There are pilgrims who arrive on the Camino with a seven kilo backpack and spend the first afternoon thinking about what they can throw away to lighten the weight.
Salvador Estorch has chosen another method.
He has taken a stone, has tied it to his waist and intends to drag it from Irun to Santiago de Compostela. About 800 kilometers.
Because walking the Camino del Norte must not have seemed complicated enough to him.
Salvador is 25 years old, he is from Madrid and he began this particular pilgrimage a few days ago. Its objective is simple to explain and much more difficult to understand when one has been walking twenty kilometers: it wants the friction against roads, highways and trails to wear down the stone until it turns into a round pebble.
The stone, it is worth clarifying, there is no evidence that he gave his consent.
But he is already doing the Camino.
And she is also becoming famous.
From anonymous stone to “Piedregrina”
It all started when Salvador saw a video of a young American who was kicking a rock.
A normal person would have watched the video, smiled, and gone on with their life.
Salvador thought something similar to:
"Well, I can do this for 800 kilometers."
He looked for a stone on a beach in Irun, tied it to his waist and began walking towards Santiago.
The Internet did the rest.
One of his videos surpassed four million views and an Instagram account that he barely used went on to gather thousands of followers in a matter of days.
And, as happens with every important character on the Camino, it was time to name the protagonist.
Among the proposals of his followers there are authentic masterpieces:
Pedregrina.
Saint Peter.
And our favorite:
Mick Jagger.
Because of the Rolling Stones.
Sometimes the Internet is worth it.
Today, the stone is already in Cantabria
History also has a direct connection with us.
This August 25, Salvador was carrying out its fifth stage through the area of Laredo, in the middle of the Camino del Norte and still with about 500 kilometers to go until Santiago.
That is to say, right now we have a pilgrim from Madrid in Cantabria dragging a rock on his way to Galicia while thousands of people follow how the stone evolves daily on the Internet.
We don't know how to explain this in a thousand years when archaeologists find their videos.
The big question: will it arrive round?
That's really the experiment.
The stone began the Camino being irregular and must withstand hundreds of kilometers of bumps and scrapes against all types of surfaces.
Salvador will show his evolution daily.
Here also arises a situation never sufficiently studied by the Jacobean associations:
What happens if Salvador arrives in Santiago perfectly and it is the stone that he abandons in Ribadeo?
Is there transport of rock backpacks?
Can you take a taxi?
Do you need a credential?
Do they seal you in shelters?
And if you have traveled 800 kilometers…
Do you have the right to Compostela?
We started to think so.
Because, if you arrive from Irún crawling all the way along the Camino del Norte, you have probably suffered more than some pilgrims.
But behind the joke there is a real pilgrim
History has a part that should not be lost among so many stones.
Salvador had previously done different Caminos, although on shorter routes. On this occasion I wanted to live a much longer pilgrimage, travel alone, meet people during the stages and also face a personal and religious experience.
He himself is Catholic and understands the Camino as a space to meet oneself and God.
So behind the viral phenomenon there is also a real pilgrimage.
Only this time he has a rock attached to his waist.
Each one carries their things.
Some with problems.
Others with memories.
Others with a backpack that is too heavy.
And Salvador with Piedregrina.
RTV Camino de Santiago will continue to be very attentive
Because now we need to know how this ends.
We want to see Salvador entering Santiago.
But above all, we want to see how the stone arrives.
If after 800 kilometers it appears perfectly round, it will probably have completed one of the strangest transformations we have seen in this house.
And if absolutely nothing changes...
It will also have its merit.
He will have managed to drag a stone from Irún to Santiago to leave it exactly the same.
Now that would be a true pilgrimage of faith.
Buen Camino, Salvador.
And, of course...
Buen Camino, Piedregrina. 😂
