This Monday, six people with disabilities embark on a new adventure towards Santiago de Compostela together with DisCamino. From Cizur Menor, next to Pamplona, they will travel the French Way on adapted bicycles and tricycles during thirteen stages, demonstrating once again that barriers can also be left behind on the Camino.
The Camino de Santiago once again becomes the setting for a story in which kilometers matter, but perhaps they are not the most important thing.
The association DisCamino A new expedition begins this August 17 from Cizur Menor, in Navarra, to Santiago de Compostela, in which six people with different disabilities will travel a good part of the French Way using adapted bicycles and tandem tricycles.
The adventure will be made up of thirteen stages and will bring together participants from different places in Spain, accompanied by volunteers who will make it possible for each day to become a new step towards Compostela.
Thirteen stages to Santiago
It won't exactly be a walk.
The route will cross some of the most recognizable territories of the French Way and includes days of considerable length. According to the published planning, some stage will reach approximately 69 kilometers.
On adapted tricycles, participants and companions form a team. The effort of some allows others to advance, but the experience, the fatigue, the landscapes and the arrival belong to everyone.
And precisely there lies a good part of DisCamino's philosophy.
It is not simply about transporting a person to Santiago.
It is about allowing you to live the Camino.
A project born to break down barriers
The story of DisCamino began in 2009, linked to the experience of Gerardo Fernández, known as Gerardiño, a deafblind person who was able to complete the Camino thanks to a tandem tricycle and the necessary support to face the route.
That experience ended up becoming something much greater.
Since then, the project has allowed numerous people with disabilities to participate in different Jacobean adventures using bicycles and adapted vehicles, accompanied by volunteers.
The idea is simple to explain, although much more difficult to execute:
that a disability is not automatically a barrier to experiencing the Camino de Santiago.
From Seville to Santiago… and now from Navarra
The expedition that begins now comes just a few weeks after another important challenge led by DisCamino.
In July, members of the association completed an adventure through the Via de la Plata from Seville to Santiago, once again demonstrating the project's ability to face long distance routes.
Now the scenario changes.
Navarra, La Rioja, Castilla y León and Galicia will be left behind while the group advances towards Compostela along the French Way.
Each stage will involve kilometers of effort, coordination between participants and companions and also that coexistence that is an inseparable part of any pilgrimage.
The Path that everyone should be able to live
The growth of the Camino de Santiago raises numerous debates: overcrowding, accommodation, security, heritage conservation or services for pilgrims.
But there is another issue that deserves increasing attention:
accessibility.
Not everyone can walk for weeks carrying a backpack.
Not everyone can climb a mountain or cross certain dirt roads without help.
That does not necessarily mean that they have to give up feeling what it means to advance towards Santiago.
Experiences like DisCamino show that adapting the Camino is not only about eliminating physical obstacles. It also means building teams, developing solutions and finding people willing to accompany others.
Six stories on the way to Obradoiro
During the next thirteen stages there will be fatigue, early mornings and surely difficult moments.
There will also be laughter, roads, paths, towns, shared meals and that question that inevitably appears when Santiago begins to approach:
How much is left?
The answer will change every day.
Until it's finally zero.
Then six new pilgrims will arrive in Compostela after having demonstrated something that is probably much more important than any number of kilometers:
The Camino may have barriers, but it can also find a way to overcome them.
