A QR code will allow pilgrims to directly contact the Police and Civil Guard from any point on the Jacobean routes
The traditional Pilgrim's Credential takes an important step towards modernization. From now on it will incorporate a QR code which will allow pilgrims to directly download the application AlertCops, a tool from the Ministry of the Interior designed to reinforce security and support during the Camino de Santiago.
The initiative was presented in Santiago de Compostela and is part of the prevention and protection strategy that the State Security Forces and Corps have been developing on the Jacobean routes. The objective is simple: that any pilgrim can request help, report incidents or share their location quickly and easily in case of emergency.
A travel companion on your mobile
Through AlertCops, pilgrims can directly contact the National Police and the Civil Guard, send alerts, report incidents and provide their exact location if they need assistance. The application is available in more than one hundred languages thanks to its automatic translation system, a function that is especially useful for the thousands of foreign pilgrims who travel the Camino de Santiago every year.
In addition, it incorporates a specific functionality called «Guardian of the Camino de Santiago», which allows the location to be periodically shared with security operational centers to speed up the response to possible accidents, losses or risk situations. Currently there are almost 1,700 devices linked to this specific service for pilgrims.
More than half a million pilgrims
The measure comes at a time when the Camino de Santiago continues to break records. More than 530,000 pilgrims completed some of the Jacobean routes during the last year, a historic figure that has forced the reinforcement of care, prevention and security systems.
The authorities believe that bringing AlertCops through the credential itself will allow thousands of pilgrims to learn about a tool that can be essential in the event of any unforeseen event.
Technology at the service of the Camino
Although many pilgrims defend digital disconnection as an essential part of the Jacobean experience, those responsible for the initiative emphasize that this application does not intend to replace the traditional spirit of the Camino, but rather to provide tranquility and security.
The Santiago Cathedral Foundation has supported the measure, pointing out that it allows pilgrims to feel accompanied even when walking alone through remote or little-traveled stages.
A safer path for everyone
The incorporation of AlertCops to the Pilgrim Credential joins other recent initiatives aimed at improving the protection of walkers, such as the specific Jacobean security plans of the Civil Guard and accompaniment campaigns for pilgrims.
With this new tool, the Camino de Santiago continues to adapt to new times without losing its ancient essence.
Because the yellow arrows continue to mark the path.
But now, help may also be just a click away.
