**2. Materials and Methods**

Regarding methodology and in view of the elaboration of the historical and theoretical framework, a bibliographic collection and a critical review of the literature on religious and cultural tourism were carried out, with special emphasis on that which relates to the pilgrims' motivations. In this context, few studies were found.

Nevertheless, the empirical contribution of this research is based on a mixed methods approach (Ramseook-Munhurrun and Durbarry 2018). The combination of methods minimises the weaknesses of quantitative and qualitative methods applied in isolation and allows for a more comprehensive understanding of the area under study. Thus, triangulating methods allow multiple methods to be used to study a single research problem. A combination of qualitative and quantitative techniques contributes to more credible and reliable information (Phillimore and Goodson 2004). Triangulation limits personal and methodological bias and increases the fidelity of the study. Mixed methods have the following virtues (Ramseook-Munhurrun and Durbarry 2018, p. 118):


In fact, it is the research question inherent to this article—what are the push motivations that underlie the pilgrimages on the Portuguese roads to Santiago (Martínez-Roget et al. 2015)—that justifies the choice of secondary data analysis and interviews as the primary sources for this study. According to Marujo (2015), the "push" motives act as internal forces that persuade the individual to travel; they concern their internal and emotional sphere.

Thus, we chose to use secondary data that are useful for analysing long-term trends and allow hypotheses to be tested (e.g., there is a relationship between the *touristization* of the Portuguese Way to Santiago and an increase in non-religious motivation).

As De Haro et al. (2016, p. 92) state, "Interviews are used to collect data on motivations, attitudes, feelings, experiences, opinions, mental representations or life stories". Compared to a questionnaire, an interview is more flexible, has less possibility of standardisation, has greater subjectivity, has less structuring in the formulation of questions, and has a more careful choice of participants (De Haro et al. 2016).

The qualitative contribution of this research focuses on the collection and analysis of results from seven interviewees of relevant agents of the Portuguese Way to Santiago whose professional activity focuses on north-western Portugal. The participants were chosen for being experienced pilgrims and for having different connections to the Way, from innkeepers to members of Catholic organisations related to religious tourism to agents of municipal tourism organisations. The interview script contained a relatively small number of key questions, allowing the use of queries to clarify certain topics and deepen certain themes raised by the interviewees (Finn et al. 2000).

The interview script contained a relatively small number of key questions, allowing for the use of probes to clarify certain topics and elaborate on certain themes raised by interviewees (Finn et al. 2000). The people interviewed all have an intense relationship with the Portuguese Way of Saint James. In their capacity as hostel owners, academics, restorers, or simply friends of the Camiño, they carry out their professional activity and their leisure time closely linked to the phenomenon of pilgrimages to Santiago de Compostela. Their different professions and occupations constitute a way of approaching the knowledge of the pilgrims' reality from different points of view, based on the performance of their professional tasks. But in addition, each of these people dedicates a good part of their free time to teaching, disseminating, and promoting the Way of Saint James, moved by a vocational force. After any given year, each of these people meets and talks with hundreds and hundreds of pilgrims, which is a kind of continuous participant observation. These people interviewed are, therefore, "intermediaries" between the pilgrims and the researchers since they transmit their experiences, perceptions, and impressions, and code them according to their own professional activity.

The analysis of the interviews followed a thematic analysis (Bryman 2012, p. 580), in which a theme refers to:


In parallel, the authors developed the analytical study, converting into tables the official statistics obtained by the Pilgrim's Office of the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela. This study also presents statistical data collected from 2018 (date of opening of the Our Lady of Truths (*Nossa Senhora das Verdades* Chapel, Pilgrim Support Centre/Portuguese Way to Santiago in Porto) until 2022. Regarding the data presented here, there are certain constraints: (a) in the year 2020, the centre was closed from 18 April until the end of May, due to COVID-19; (b) in late September 2020, rehabilitation works were carried out on the building until 13 October; (c) on 15 January 2021 until 15 April, the chapel was closed due to COVID-19.

## **3. The Portuguese Way to Santiago: The Evolution of Pilgrimages**

Pilgrimages are journeys made, mainly, for religious, cultural, or spiritual reasons. Ian Reader's "Pilgrimage in the Marketplace" (Reader 2014) also includes politics and/or commerce, showing that pilgrimage operates in and through the marketplace via the deployment of consumer activity, publicity, and promotion, usually involving visits to places considered sacred or important to the tradition of a particular religion or culture. They have been a common practice throughout human history, in numerous cultures and religions.

The pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela is one of the oldest Christian pilgrimages, captivating thousands of people every year. The destination is the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, in Galicia, Spain, where the tomb of the apostle James the Great is located (López Gómez 2010).

The Way of Santiago was developed around the twelve century when the remains of St. James or Santiago were probably found in Santiago de Compostela (Pombo 2007). Over the centuries, it has increased as well as declined in popularity (Moreno 1992). In recent decades its growth has been exponential, continuing to be seen as a religious path, but also as a spiritual and cultural route. In 1987, it was acknowledged as the First European Cultural Itinerary.

In each Holy Year or Jacobean/Xacobean Year1, as it is called in Galicia, there is a remarkable increase of pilgrims attracted to this religious and cultural itinerary (Balasch Blanch and Arranz 2013).

The various paths (Figure 1) are generally signposted by directional signalling in yellow arrows, painted everywhere, or by various types of scallop shells produced in diverse materials, as a result of various funding programmes.

**Figure 1.** Map of the Ways to Santiago in Southwest Europe. Source: Mapa—Camino de Santiago. Source: Mapa—Camino de Santiago. Guía definitiva: etapas, albergues, rutas (editorialbuencamino. com, accessed on 20 January 2023).

The Portuguese Way is divided, among others, into the Coastal Portuguese Way, the Interior Portuguese Way, and the Central Portuguese Way (Figure 2). The last one is the most travelled route. Beginning in Lisbon, passing through Coimbra, Porto, and ending in the Portuguese territory at Valença do Minho.

It is worth mentioning the importance of the Central Way between Porto/Vila do Conde/Póvoa de Varzim/Barcelos/Ponte de Lima/Paredes de Coura/Valença where other routes merge, reinforcing this path as the most important of the Portuguese roads to Santiago. This route has been in great demand in recent years and is widely seen as being the main Portuguese Medieval or Central Way.

The Central Way starts primarily in Porto and is about 127 km long in Portuguese territory. It is generally a rather rough stretch, making it a rather difficult route to undertake on foot (Silva and Borges 2018).

The Coastal Way, which is 149.5 km long, is a path that starts in Porto and passes through the current municipalities of Matosinhos, Maia, Vila do Conde, Póvoa de Varzim, Esposende, Viana do Castelo, Caminha, Vila Nova de Cerveira and Valença. It is a Way that, until it reaches Galicia, always follows along the coast and the banks of the river Minho. This route is much flatter than the stretch of the Central Portuguese Way between Porto and Valença. As we will verify, it is one of the Ways of Santiago that has been rising in recent years.

There are no consistent statistics regarding the thousands of tourists and visitors, pilgrims or not, who annually travel to Santiago de Compostela by means of motorised transport—bus, car, plane, or train.

**Figure 2.** Portuguese Way to Santiago. Source: https://caminhosantiagoviana.pt/ (accessed on 20 January 2023).

The data analysed here exclude the vastness of the population that visits Santiago and its various cultural, religious, and other facilities that characterise the cultural heritage associated with the Ways of Santiago. The statistical data provided by the *Oficina del Peregrino* of the Cathedral only refer to the pilgrims who go there to receive the Compostela, which corresponds to only about a third of the total (Oficina del Peregrino de Santiago de Compostela n.d.).

In the celebrations of each Holy Year, as we can see in Table 1, the number of pilgrims, who have registered in the *Oficina del Peregrino*, has exceeded all expectations. Nevertheless, after the 2010 Holy Year, the growth of pilgrims has been very considerable, and in 2016 (not a Holy Year) exceeded the number of pilgrims who travelled the several routes during Holy Years.

During 2022, the number of pilgrims who arrived in Santiago was even greater than in 2019, the year in which it had reached the highest figures. Given the reduction in the restrictions related to the pandemic by COVID-19, the Xacobean Holy Year, which took place in 2021, was extended to 2022, enabling more pilgrims to enjoy the event already anticipated for 11 years.


**Table 1.** Evolution of pilgrims in general, pilgrims from the Portuguese Coastal and Central Ways from 2004 to 2022. Source of data: own elaboration from Pilgrim's Office statistics.

Data marked with (\*) correspond to starting points recorded by the authors, which geographically correspond to the Portuguese Coastal Way.

Pilgrims from all over the world have walked the dozens of routes that make up the Way, enjoyed the experience and have given back to the Way of Santiago its usual flow, reaching the number of 438,000 pilgrims, which makes 2022 the most successful Holy Year in the history of pilgrimages. Although the Way of Santiago is carried out on any day of any month, there are certain months of the year that continue to receive more pilgrims than others. Specifically, August continues to be the month with the highest number of walkers, with more than 85,000 people in 2022.

As far as the Central Portuguese Way to Santiago is concerned, and focusing on the analysis only of recent years, 2019 also exceeded all expectations. Thus, the Central Way, up to the end of December 2019, had been travelled by 72,357 pilgrims, to which must be added the figures of those who pilgrimaged along the Coastal Way (22,292), making a total of 94,640. Affected by the years of the COVID-19 pandemic, especially in 2020, it recovered in 2021, the Holy Year, exceeding all expectations in 2022, the second Holy Year, having been covered by 123,802 pilgrims.

Regarding the Portuguese Coastal Way, we have managed to count some pilgrims by their geographical place of departure since 2011 (Table 1) but there is only the registration, at the Pilgrims' Office, since 2016 (2600 pilgrims). The number of pilgrims tripled in 2017 (7329), continuing to grow exponentially in 2018, reaching 13,839 pilgrims in 2022, almost six times more than the initial figures.

Portugal represents, at this moment, the second most important source of pilgrims. Even so, most of the walkers are not Portuguese (Figure 3). The number of pilgrims of other nationalities has been growing. Since 2017, Portuguese pilgrims have had a slight reduction compared to previous years, increasing again in 2018.

In 2022, as far as itineraries are concerned, the French Way was travelled the most by pilgrims, with 226,887, followed, as has been usual in recent years, by the Portuguese Way, with 93,193 pilgrims. Its variation closer to the coast—the Portuguese Coastal Way—grew once again, having been covered by 30,609 pilgrims, managing to surpass other routes, such as the English Way, with 24,205 pilgrims, thus placing it as the third most chosen option by pilgrims.

**Figure 3.** Evolution of the number of pilgrims on the Portuguese Coastal and Central Ways and nationalities (Portuguese and others) between 2004 and 2022. Source: own elaboration from Pilgrim's Office statistics.

Evidently, less travelled paths were also attracting people after 2022, especially the Primitive Way, with 21,360 pilgrims, and the Northern Way, with 20,866 pilgrims.

Regarding the nationalities of the pilgrims, the Way of Santiago is travelled every year by hundreds of thousands of people who come from all over the world. The Spanish nationality is still the most important among pilgrims, with a total of 239,417 in 2022. The United States was the third most represented country, with a total of 26,000 pilgrims. In second place is Italy with 27,078. These countries are followed by Germany and Portugal, with 23,212 and 20,166 pilgrims, respectively.

In the last years, the number of women pilgrims also continues to be higher than that of men. The year 2022 continues to have a very similar percentage of participants by gender. Specifically, a total of 231,461 women, 206,860 men, and 2 persons who did not wish to specify travelled the different paths.

The Way is typically completed on foot. However, it may also be completed by other means recognised as true forms of pilgrimage, such as by bicycle or on horseback. Table 2 shows that the most commonly used means of transport are on foot and bicycle, although there is also some mention of horse and wheelchair transport. There is no information about the means of transport used in each of the itineraries.

In the year 2022, a total of 414,340 pilgrims walked the Way. The second most frequent mode of transport was the bicycle, with a total of 22,863 pilgrims, followed by the horse with 545, and 127 completed it in wheelchairs. The number of "*bicygrims*" has been increasing, which indicates that this way of travelling the different Jacobean routes is becoming more and more common. In the last few years, it has also been considered the route was completed by sea/river, with 448 people.

As already mentioned, the Portuguese Coastal Way has experienced very significant growth in recent years. Given that the city has also had a very significant increase in tourist demand due to several factors, we consider that there is a very close reason for the increase of pilgrims who depart from this city, especially after 2014.


**Table 2.** Evolution of pilgrims according to the type of transport. Source of data: own elaboration from Pilgrim's Office statistics.

The data highlight the idea that the different Santiago Ways have been one of the engines of the economic growth of several regions. The existence of a Santiago route in the territory of a municipality, in any region, increases religious and cultural tourism, but it also increases their obligation to create sustainable conditions for pilgrims and residents.
