Abstract:

The “Camino de Santiago” (also known as "Way of St. James") is a network of ancient pilgrimage routes across Europe, with the most famous ending in Santiago de Compostela, in Galicia in northwestern Spain. Pilgrims visit the cathedral there, where it is believed the remains of the apostle Saint James are buried. The “Camino de Santiago” is a popular tradition in Galicia, and since the 11th century, there has been a large influx of pilgrims, while the influx of visitors from all over the world has continued unabated in the following centuries until today. People walk “Camino de Santiago” for spiritual, cultural, or personal reasons, passing across various landscapes and historical sites along the way.

Recent advancements in technology have had a significant impact on the popular tradition of the “Camino de Santiago”, as various digital applications have been suggested to facilitate visitors in various ways. The aim of this study is to investigate the impact of digital technology on the “Camino de Santiago. In particular, the central research question we wish to address is whether the exploitation and integration of digital technology contribute to preserving the spirituality of the place or leads to an alteration of its original purpose, as a pilgrimage. Can we, as humans, move towards spiritual and mental upliftment by being immersed in technology, or such an upliftment requires that we distance ourselves from the digital realm?

To explore this, the study will first present a literature review on the significance of the popular tradition of the “Camino de Santiago” and the reasons why it has attracted so much interest for so long, as well as how technology is being gradually embedded into this tradition today. Then, we will present the results of a survey we conducted, in order to understand modern pilgrims' motivations and their perceptions of technology's presence on the route. The survey was conducted by having visitors fill out questionnaires, which were distributed through travel agencies. For the dissemination of the survey and data collection, we used the Prolific.co data collection platform. The objective of our research is to draw fruitful conclusions about whether the “Camino de Santiago” popular tradition retains its original purpose, which was mainly pilgrimage and spiritual, as well as about the impact of technology on the essence of the “Camino de Santiago” and how visitors experience the presence of technology there.

Keywords:

Popular culture, religious tourism, digital era, Camino de Santiago, Spain.