Finisterre is a land of traditions and legends, a place where the sun sets, at the end of the earth, where travelers and hikers went in search of knowledge about life and death. There are numerous indications that point to the existence of pagan cults prior to the arrival of the Romans and supported by them. Sun cults, life cults, fertility cults and rituals ... We don’t know if the memory of these traditions was kept alive or was temporarily lost with the advent of Christianity, but we know that in order to Christianize their people, the Church decided promote in the area a cult with great strength and devotion: the Virgin cult.

The arrival at Monte del Gozo continues to be full of meaning for the pilgrim but can hardly have the significance that it had in former times. The arrival at the top of the hill meant for the pilgrims a moment as crucial as the entrance to the cathedral and tomb of Santiago, for on seeing the city the pilgrim had, for the first time, the certainty of having reached his goal. Today the situation is partly the same, the same emotion of arrival, but the dangers and difficulties left behind are not of the same proportions and, therefore, do not allow the experience to have the same meaning.

 With some frequency tends to speak in Jacobean pilgrims scopes of tourism with some purists sneer putting values ​​pilgrim and pilgrimage. Scalpel is needed on this issue, because neither is gold that glitters all that shit we sneer. Not infrequently the sight and smell deceive us. There are tourists who are true pilgrims and pilgrims are mere assumptions backpack tourists and shelter. The quality depend on the person, not the context. No one is more or less than anyone. Could be a good topic of conversation, but I intend to now assess the presence of tourism in the world of pilgrimage.

Torres Del Rio is located in the western part of Navarre, about 70 kilometers from Pamplona, ​​in the region known as Tierra de Estella. To be better understood by pilgrims, be reminded that the villa is located midway between Los Arcos and Viana, dominating a high hill with Sansol.

Photo: Zarateman