Walking the Camino de Santiago – a social media mini-series
The Camino de Santiago is the medieval pilgrim trail to the university city of Santiago de Compostela in the northern Spanish province of Galicia where the venerable bones of the apostle St James (San Tiago) lie in a silver cask beneath the gothic cathedral. In fact, to say that it is a trail is not quite accurate. It is, rather, a series of trails from every part of Europe that wind their way to Santiago, joining, like tributaries of rivers, as they close in on their destination, until, they become seven main routes. It is the French way, however, popularised Brazilian author Paulo Coelho’s 1987 novel ‘The Pilgrimage’ and then by Martin Sheen’s 2010 film ‘The Way’, that is best known and most popular. The 700+km walk, beginning at St Jean Pied de Port in the France accounts for just short of half of all pilgrims who arrive in Santiago de Compostela each year. The second most popular route runs from Lisbon, in Portugual, north to Santiago and it is this way that Declan chose as the backdrop for his 2017 novel, “Pins and Needles“. To have completed ‘the Camino’, one must walk at least 100km so many pilgrims, with limited time, chose Valença on the Portuguese side of its border with Spain, or Tui on the Spanish side to begin their walk – a distance of some 120 or so kilometres. Declan trudged this section of the Portuguese Way more than 10 times in researching for the novel, and continued to return to it until the global pandemic temporarily brought a halt to the progress of pilgrims.
“There’s something that draws people back to the Camino,” he explained. “While some do it for religious reasons – which was its medieval purpose, of course, a lot of people are not in the least religious. I think that it’s a lot to do with the pace at which we live life these days, and the sense that we’re always plugged in to the internet and screens. The Camino gives you the chance to reduce the complexities of life down to simple considerations, such as what footwear to chose to avoid blisters, where to stop for lunch and whether to stay in a public hostel or fork out the extra few euro for a private room to avoid being kept awake by snoring in the dormitories.”
After a five year absence, Declan returned, last month, to the same 120km stretch of the Camino, completing it over a week. He documented the journey with video clips and has now edited a series of seven short social media videos which he is releasing, one episode at a time, over the course of a week.
“Anyone who has walked the Camino will be able to relive the early starts, dubious weather, huge bocadillos and local wines,” said Declan. “For anyone who has not undertaken the walk but is interested in doing so, this series should provide a lot of information and give them a real sense of what to expect.”
The first episode of the series is available on social media platforms now, by clicking the following links, on Tiktok, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.
