Xacobeo 2021
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The digital credential is ready. Pilgrims can now register their steps through the different Jacobean Routes obtaining their stamps through the capture of QR codes. This Credential is compatible with the paper one and the pilgrim can use one or the other according to their preferences.
The Cathedral of Santiago and the Xunta de Galicia presented this new functionality this morning with which they intend to adapt to the new times. The digital Credential, which will be managed through a mobile application, seeks to provide greater comfort to the pilgrim, in addition to guaranteeing a safe Camino de Santiago, avoiding contact between hospitaleros and walkers.
What is the Digital Credential?
The digital Credential is now available for the Xacobeo 2021-2022, a very special year on the Camino de Santiago after eleven years without celebrating it.
The pilgrim can download the mobile application 'Credencial del peregrino', which is available for the iOS and Android platforms in Spanish, English and Galician. Through this app, you can get the two daily stamps necessary to prove your pilgrimage to Santiago. These stamps, also digital, can be obtained through the QR codes available at the different points of the Camino de Santiago.
The project have an official website where establishments with a seal can register and digitize their image. They will obtain the necessary QR code so that the pilgrim can scan it with their mobile phone and incorporate it into their digital credential. Right now, the pilgrim who wishes to use the Digital Credential will be able to obtain more than 400 stamps, among which are those of the Correos.
The mobile application in which the digital Credential can be managed will have information on the different Jacobean Routes. In addition to making it possible to capture the stamps through the QR, it will allow the integration of the data in the Pilgrim Registry necessary to obtain the Compostela.
How does the Digital Credential work?
The Digital Credential is an easy and intuitive tool that will make life easier for the pilgrim who wishes to do so. As the Cathedral of Santiago explained this morning, the Digital Credential is an exact translation of the paper Credential to the digital one, so that both will coexist and are fully compatible.
The steps to use it are very simple:
1. Download the App. Download the App 'Pilgrim's Credential', the only one that will be valid to get the Compostela.
2. User registration. After obtaining the application proceed to register. In addition to the username and password, the app will request the data that until now were requested in the Pilgrim's Office at the time of obtaining the Compostela: name, address, country, age, sex ... With this registration the obtaining of the certificate will be expedited. Compostela and the necessary data will be obtained to configure the profile of the pilgrim.
3. Choose your Camino. After creating the profile, choose the Route of the Camino de Santiago that you are going to do and detail the starting point, modality (on foot, by bike, on horseback, by sailing), as well as the reason for your pilgrimage.
4. Donation. As in the physical Credential, you must make the donation indicated by the Cathedral of Santiago, which is 1.5 euros.
5. Get your stamps. You just have to start your Camino and collect the stamps (minimum 2 a day) that will certify your pilgrimage to Santiago.
6. Welcome to Santiago. When you are about to arrive in Santiago, you will receive a welcome message along with the possibility of requesting the distance certificate.
7. Last stamp. The app also allows you to place the last stamp, which certifies your arrival in Santiago, speeding up the procedures to obtain the Compostela.
The application to generate digital stamps is launched
As a preliminary step to the implementation of the Digital Credential, the Cathedral of Santiago launched on January 28 the digital tool with which the different points of the Camino can generate their stamps. You can access this online tool from the websites of the Cathedral of Santiago and the Pilgrim Reception Office.
Hostels, Associations of Friends of the Camino, parishes and other points of sealing of the Credential can already register and register their stamp, previously digitized, or create a predetermined one, in the case of not having it in digital format. Once the seal has been validated, a QR code will be downloaded that can be made available to pilgrims, so that they can incorporate it into their digital Credential throughout the different stages.
The Credential on paper remains
The incorporation of this digital certificate will not mean the disappearance of the credential on paper. In fact, any pilgrim who wishes can continue to use the traditional Credential and collect the stamps that certify their passage through the different stages of the Camino.
If you want to know a little more about the origin and function of the Credential, as well as where it is possible to obtain it, check out this link.
Both the Cathedral and the Xunta have ensured that the stamps that are obtained virtually will be the same as the Credential on paper, avoiding differences between one and the other.
Both entities have pointed out that with the digital modality it will offer greater comfort for the pilgrim, in addition to increasing health security, one of the priorities in these months.
Register of Pilgrims and "digital row" for Compostela.
The launch of the digital Credential is one more example of the commitment to the implementation of new technologies in the Jacobean Routes. A process that has been accelerated by the crisis caused by Covid-19, after which it is more necessary than ever to guarantee a safe Camino de Santiago.
Among the digital advances in recent months, it is worth highlighting the reservation platform for public hostels in Galicia, which has just been joined by a new one for private accommodation: Bookalbergue.
The Santiago Cathedral has also advanced in the digitization of the Camino de Santiago with the incorporation of the Pilgrim Registry and the “digital row”, two key steps to obtain the Compostela at the Pilgrim's Office.
From this summer, pilgrims must enter their data in the Registry so that their Compostela is ready upon arrival in Santiago. The new system for obtaining the Compostela also includes an online appointment system.
When you arrive at the Pilgrim's Office on Rúa Carretas, you will get a QR code with the approximate time at which you can pick up the Compostela. With this code it is also possible to consult the progress of the queue in real time. With this measure, the Cathedral wanted to solve the long queues that occurred during some months of the year, especially in summer.
To offer greater facilities to pilgrims, the mobile app of the digital Credential will allow interaction with other web tools, such as the Pilgrim Registry. In addition, it will allow those responsible for the Office to know the approximate volume of pilgrims who will arrive in Santiago in the near future, in order to adapt the necessary resources.
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