Travelling the Camino can be very cheap. The accommodation is inexpensive, restaurants offer cheaper meals and there are no transport costs apart from a little shoe leather. All you need is a ‘credential’ – a camino passport and these benefits are available to the walkers
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But not everybody is a walker, some do it on bikes or with donkeys and horses. Perfectly ok. However there are others who do it by car. They get a credential, have it stamped regularly but use the Camino as, essentially, a means for a cheap holiday.
It is a sad reminder that even the simple pleasures and experiences of life can be spoiled by some. The albergue I am in has a policy that if it is ‘Completo’ – full and someone comes along who has been walking all day and also discover someone, who has driven to the albergue, has registered, then the driver will be asked to leave to make space for the walker.
On the Camino you are often impressed with human nature and endurance but then, occasionally, the opposite occurs.