Camino Joven 2026: the meeting that can change the future of the Camino de Santiago
From June 19 to 21, 2026, the La Cabaña del Abuelo Peuto Hostel in Güemes will become the heart of an initiative called to mark the future of the Camino de Santiago. For three days, young people from Galicia, Asturias, Cantabria and the Basque Country will share an experience designed to create community, strengthen ties and transmit the values that have turned the Camino into one of the great cultural and human phenomena in the world.
Pilgrims through Cantabria, the organizing entity of the meeting, promotes this project with the conviction that the future of the Camino depends on the new generations. Camino Joven was born so that young people not only know the Camino, but so that they become its future pilgrims, hospitaleros, volunteers, communicators and ambassadors.
Four communities, hundreds of young people and the same Camino
The first edition will bring together between 100 and 200 participants from the four communities historically linked by the Camino del Norte. The objective is to create an authentic youth community that discovers that the Camino de Santiago continues to be a space where they can learn, live together, share experiences and build lasting friendships.
Cantabria will serve as the host community, showing participants some of the landscapes, traditions and values that make the Camino del Norte one of the most spectacular routes in Europe.
Galicia will provide the vision of the territory that welcomes the goal of millions of pilgrims. Asturias will reinforce the historical links it shares with the Camino and the Basque Country will contribute its fundamental role as one of the great gateways for thousands of walkers each year.
A program designed to live the Camino in a different way
Camino Joven 2026 will offer much more than traditional activities. Participants will live a complete experience where coexistence, culture, communication, hiking, music, creativity and personal development will take place.
Friday will be dedicated to the reception, accreditations, integration dynamics and first meetings between the participants.
On Saturday the big day of the meeting will arrive with activities related to the Camino, participatory workshops, production of audiovisual content, radio experiences, cultural meetings, musical performances and spaces for reflection on the role of youth in the future of the Camino de Santiago.
The day will culminate with an emotional nighttime activity around a symbolic fire, one of the most special moments of the meeting, where young people will share experiences, dreams and hopes.
Sunday will serve to close the meeting, exchange contacts, share conclusions and begin to build the youth network that is intended to be consolidated in future editions.
Camino Lebaniego Foundation, main sponsor
The project has the support of the Camino Lebaniego Foundation, who participates as main sponsor of this first edition.
Your involvement will allow you to launch an initiative that directly connects with the cultural, tourist and heritage promotion objectives of Cantabria, also reinforcing the positioning of the Camino Lebaniego and paving the way for future initiatives linked to the Lebaniego Holy Year 2028.
RTV Camino de Santiago will broadcast the event live for 72 hours
The impact of the meeting will go far beyond Güemes thanks to the participation of RTV Camino de Santiago, which will act as Official Media Partner of the event.
The network will carry out special coverage with live broadcasts during the 72 hours that Camino Joven 2026 will last. Interviews, reports, activities, performances, testimonies from participants and unique moments can be followed from anywhere in the world through the RTV Camino de Santiago platforms.
This coverage will turn Camino Joven into one of the Jacobean youth meetings with the greatest media visibility in Spain.
An open door to the future
Although this first edition focuses on young people from Galicia, Asturias, Cantabria and the Basque Country, the organization is already contemplating future expansions that will allow participants from other autonomous communities and countries linked to the Jacobean phenomenon to be incorporated.
The final objective is to create a large international youth community united by the Camino de Santiago, capable of guaranteeing generational change and keeping alive the values of hospitality, solidarity, coexistence and personal effort that have characterized pilgrims for centuries.
The Camino needs young people
Each generation receives the Path from those who walked before.
But you also have the responsibility to preserve it, transmit it and improve it for those who will come after.
Camino Joven 2026 was born precisely for that. To demonstrate that the Camino continues to be a place where young people can discover new friendships, live transformative experiences and be part of something much bigger than a simple pilgrimage route.
Because the future of the Camino is not inherited.
It is built.
And construction will begin in Güemes from June 19 to 21, 2026.
More information and registration: https://caminosdesantiagocantabria.es/jornadas-camino-joven-2026/
