Low season is a time to keep training and learning new things that can be interesting for me and my clients, so Monday and Tuesday I attended a workshop organized by the Tourism Department of the Catalan Government.
In the middle ages, pilgrims used to cross Europe to reach Spain and visit the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, where the Apostle Saint James is supposed to be buried. Now the traditional paths pilgrims used to get there have become a very popular holyday experience that mixes religion, with hiking/biking/horse riding, enjoying nature and gorgeous landscape, getting to know first-hand the local lifestyle, and discovering valuable architectural and artistic heritage.
Although the Catalan ways to Santiago aren't as famous as the two northern ones, pilgrims have also traditionally crossed our region on their way there, and now the Tourism Department has collaborated with different specialists to promote them. Guidebooks are being issued, the paths have been marked, and they are working to get more and more services open for pilgrims along their routes. Althought it definitely isn't as fully equipped as the traditional paths are, our ways are a great option for those who have already done the others and are looking for something new, and it's also way less crowded that any other other option.
As for me, although obviously not many pilgrims are likely to use tourguide services, I thought the worshop was very interesting and I learnt a lot about the routes and what you find along the way. I now actually feel like exploring pieces of it with my boyfriend some weekend!
In the picture, you see me with Carme Marsal, co-author of the guidebooks issued by the Tourism Department, who gave 3 of the workshop's lectures.
