To Be or not to Be… a Pilgrim. Spiritual Pluralism Along the Camino Finisterre and the Urge for the End

Abstract

Since its revitalization as a pilgrimage destination in the 1960s, Santiago de Compostela has become a universal reference point for the idea of what pilgrimage is about. That raises questions about how pilgrimage is then to be understood and who the people found on the pilgrim ‘caminos’ actually are. Such questions have become more problematic when an informal continuation of the Camino after Santiago—rejected by the Catholic Church—came into being; leading walkers to the Atlantic coast destinations Finisterre and Muxía. Who are the people who choose to continue along this trail and why do they do so? Do the ideas of the ‘end of world,’ which is symbolized by ‘Finisterre,’ or the many legends and stories that have been traditionally or more recently ascribed to this trail and its destinations make them gravitate towards this new ‘spiritual trail’? In this chapter I will address these issues and discuss in what way this continuation differs from the main Camino and how the religious and spiritual dimensions attributed to the trail are perceived by those who actually walk there. The results are mainly based on an online questionnaire administered in 2011.