130 - Madrid’s New Gateway For Pilgrims

Important links mentioned in the show:

Albergue Comendadoras de Santiago de Madrid and Welcome Center: https://www.caminodesantiagooficial.com/

To Join American Pilgrims on the Camino:
https://americanpilgrims.org/membership/

Wonderful video showing the albergue and welcome center, and a "how to" for booking a bed at Albergue Comendadoras:

https://youtu.be/gNjBXyJSBhA?si=JgUZqMjMSxFFwFPu

List of collaborating associations with the Albergue Comendadoras de Santiago de Madrid and Welcome Center:

• Asociación de Amigos del Camino de Santiago de Astorga y Comarca
• Camino Francés Federación (CFF)
• Asociación de Amigos del Camino de Corea en Madrid
• Fraternidad Internacional del Camino de Santiago (FICS)
• American Pilgrims on the Camino
• Peaceable Projects
• Canadian Company of Pilgrims.
• St. Jakobusbruderschart Trier
• Asociación de Amigos del Camino de Santiago en Japón
• Foreningen af Danske Santiagopilgrimme
• Asociación de Amigos del Camino de Santiago en Argentina

Transcript

Opening And Guest Introductions

Leigh 0:03

Hello, pilgrims. I'm Lee Brennan, and this is the Camino Cafe Podcast. Today's interview showcases the goodness that can happen when you combine passion for the Camino along with local and international collaboration. We welcome four special guests, three US-based pilgrims who are board members of the American Pilgrims on the Camino, Bill Art, Tom Coleman, and Ruben Mendoza. And our fourth guest, Juan Carlos Pérez Cabezas, he is a Spanish-based pilgrim and is the president of the International Fraternity of the Comino de Santiago and the Association of Friends of the Comino de Santiago of Historica. Under the leadership of Juan Carlos, along with the participation of numerous international Camino Associations, including the American Pilgrims and the Camino Association, the very first Camino Welcome Center in all of Spain, and a new albergue that is solely dedicated to international pilgrims, opened in 2025 in Madrid. The interview you are about to hear is first with all four guests, with Ruben serving as our translator. Okay, so let's join the conversation now with Tom, Bill, Ruben, and Juan Carlos. Let's go. So Juan Carlos, this is the very first welcome center for the Camino to be located in Spain. Can you tell us a little bit about it?

Rubin 2:16

So Madrid is the initiation of the Camino for many international pilgrims, so we decided that it was um is the initiation for uh many international um pilgrims that come to start their caminos, they start in Madrid. So therefore we fought we felt that it was needed to have an albergue in Madrid. The president of the Association del Camino of Santiago de Corea in Madrid albergues. And when he decided to error because it would come, it's not personal and nothing, is when we recognise the testimony and we propon that she abrimos entre those an albergue. So the idea surge because uh it was already an albergue in Madrid some 20 years ago, and uh by funded by the uh the president of the Korean organization. And then after he closed, we he has been friends with us for over 20 years, and we decided to see whether we could uh if we could open another one, we would he was able to contribute to us. So it's not the first one, but it's it's follow-ups on the beginnings of that small albergue that uh that uh the association of Korea hosted.

Leigh 3:52

So the welcome center is it located inside the albergue?

Rubin 4:11

Look at it is that we have to come. So it uh both of them, the albergue and the centre for information will be located at the same same space. It is not necessary for uh a pilgrim to sleep at the albergue to find information at the albergue, no? He says that uh it's it's important to note that the albergue is open uh most to you know almost every every hour. Therefore, it's important to know that uh as open, people can get information for whatever they need or want in regards to the community and starting their pilgrimage.

Leigh 5:31

Okay, so will there be maps available? Uh will you be able to purchase credentials? What kinds of services will be available at the welcome center for pilgrims?

Rubin 5:52

Mapas, credentials, uh, credentials for the peregrinos, but then el año pasado, the association de Astorga and otras cinco asociaciones del camino estuvimos in un proyecto que tenía en un gran proyecto that divided in pequeño project. One of those era an assistant virtual, aprovechando la intelligence artificial, but with information that we are the who are. And the information, of course, the which preoccupied the peregrines much is the transport, for staying from Madrid, at what they can dirige, what trains are, what autobuses are. This is the most information that will have, and approaching the format that is here in the distinct website, in the webs officials. So in principle, yes, uh, you know, maps, credentials, other information that is available. But in addition, we will have a virtual application that has information provided and uh work on a small project by five or six of the associations along the Camino Frances to actually provide information that is more up to date, especially about transportation. How do you leave Madrid? What uh buses, uh trains, etc. you can take in order to uh where is your start or then of your camino will be available for you. In addition to hospitaleros, in addition to hospitaleros, as well as uh as the people that manage the albergue.

Juan Carlos 7:56

Incluso, a modo de ejemplo, incluse con la empresa que transporta in bus peregrinos a Pamplona, incluse in contact através de Camino Frances Federation para que esa empresa in un determinado horario del día hay un numero determinado de peregrinos, would have in this horario un viaje direct a Pamplona and the Pamplona llegar a Saint-Jean-Pierre de Port.

How The Albergue Works And Who Can Stay

Rubin 8:35

So they're working with uh a bus company called ALSA, by which if there's a certain number of uh pilgrims traveling from Madrid to Pamplona, they can uh dedicate a bus and uh and uh they're evaluating the possibility of actually having direct bus rides from um Madrid to Pamplona and then from Pamplona to uh Saint Indop to start the Camino if that's how they want to do it.

Leigh 9:05

That is fantastic. Wow, wow, I love it. All right, so let's switch to the albergue. Uh, what is the process for pilgrims who want to spend the night uh at the start of their camino? What will they need to do?

Rubin 9:42

Entendemos que el albergue no puede funcionar igual que otros albergues cuando el peregrino ya está caminando. Madrid, además, es una ciudad that is atractive for mucha gente para visitarla turísticamente. The man in which occurring is to involve the associations in the extraneous and a travel of else have these reserves. The reservas exist in the albergues traditional. Rubén, traducible, because it's very large. We have to set up the context about how this will happen. First of all, we have to realize that Madrid is a cosmopolitan area where tourism as well as pilgrimage starts there. So we have to contest uh you know to figure out how we could you know make it specific for pilgrims. And that in that context, we wanted to work with the associations, international associations, and use them to actually facilitate and prioritize the uh uh subscription to pilgrims and reserve, make the right reservations. And aument the presence of the Camino de Santiago in that pace. This was one of the reasons in the queen. So we thought that uh you know we recognized that many of the associations, some of their pilgrims are not members of the associations, and therefore we thought that we could combine both the uh promotion of the association as well as tying it to the membership of the associations. Uh, so that's how we we came up to the proposal that we have on hand. When the peregrines were a year at the camino, they were accredited by a cofradía of peregrines. So one of the things, in addition to what I mentioned, is uh traditionally, uh you know, a thousand years ago, uh the uh associations um international as well as local, they um uh attested to the fact that uh this was a pilgrim, and to that they used uh a letter as a um they call it salvo conducto or a way to verify that indeed is a pilgrim or choose a pilgrim to walk the Camino and that's uh they started their journey.

Leigh 13:23

Okay, so uh from what I know right now, that reservation system is not in place yet. So between now and then, is it just first come, first serve basis?

Rubin 13:37

Is it hasta el momento que todo eso is process or no stable contours contour associations? Entonces hasta ahorita es el primero que habla orgullo as el que está recibiendo la two people attending this, and effectively we're gonna say that there is an avalanche of reservas, we're gonna see that the system functions. But at all, we are attending practically at those, but at all, it indicates that the procedure will be this. The procedimient will be a travel of associations. This is the procedure general. Come on in the world, there are exceptions, logically. But the procedure is this. Then we can tell us that in a whole pace no association, or there is an association that no quiet. No vamos a decirle que no a esos peregrinos, but we can also involve a little Jacobo and those associations delivered Jacobo and Stranger who aumentation on the peregrine is such a camera. So today, yes, you know, basically it's first come, first serve. We have two people kind of uh uh handling the reservations and working the uh timely the effect. But we also indicate to everybody that stays that the process will be working through the associations to validate their their membership or or their uh assessing what uh that their uh pilgrims and that they will be initiating the pilgrimage, you know, along whatever camino in Santiago is happening. Uh so the process is basically working through the associations to verify their um you know their support or their endorsement to walk the camino. And but there may be some places internationally that may not have associations as such, and we will find a way to uh provide um you know uh stay for those pilgrims that come about.

Leigh 16:00

Okay. And so what about Spanish pilgrims? Um, folks that you know are from Spain, live in Spain, are they eligible to spend the night here or is this for international guests only?

Rubin 16:13

What happens with the peregrinos that are spanning? Then we can pass the noche. But it's a little limited, with the whole gestion. And we can see that we are nationalities, we are residency. So we have to make it very clear. No, a norteamerican and a espanol no. A norteamerican who lives in Málaga, and a Spanish who lives in Miami diríamos sí. No es de residencia of the person, of the peregrine, because it has confunded a little bit. But if he vive in San Francisco, it's logical, aunque sea, that let him dorm. So first we need to recognize that we only have 24 uh uh uh beds today and we're gonna have over to 40 or a little more. But in principle, we're not talking about nationalities. So that we want to make clear. We're talking about place of residence. You know, if a person lives in Malaga, you know, uh an American lives in Malaga, you know, we probably will not accept him. But if an Spanish person lives in Miami, we'll welcome him uh uh because of the place of residence. So we're talking about place of residence, you know, that needs to be, you know, outside of Spain, not necessarily a nationality per se.

Who Runs It And How To Volunteer

Leigh 18:13

Okay, understand. What organization is actually responsible for running the albergue on a day-to-day basis? ¿Es la Asociación de Corea?

Rubin 18:32

No, no, no, no, no. The Associación de Corea is the queen a día, pero quien estamos gestionando, con muchísima ayuda de Diego, que no solo es el presidente, sino que es nuestro primer hospitalero, es la asociación de Astorga, es la que ha gestionado todo esto y seguimos gestionando, pero como decía al principio, con la ayuda muy fuerte anda inestimable, in this caso, del presidente de la asociación de Corea, but for el motivo que hicimos antes, porque él tuvo el verde y conoce muy bien ese funcionamiento. But the día a día vamos totalmente juntos. And the decisiones, the grand, las toma Astorga, eso sí, con el consenso and the ideas that the gente que está allí, como el presidente of the Association of Corea, Diego Jun, nos transmit. So the um the Association de Camino Amigos del Camino de Santiago and Astorga is the uh principal decision maker as a whole. Obviously, they they work with the Association of Korea and Diego Jun, which is uh you know the first hospitalero there, because of the tradition and and the fact that they're volunteering to work there. But all the decisions, everything else that of consequence is that not only in consensus, but the ultimate decision maker is the

Leigh 20:01

But if someone wants to volunteer as a hospitalero, what would they need to do?

Rubin 20:23

Lo estamos gestionando nosotros. Pero in un futuro nosotros pertenecemos a Camino Francés Federation, la federación que agrupa a las 19 asociaciones del Camino Francés. Se ha creado in la web del albergue de Madrid una parte que todavía no está funcionando, se puede ver que va a estar operative, in the way who quiera ser hospitalero has a manner of soliciting. But not only a Madrid, sino that will display the fechas that he has library, but he no decides at what is the nine, including three alberges of the Camino France and one of the Camino France. This is the idea of the future. The Association of Astorga no is necessary, and it's convenient to travel with an organization superior and create in this webinar of solicitation. But our principal at first of the association.com.com.

Leigh 22:31

Juan Carlos, let's talk a little bit about the organizations that you've been mentioning that are participating in this, like the American Pilgrims on the Camino. What other associations are participating in helping with establishing the Welcome Center and this new albergue?

Rubin 22:48

Bueno, pues creo lo he entendido, ¿no? ¿Qué más asociaciones hay? Pues aparte, por supuesto, the American Pilgrims, a los que le queremos agradecer siempre, desde el primer momento, ver la idea que les pareció bien y apoyarla. Y además, agradecer que fue la primera vez que ellos proponen una ayuda a un proyecto, lo que se llamarían proyectos mayores. Estamos muy orgullosos of a project of the association of Astorga, but no, it is for the rest of the peregrinos, the primer in these ayudas of American Pilgrim. But at the moment, the American Pilgrims have the Canadian Company of Pilgrims, dentro of Spania, the Camino Frances Federation, the Fraternity International of Santiago, and the Association of Corea, the Argentina, and donations that have made a individual. When we talked about the project, the people and those associations from Spanish who had large entertainment the project and animated to go, and so we're uh first of all, we're very thankful for American pilgrims. They contributed to uh to the um build out of the facility. In addition to that, the uh the uh association of uh Canadians um uh group, as well as Korea, as well as Argentina, as well as uh Federacion del Camino Frances, as well as um the uh uh Fraternidad Internacional del Caminos Amigos del Camino de Santiago, and uh there were also very uh various small donations that contributed to the uh to the build up of the albergue uh de las comendadores, which is the principle reunion, entusiasm for sure clean 850 years, this anniversary of 850 anymore, sure. In addition, the support of the Comendadores that's over over eight hundred and fifty years, and today uh this this month is uh basically the celebration of eight hundred and fifty years of this congregation of nuns that support the Camino Santiago. They donated uh or provided us uh with enthusiasm and uh you know um the the space to actually put uh forth the albergue in the centro depression. So we're very thankful to them also because of their contribution provided in prime real estate in Madrid.

Leigh 26:24

Yeah, that is fantastic.

Rubin 26:44

Yeah, I forgot one. Rebecca Scott was one of the ones that I forgot, so it's very important to just mention it.

Juan Carlos’ Motivation And Future Vision

Leigh 26:51

Last question, Juan Carlos, for you. I know you are a very dedicated pilgrim, and this welcome center in albergue, you seem to have a lot of passion for it. Can you tell us about why you're so passionate about opening this welcome center and what it means to you as a pilgrim?

Rubin 27:30

You have in the camino 28 years, and the camera has been creciendo. But you also have creciendo con el camino. Because not only, but the association have been abierted to this crecimiento. No hemos sido ajenos top, pays that 28 years no existing in the camera. In a city like Madrid. Look at that association de Astorga firm convenios with associations extrangoters after 15, 18 years, when nobody had, we intend to adelant and delay of what the camino. And the manner that the response of the rest of the world Jacobo. My passion and love for the Camino started 28 years ago. Uh, you know, as time went by, my passion and love for the Camino continues to grow in anticipation of what has happened. I've seen countries that uh did not have representatives and uh walking the Camino, and I've seen more and more from all over the world being part of that. And so I try to anticipate what's coming and how the Camino develops and grows, and conserving the traditions of uh welcoming people. And uh, you know, that's uh passion for over 28 years, along with the association of Astorga that I lead and I uh we promote with all the other groups along the Camino Frances and other locations that promote the uh the Camino as a whole.

Leigh 29:45

Do you have any plans to expand and have centers in Pamplona or anywhere else?

American Pilgrims’ Role And Major Grant

Rubin 29:58

Uh the Pamplona or in the lo que si, for example, for so nosemos unido andas three años la Federation del Camino Francés, is empezar a trabajar in conjunto, porque an association sola no puede hacerlo, hacerlo así sola. On the way, además Camino Francés is unidos. On the way quite project that could be in a large donde association, in principle we have this association, but with the apocalypse of those. And we're gonna in the future and cómo ayudar, seguir ayudando a los perros. So the answer is no. We don't have any plans to do anything else anywhere else. You know, the first thing that we need to do is to uh, you know, establish, well establish, you know, processes, uh, etc., uh, of the albergue de Madrid and continue with the expansion for the next two or three years to actually, you know, include more pets. However, you know, the association of the Camino Francés or the Federación del Camino Frances, it's important to note that if there's another project that uh that needs development or that needs there's a need to actually execute uh a project along the Camino Frances, you know, the 15 associations and the Federación will work together to actually do that project and enlist the help and support from all the other groups, international or whatever help may come to actually establish uh a new project or a new albergue or something of that sort.

Leigh 31:59

Wonderful. Well, Juan Carlos, I want to say thank you on behalf of all the international pilgrims that will possibly be staying at the albergue or uh coming to the welcome center. And also thank you for everything that you've done for the Camino and for its pilgrims. It's wonderful to see your passion. And I just want to recognize all the work that you have done alone, I know, with several team members. And lastly, I want to say thank you for making this an international program that American Pilgrims on the Camino could be such an important part of, as well as the other associations and all the other people that made donations.

Rubin 32:43

And thank you very much for the opportunity to participate in your in your program and uh and to explain uh to explain the the project.

Leigh 32:53

Wonderful. Well, thank you so much, Juan Carlos. We so appreciate you taking the time to talk to us today. After our conversation ended with Juan Carlos, we took a few moments to discuss specifically the involvement of American pilgrims on the Camino with this great project. First, though, Ruben wanted to highlight a few things that Juan Carlos said. So here we are.

Rubin 33:16

He provided a great reflection on six years of effort. That's how long it took him to convince the um uh the uh sisters, uh, the nuns, to actually provide the space and then, you know, get all the permits because it's called um uh Patrimonio Nacional or it's like heritage, you know, it's kind of like UNESCO building, um, you know, that they need to actually get permits. And that took almost a year, or over a year to actually get the permits to actually do that. You know, it the works inside, which is not very much, but it's you know, but you're messing around with uh, you know, over a thousand-year building, you know. Um, that's what they what they had to do. So so I'm glad that uh he continues to be happy.

Leigh 34:11

How did American Pilgrims on the Camino first get involved with being a part of the new welcome center in the Albergue?

Rubin 34:19

Okay, I I can answer that. As part of the um external relations team and the grants team, um Juan Carlos contacted me and see whether we would support them in the effort to actually be able to do that. Along with that, we uh we consulting with the treasurer, uh, which is Bill and other members. And uh, you know, uh we didn't know how much it was going to cost or anything else, but we started the process to establish a major project grant. Um, and uh, you know, because in the in the the regular grants, uh at that time we only provided six thousand dollars uh in funding to them. Right.

Bill 35:01

Yeah, so it goes back even to before that we knew about this project, what happened was we had the board had looked at ways to um further uh um expand the reach of the grants program. And given the fact that we had um sufficient funding to do that, we we looked for basically another way to do that. And so we said, well, what we'll do is we'll look at larger projects outside of the normal scope of the grants program. So that's how that it all came along. There was a it was a multi um, it was a basically like an ad hoc committee that got together with former board members and current board members and other members of American Pilgrims, and we all kind of worked together to try to hash out and brainstorm what we thought would be a good approach, and that's ultimately what came out of this. And then um Ruben and his team in the external relations um brought the the Madrid Welcome Center to the to the committee, and we basically worked through that is how we got started on it. So but Ruben's done a lot of work, obviously, with working with them to overall to get get ready for the you know, as a as this as the situation developed, we got more and more involved.

Leigh 36:13

How much money was donated?

Bill 36:15

We we provided 60,000 to the to the overall project.

Leigh 36:19

For folks that may not be familiar, how is that money raised?

Funding, Donations, And Membership Growth

Tom 36:22

You know, one of the things that always struck me um about the American pilgrims on the Camino is it was it was sort of instinctual that as soon as we organized, um we we did three things. We we figured out how to get people together and give them information to prepare them for the Camino. We started training Hulse Watanos uh a year after we formally became an organization to to help out, to send people over and work with their hands. And then the third thing we did is we looked around and we said, what can we do from here? Right? Uh an ocean separates us, but we can send money. And so uh a combination of you know, sort of passing the hat at the early very small gatherings, but also the you know, the the little couple dollar donations that came in with a a membership renewal or credential request, those added up. And in 2008, we sent our first grant of $10,000. And since then, we've been granting every year, and it's not an easy process. There's a lot of regulations uh that we have to abide by, and you know, IRS uh requirements. And um Rubin and the grants team has done, and before Rubin, uh they they've done an extraordinary job at deciding what's the best. We don't have unlimited resources, but we try to deploy them wisely. And so Lee, one of the things that has happened is um we have had pilgrims now approach us spontaneously. Um pilgrimage tends to be a later in life uh activity, and as you get later in life, uh you know, you look at you know your bequest. Uh, what would you like to leave beside? You know, a legacy, basically. And uh so we have been approached by some pilgrims who have donated uh generously, and we get a lot of the generosity isn't just an amount, uh it's the spirit in which it's given. And so we're we're you know, we're we are I'll say we're beneficiaries, but what we are is we are we are a channel, you know, we are uh an an enabling force to support the Camino.

Bill 39:10

So may I say one thing, Lee, on the on the donation side. You know, while we have had larger size donations, five figures, or um most primarily the bulk of what we raise or fund that comes through in terms of donations, our average donation is about twenty to twenty-five dollars. So there's thousands of pilgrims that donate every year. Okay. That that that's primarily where it comes from. So it's not only just large donations that we receive, but you know, primarily the bulk of it is through you know, two or three thousand donors that donate twenty, ten, twenty, twenty five, you know, fifty dollars.

Leigh 39:52

And that's in addition to their membership.

Bill 39:55

Yes. That's it could be in addition to their membership, but it could, you know, be as just As members as well, or not even being members, they just basically want to make donations to the and contributions to support the Camino and and the way that we support it through our mission.

Leigh 40:09

So uh how many members approximately are uh in the organization right now?

Rubin 40:16

Well three thousand?

Bill 40:19

A little over three thousand as of today, as we speak today.

Leigh 40:23

Wow. Amazing.

Bill 40:25

We've grown, we've grown over the you know, since COVID, we've grown uh probably about 30 percent. I we were at, you know, at a trough during COVID. Obviously, people weren't walking the Camino. But, you know, in my in our tenure, five ten last five years or so, uh, we've seen, you know, substantial growth. Um, just relating to the fact that more and more people are walking the Camino. And and you know, last year the US was number number one outside of Spain in terms of number of pilgrims walking uh earning compostellos. So so we know that there's high interest in the United States, you know, over the last few years, and it's growing.

Leigh 41:01

And if somebody is listening right now who uh is not yet a member, how would they go about becoming a member of the association?

Bill 41:09

Head to our website and there's a spot, tap into membership, and there's plenty of ways that you'll can they'll they'll it'll be directed within the website to get you where you need to be to join. So and we're happy to have you.

Reservation Flow Through APOC And Walk-In Policy

Leigh 41:22

Yeah, I'll have the link in the show notes. Now let's get back to the albergue and the welcome center. As far as the albergue and the reservation program that Juan Carlos was referring to, that's something that you guys are actively working on right now.

Tom 41:37

Uh you will be able to initiate the reservation process through the American Pilgrims on the Camito website. So, what that would involve is you logging in as a member and then through your member account, uh, we will uh enable you to communicate with the Madrid Albergé and to make a reservation.

Bill 42:00

My understanding is that if there's a space for you, in other words, there's an open space, they'll they'll accept until they're they're full, right? In other words, so if there's not a if reservations have the priority, obviously, but people that are gonna walk if people walk in and and there happens to be a berth for them, it will be provided. Now, obviously, I mean they're concerned about tourists you using it, but for the most part, I would think that people who are intending to walk the Camino, there's a way to demonstrate that. I mean, you're gonna have a backpack, I would okay.

Leigh 42:36

So, Tom and Bill, you guys were just there, and uh I understand Bill, you got to spend the night at the Albergue as one of the first pilgrims to spend the night. What was it like?

Bill 42:45

Well, both Tom and I stayed there.

Leigh 42:47

Um, okay, Tom, I didn't know you spent the night too.

Bill 42:49

Yeah, so and it was it was the a typical pilgrim experience, you know. You you have your bunk bed and um, you know, you do your thing, and and it's base pretty basic, you know, for the most part. So, but uh it's convenient, it's in a nice place, nice location. Um, there's it's in the Plaza de Comin Comendores, Dendoras, and so there's there's cafes and shops all around there to you know, spend some time. Tom and I spent some time hanging out there a little bit uh too. And so there's you know, it's it's a really nice place location for for people to come and say, and there's things always going on in that plaza as well. There's different things going on, so it's kind of interesting from that perspective. And then I think Tommy had a tour of the cathedral, so they've been renovating the cathedral, the church as well.

Tom 43:33

So we uh they are renovating a little bit, but uh that's that is the plan. Uh they they do have daily services, and it's it's not in the convent itself, it's in the church next door.

Leigh 43:49

Which is a part of the whole yes, yeah.

First Nights At The Albergue: On-The-Ground Impressions

Tom 43:52

Okay. They're just renovating like the entrance area, but they do hold services as a matter of fact. Oh, they do. Yeah, we uh we uh attended part of a service when we were there. Um I also I also really want to hold up, Lee, that uh Bill was pilgrim one. He um, you know, Bill um our treasurer who did so much to make this happen, made history by being the first registered uh pilgrim to stay at the Madrid Alberg.

Bill 44:23

I mean, just technically because I had been walking the Camino, the Madrid, so but you know, there are other people that stayed. We had probably a dozen people or so stayed that night that were, you know, first night there. So but it was pretty, it was awesome to be able to be one of the first people of pilgrims to stay in the in the in the albergue.

Leigh 44:40

Yeah, that's very cool. All right. Well, I just want to thank the three of you for everything that you've done to uh make the American Pilgrims on the Camino Association such an important part of this effort for all of the international pilgrims around the world that will be coming and staying there and visiting the Welcome Center. So thank you, three, for every single thing that you've done to make this happen. We really appreciate it.

Tom 45:08

You're welcome. Thank you for what you do.

Leigh 45:10

Oh, you're welcome. Well, that's a wrap, pilgrims. Thanks so much for being here and listening to the show and supporting the show. Thanks to Juan Carlos, Ruben, Tom, and Bill for being guests on the show today. Special thanks to Ruben. Wow, thank you. Thank you so much, Ruben, for helping us with the translation today. In the show notes, there are links that we mention in the show for the Welcome Center, the Albergue, as well as a link for a video for members of American Pilgrims on the Camino that details the instructions for booking a bed. So be sure to check all of that out. And if you want to join American Pilgrims on the Camino, there's also a link for that as well. Well, Pilgrims, I'm going to be back next week with a new show. Can't wait to see you then. But until then, please, please, please keep planning and keep training because the Camino, it's waiting for you. Las cosas key necessito in la vida Istana key. Las cosas, key necessito, in la vida, Estana key. I am free, free as a bird now with my feathered wings. I am free, free as a bird now with my feathered wings.