Who is the pilgrim who appears every night on the walls of Praza da Quintana, next to the cathedral of Santiago? In this episode of the series "Jacobean Tradition and Legend", Alberto Solana de Quesada explains the origin of one of the best-known night images of Compostela and the stories that residents and visitors have woven around it.
The silhouette, reminiscent of a medieval walker with a cape, hat and staff, is formed by the lighting of a stone element near the cathedral. The phenomenon has a physical explanation, but popular tradition attributes it to stories of encounters, waits and promises.
The program is part of Jacobean Trails, directed by Raúl-Fernando Gómez. Its duration is 10 minutes and 54 seconds and was originally published on October 14, 2026.
Listen to the episode
Listen to “The Legend of the Hidden Pilgrim” on iVoox.
At Radio Camino we bring together these voices and stories so that they can also be discovered from our on-demand podcasts page. The narrative belongs to its original creators and the iVoox post is linked here.
Program: Jacobean Trails. Section: Jacobean Tradition and Legend. Author of the episode: Alberto Solana de Quesada. Podcast address: Raúl-Fernando Gómez.
Cover photo: Itsd-foto, «The Pilgrim's shadow – Santiago de Compostela», CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. Image used without creative alterations, with technical adaptation of size and format.
Fountain: original episode on iVoox.
