El the Camino de Santiago, also known as the Jacobean Route, is possibly the best-known Grand Tour itinerary in Spain. Since the Middle Ages it has been used as a pilgrimage route to the city where the remains of the Apostle Santiago the Greater are supposed to be found, Santiago de Compostela.

The best-known route is the French Way, which runs through the north of the Iberian Peninsula from the French border.

Saint Luke writes: “Herod Agrippa killed James, brother of John, with the sword.” It refers to James the Greater and his brother Saint John the Evangelist, children of the fisherman Zebedee and Salome. Apparently, the disciples of Santiago the Greater took his remains to the furthest part of the known world. Later, the continuous wars in the Iberian Peninsula and the invasions of the barbarians forced the Christians to hide their relics in secret to protect them. His memory is lost over the centuries.

The legend says that between the years 825-830 of our era, in a fort near Iria Flavia, the current Padrón in the province of A Coruña, “burning lights began to be seen during the night” and “they had frequently appeared angels.” The then Bishop of the city, Teodomiro, verified the facts and brought them to the attention of the Asturian King Alfonso II the Chaste. From the first moment this monarch gave his full support in spreading the news and in constructing the first buildings to serve the cult. They were the first foundations of what has become the great city of the Apostle, Santiago de Compostela, named in honor of the Saint and because of the “burning lights” that appeared there (“campus stellae” in Latin). 

The French Way runs more than 750 km from Roscenvalles to Santiago, passing through fantastic Navarrese forests before reaching Pamplona, ​​Logroño, Burgos, the Castile Canal or León before entering Galicia through the O Cebreiro and arriving in Santiago.

Today it is an itinerary that thousands of hikers and cyclists follow every year, which has served to give life to small towns that languished forgotten, absorbed in their own history.

A tour full of culture and nature, gastronomy and wines, landscape and countryside. It seems that in a short time the Camino de Santiago will also be one of the entry routes of the Network Eurovelo in Spain, which will further contribute to maintaining the influx of cycle tourists from all over the world.

Ultreia.