés)

There was “also” – and this is mentioned almost anecdotally or marginally – pilgrimages by sea.

The present volume addresses the history of these pilgrimages and the origin of the so-called “English Way of Santiago”, but also the current characteristics of this route, which has more and more pilgrims.

The so-called Camino Inglés de Santiago, a maritime-terrestrial itinerary, is a double-branched route, starting in A Coruña and Ferrol, which gives it a trace of “Y”, with a union in the Hospital area (Parish of San Lorenzo de Bruma), a small village belonging to the municipality of Mesía where formerly a hospital of pilgrims was located, of which is remembered in the toponym that gives name to the place.

A Coruña was the main route since medieval times, given that the herculine port had the privilege of entry and exit of goods and travelers, while Ferrol and other ports were a secondary option, depending, above all, on the climatic conditions for navigation . At present, Ferrol attracts more and more pilgrims.

Since 1991, when this route was recovered, with a defined itinerary, no more than a few hundred pilgrims circulated around here. But already in the Holy Year of 2010 were counted about 10,000 pilgrims who made the way in this Jacobean way, from A Coruña and Ferrol. This seems to indicate a reactivation of this route that, with the improvements made in recent years, is expected to have, each time, a greater influx.