Passport, please (Wendy)

When we check into our albergue each afternoon, they always ask for our passport. On the Camino, this has a dual meaning. First, they record our passport number, name, and country of origin. I can’t decide if this is for a beneficial reason (e.g., find all the Americans in Spain and get them out if war breaks out or we have another pandemic!) or something more nefarious (Big Brother, always watching). Either way, it can’t be avoided.


The second passport they ask for is proof that we are legitimate pilgrims, as some albergues are open to peregrinos only. This passport is our “credential del Peregrino” that we received at the Camino passport office in St. Jean Pied-de-Port when we started our walk. They stamped it that day and we are required to get at least one stamp per day, usually at our albergue, until we get to Sarria. After that, for the last 100 km of the walk, we need to get two stamps per day. Every bar, cafe, restaurant, and church you go in can give you a stamp. Each stamp is unique to the establishment and is dated with the day you passed through.


At the end of our walk, we present our completed passport and they give us an official Camino Compostela certificate. It’s not unlike the Seattle library stamps Bob used to help the boys collect when they were younger, I guess, though we are traveling much further!








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