A total of 262,515 people made a pilgrimage last year to Santiago de Compostela, which is 24,532 more people than in 2014 (a 10.31 % increase), the Xunta de Galicia has recently confirmed based on data provided by the Pilgrim's Office.
According to this office, which depends on the archdiocese of Compostela - and which issues the famous "compostelana" that certifies those who have traveled at least one hundred kilometers on foot or two hundred by bicycle or on horseback along the Camino - more than half of the pilgrims who made the Road to Santiago in 2015 were foreigners, specifically 53.38 %, a total of 140,138 pilgrims. Those of Spanish nationality were a total of 122,377, the remaining 46.62 %.
The Spanish are followed by Italians, Germans, Americans, Portuguese, French, British, Irish, Canadians, Koreans and Brazilians.
The total number of pilgrims came from a total of 178 countries, 39 more than in 2014, demonstrating the pull of the Camino to attract visitors from all over the world. The so-called French Way attracted the largest number of pilgrims: more than 379,000 travelers.
In view of these figures and this significant increase in pilgrims, it seems clear, as civil and ecclesiastical sources have also stressed, that the Camino de Santiago is still booming.
