Five years of procedures on the Camino de Santiago… and the building is still in pilgrim mode
In Pontevedra, a project accumulates more administrative stages than there are kilometers of the Portuguese Way
On the Camino de Santiago one learns many things: to get up early, to live together, to take care of one's feet... and, if one passes through Pontevedra, also to understand that patience has no limits. Because what seemed like a simple construction project has become a pilgrim experience... but in a bureaucratic version.
The story revolves around a building planned in the Virxe do Camiño area that has required nothing less than five years of administrative procedures to obtain authorization. Five years. To put it in perspective: there are pilgrims who have started the Camino after starting this file... and have already repeated the route.
More stamps than a Jacobean credential
If the Camino works based on stamps, this project is not far behind. Reports, reviews, authorizations, adjustments... each step has been like another stage on an endless route.
First, a document was missing. Then another report. A correction later. Then, a validation. And so, little by little, the project has been advancing at a pace that many would describe as “very spiritual”… because you have to have faith to think that one day it will be built.
It is not surprising that there are already those who say, half jokingly, half seriously, that this building has more history before it existed than many centuries-old monuments.
Pilgrims who doubt: “Is this part of the Camino?”
Walkers passing through the area cannot help but notice the matter. Some even take it with humor:
“I thought it was a new sign for the Camino, something symbolic… but no, it is a work that has not yet begun,” comments a pilgrim, laughing.
And on a route where everything flows—walking, eating, sleeping—coming across something that hasn't been started for five years completely breaks the rhythm.
Bureaucracy also does the Camino… but without a backpack
The case reflects a reality that goes beyond humor. The protection of the environment of the Camino de Santiago requires strict controls, something essential to preserve its historical value. But it also puts an inevitable question on the table: can it be streamlined without losing that care?
Because while the paperwork progresses step by step, time keeps ticking… and so do the pilgrims.
End of stage… but not of history
The good news is that the project already has authorization. The not so good thing is that there is still the “simplest” part: starting the works.
If everything goes according to plan, they could start between the end of 2026 and 2027. That is, there is still a long way to go.
Until then, this building will remain a local Camino legend: the only one who has needed more time to start than many pilgrims to get to Santiago.
