**2. The Host Cities of The French Way of Saint James (Camino de Santiago Francés) in Castilla y León**

One of the peculiarities that Castilla y León presents is the importance that The Way of Saint James has for many cities and towns. The Way of Saint James is an element of identity that gives a sense of belonging to the people and acts as a link between cities and towns, making them part of the same territorial-cultural system. In addition, Castilla y León is one of the areas most affected by depopulation in southern Europe [15] due to its greater agrarian tradition and the smaller initial size of its population centers [16].

The Way of Saint James is much more than a simple way. Hundreds of routes over eleven centuries have guided the journey of millions of people towards a particular meeting place: Santiago de Compostela in Galicia, Spain.

Today, the motivations of the people who travel the Way of Saint James are very diverse. Although, historically, the religious character has been highlighted as the main focus, nowadays, the Jacobean route has become a valuable tourist attraction, which pilgrims decide to travel to visit, as a traveler-tourist in general, the monuments and historical complexes, enjoy contact with well-cared-for nature and adequate accommodation, and even search for handcrafted souvenirs to take away [17]. There are as many routes as there are pilgrims to reach the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela (Figure 2). However, The French Way of Saint James (Camino de Santiago Francés) is the best known, busiest, and best equipped route, which translates as the route preferred by the vast majority of pilgrims [18].

**Figure 2.** Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia, Spain.

In Spain, from the Pyrenees (Roncesvalles) to Santiago de Compostela, The French Way has a length of approximately 750 km, which crosses five Spanish Autonomous Communities: Aragón, Navarra, La Rioja, Castilla y León, and Galicia [18]. Within the total distance covered by The French Way in Spain, approximately 400 km, more than half of the route, is in Castilla y León [19]. From east to west, the road passes through Castilla y León through three of its provinces: 112 km in the Burgos Province, 70 km in the Palencia Province, and 212 km in the León Province [19].

As part of the alternatives of the Jacobean route, it is noted that in Castilla y León, there are also other alternative ways: Silver Way (Camino Vía de la Plata), Portuguese Way (Camino Portugués), Mozárabe-Sanabrés Way (Camino Mozárabe-Sanabrés), Vía de Bayona Way (Camino Vía de Bayona), the Besaya Way (Camino del Besaya), Vadiniense Way (Camino Vadiniense), Salvador Way (Camino del Salvador), Madrid Way (Camino de Madrid), Levante and Sureste Way (Camino de Levante y Sureste), La Lana Way (Camino de La Lana), and Real de Invierno Way (Camino Real de Invierno).

The Way of Saint James in Castilla y León represents one of the greatest surprises offered to pilgrims, travelers, and tourists. The route stretches through fields, rises through mountains, and flows through rivers, which makes it an outstanding place due to its landscape and natural values. Today, while the natural route that is The Way of Saint James has rising value, the path, in its passage through this autonomous community, is a varied reflection of counties and a multicolored explosion of different spaces that allow an exceptional route [20]. In addition to its natural values, the Jacobean route in Castilla y León has a very rich artistic heritage, where the predominant style is Romanesque [20].

The Way of Saint James is very important for the survival and development of the cities and towns of Castilla y León. However, the reality of the provinces, cities, and towns of Castilla y León currently presents the social challenges of depopulation and aging [21]. This is a localized reality in Castilla y León because at the national level, in Spain, the population has tended to increase in recent years. Actually, politically and socially, it is even called "Castilla y León empty and/or emptied" [22].

Castilla y León is extremely rural: 2115 municipalities (94% of the total) have a population of less than 2000 people [15]. In total, 79.8% of the municipalities in Castilla y León do not exceed 100 people. Only 9 municipalities exceed 50,001 people, of which only 4 exceed 100,000 people [22]. Thus, depopulation has become a real problem of the state, which requires the implementation of innovative public policies aimed at boosting the local economy, providing basic and quality social services to rural areas [23].

Faced with this situation of rurality, intermediate cities acquire importance, considering that the concept of an "intermediate city" transcends the scope of spatial and population size to open new perspectives that modify the hierarchy of scalar analysis. This concept

also includes the analysis of the economic, social, cultural, and environmental governance of cities that, due to their territorial implantation, have to play a key role in correcting inequalities derived from current urbanization, which is too focused on large cities [24]. The most holistic definition [25,26] is summarized below: (a) The intermediate city, beyond its demographic relevance, has the capacity to structure and unite the urban system and urban–rural links. Intermediate cities weave and work in networks. (b) The intermediate city, due to its scale, has a greater capacity to draw up and implement high-benefit strategies that allow it to position itself in regional, national, and even international scenarios, using fewer resources than large cities. (c) The intermediate city constitutes in itself a groundbreaking element of the status quo derived from the impact of globalization, since it contributes to questioning the hierarchies of the urban system, opening new horizons of territorial cooperation [24,27].

If we consider the host analyzed cities of Burgos, León, Ponferrada, Astorga, Valverde de la Virgen, and Cacabelos as intermediate cities, then they are cities with a remarkable potential for dynamism, which could experience growth in their population and activities [28]. However, when analyzing the population, Leon and Astorga have shown depopulation in recent years (Figure 3) while Ponferrada, Valverde de la Virgen, Burgos, and Cacabelos have shown population increases (Figure 4).

**Figure 3.** Population evolution in the cities of León, Burgos, and Ponferrada (1998–2021). Source: Own elaboration with data extracted from the INE website: www.ine.es (accessed on 15 July 2022) [21].

Taking into account that the cities analyzed share the passage of The Way of Saint James (host cities) and have more than 5000 people living there (at least for the year 2019), they have diverse characteristics:


**Figure 4.** Population evolution in the cities of Astorga, Cacabelos, and Valverde de la Virgen (1998–2021). Source: Own elaboration with data extracted from the INE website: www.ine.es (accessed on 15 July 2022) [21].

In Spain, the presence of medium/intermediate cities is the real constitutive element of the urban network and one of the most important explanatory bases of the territorial structure of the country and they are the territorial labels of the "glocal" [28]. Considering that the cities mentioned are important for the development of the region, the search for urban sustainability, aligned with the cultural-territorial union of The Way of Saint James, is an alternative to promote joint territorial actions, action plans, and even receive EU aid that can bring economic, social, and environmental benefits for their future development.
