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ou have walked the Camino francés. Perhaps you've walked one or more of the other routes as well. The Camino is in your blood and you're now trying to think of what the next stage of your Camino life could be. Have you considered giving back to the Camino as a volunteer albergue host? Those who have gone on from walking the Camino to serving as hospitaleros say that this experience is in every sense a Camino of its own. You will find on this page a number of items related to hospitalero service:
General information about serving Many walkers on the Camino carry a strong sense of being part of a stream, a stream of humanity or even a flow of history, moving ever westward. As an hospitalero you become a rock in that stream. The rock stays in place and a drop of water hesitates briefly and then moves on, leaving the rock to interact with the next drop and the next and the next. You provide the resting place where fellow pilgrims can stop and renew themselves in body, mind and spirit. Generally speaking those responsible for albergues look for volunteers who have walked the Camino and who have taken an hospitalero training course. There is a preference for persons with serviceable Spanish language skills—and ideally another language as well (thankfully English will serve very well for that!). But having said that, there are exceptions. Some albergues find themselves with a gap in their schedule or occasionally an hospitalero must leave due to an emergency; your willingness to give back to the Camino through enthusiastic volunteering may be your most important skill.
Hospitalero Training through American Pilgrims If you have been looking for a way to say thank you for all that the Camino has given you, look no further than American Pilgrims on the Camino and its hospitalero training courses. The next course has not been established. Check back. Do you know that there is an Hospitalero Training Scholarship Program? And an Hospitalero Service Grant Program? The goal of the American Pilgrims Hospitalero Training Scholarship is to make participation in the organization’s hospitalero training financially feasible for all members of American Pilgrims. See the American Pilgrims' Grant Program page for details and application information. On that same page you will also find information about the Hospitalero Service Grant Program. For some insight into the sense of fulfillment, there is an interesting YouTube video about volunteer hospitalero service that has snippets of interviews with the late Don José María of San Juan de Ortega, Don Jesús Jato of the albergue Ave Fenix and the Confraternity of Saint James' Marion Marples. If you would like to contact American Pilgrims for more information about becoming a volunteer hospitalero or if you have specific questions about our training, please contact the hospitalero training coordinators at hospitalerotraining@americanpilgrims.com. Click HERE for a list of albergues where hospitaleros may be posted through the Federación Española de Asociaciones de Amigos del Camino de Santiago. The Hospitalero News The Hospitalero News is a periodic newsletter with information about training and service on the Camino. Hospitalero News call for submissions! The fall 2013 issue of Hositalero News is in the works and the editors would love to hear about recent volunteer experiences of American Pilgrims' hospitaleros during 2013: stories, pictures, recipes, what worked well (and maybe what didn’t). Let us know where and when you worked and with whom. Sharing your experience is a big help to other volunteers and a great source of inspiration to those who are considering volunteering. The deadline for submissions will be announced soon! For queries and submissions contact the Hospitalero News by e-mail. Hospitalero News, April 2013 ( Hospitalero News, November 2012 ( |
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Among the various Camino sites and forums there are some hospitalero-related areas: • Pilgrimage to Santiago: There is a dedicated Hospitalero area in this very active forum. • Canadian Hospitaleros: Hospitaleros and hospitalero trainers Tom Friesen and Mary Virtue oversee this blogspot. While oriented toward Canadian hospitaleros it nonetheless has material of general interest. * An Innkeeper's Guide: Volunteering on the Camino de Santiago: A blog by Brett Stuckel which contains a very frank, insightful and comprehensive overview of the toil, joys and tribulations of being an hospitalero. * The Confraternity of Saint James has a short but informative article by a first-time hospitalero. * A delightful description of a first-time hospitalero's exciting first day. |
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Hospitalero training through other organizations In addition to the training offered by American Pilgrims in conjunction with its annual Gathering of Pilgrims, training is available in other countries. See our International Events page for more information about these opportunities. We know that we have not listed all available courses here and we would like to be apprised of others. Please contact our webmaster. • Hospitalero training in Canada: Training courses which have been approved by the Federación Española de Asociaciones de Amigos del Camino de Santiago are regularly offered in Canada. The Canadian Hospitaleros' blog always has the latest information about training offerings as well as albergue descriptions and reports by returned hospitaleros. Training sessions will appear on our Local/Regional Events page. • Federación Española de Asociaciones de Amigos del Camino de Santiago: The umbrella organization of the Spanish Associations of Friends of the Camino has information and a regular calendar of courses. You might also check our International Events page. There are courses for first time volunteers and further courses for veterans (including basic English for use in albergues!). (Spanish) • Moratinos on the Camino: Rebekah Scott, who lives in Moratinos, 375 km from Santiago just east of Sahagún, periodically offers an English-language version of the Spanish Federation training at her house in Moratinos. Her curriculum is fully reviewed and approved annually by the Federacion de Amigos. This may be the most "on the ground" training offered anywhere as it actually takes place on the Camino and often involves input from pilgrims walking through. The schedule is determined by demand. For further information about scheduling and cost, please contact Rebekah at rebrites@yahoo.com. • The Confraternity of St. James: The Confraternity offers training but, as they operate their own two refugios in Rabanal del Camino and Miraz, the training is oriented toward these facilities and their villages. Nonetheless their training is broad enough that it should be accepted by the Federación Española for service in their facilities as well. For further information contact the warden coordinators at r-wardens@csj.org.uk or m-wardens@csj.org.uk. • The Confraternity of Saint James South Africa: The South African Confraternity offers hospitalero training in different regions of the country as demand requires. Anyone interested in this service should contact the CSJSA directly. |
What is it like to volunteer as a hospitalero? Your most important duty will be to serve as host to a steady stream of peregrinos. This will involve providing a warm and sincere welcome to all pilgrims. Sometimes it will involve listening, sometimes conversing. It will mean being a resource for advice on such matters as first aid or other medical care (not necessarily actually dispensing care), knowing where to buy supplies, when and where church services will be held, what lies ahead on the trail. You may find yourself in the role of confessor, psychologist or advisor to the lovelorn. You may become responsible for organizing evening meals for any number of hungry pilgrims. You will be up with the peregrinos in the morning and you may turn out the lights in the late evening. And there will of course be washing sheets, cleaning toilets and showers, mopping floors, sweeping outdoor areas. You may be the one to order propane and cleaning supplies, or to do the accounting—you may feel like you are running a small business. You will certainly find yourself part of a local Spanish community or village, and community relations will be important. Most formal hospitalero assignments are for a half month; informal ones might be only for a few days. You will likely have little time off during your tenure. In short, this will probably be one of the most intense, and intensely gratifying, experiences of your life! Still sound like something you'd be interested in? 
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