By Patrick Georgi
I recently read an article from a Galician newspaper about how Santiago is the biggest tourist destination in all of Galicia, and one of the biggest in all of Spain. 2010 was designated as a holy year, and that year almost 10 million people, including peregrinos, visited Santiago. While Santiago is a relatively small city, compared to say Madrid, it brings in more revenue from tourism than many cities that one would often think of going on vacation. Walking around the city, one notices that there are three main groups of people. Tourists (including peregrinos, very easily noticed by their backpacks, looks of relief at reaching Santiago, and big beards), university students, and locals going to work. The camino brings many people and with those people comes prosperity for this city. The tourism industry alone provides for over 100,000 jobs in Santiago, according to the article in the newspaper. This includes hotel workers, waiters, tour guides, bus drivers, and so much more. The towns economy seems to rely heavily on people visiting Santiago. So not only is Santiago blessed to have such a historic and important monument with one of the three biggest Christian pilgrimages (and the most travelled one) but it also has a great source of relief and security from economic problems.
Hokies hiking the Camino de Santiago 