The Camino de Santiago De Compostela. A geoeconomic analysis

In the subfil of tourism an analysis of the Camino de Santiago de Compostela, or the Way of St. James as it is known in English, is difficult for a variety of reasons. The Camino de Santiago does not consist of just one route but it is componed of many different itineraries. The historical importance of the Way is due to a particular form of pilgrimage. Therefore, before quantifying and qualifying the tourism demand, it is necessary to take a look at the religious tourism sector and identify its specific charac-teristics. It must bear in mind the characteristics of religious tourism in general and the specific characteristics of pilgrims from both the motivational and economic points of view. Tourism product typology and economic characteristics are important aspects when considering the impact they produce on the areas crossed by this route. It is im-portant to point out that the pilgrimage phenomenon, which is experiencing an up-surge across the whole of Europe, is of great economic relevance for the region in-volved: the area crossed by this route, which includes most of northern Spain, is a re-gion with specific and special characteristics but which also has its own distinct identi-ties, which deserve attention in terms of territorial development policies driven by tourism. Another aspect that has been analysed concerns the reasons for attempting this route, which entails walking over eight hundred kilometres, and the definition of pilgrim and tourist. For the purposes of this study, it is the statistical data that are im-portant: the number of those staying in accommodation facilities in the area con-cerned which are to be included in a particular tourism segment. However such a dis-tinction is secondary, even though on the one hand the reasons are linked to eco-nomic and social aspects and on the other they explain temporal trends in pilgrim flows to this area. The Camino has been declared a European Cultural Route and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.