The Way of St. James in Religious Tourism Research

Abstract

The Camino de Santiago as a tourist and cultural phenomenon has grown exponentially in recent decades. This route, of medieval origin, began to receive general attention in the second half of the 20th century. This interest manifested itself almost in parallel in two interconnected areas. On the one hand, there is the revival of traditional pilgrimages, i.e. on foot or by non-mechanised means of transport. On the other hand, the Way of St. James has become an object of attention in research, initially with a historical and artistic focus, but as time goes by, a tourist perspective is incorporated into the increasingly important field of relations between tourism and religion. The value of this article, which is not strictly research, lies in the fact that it brings together and collates all scientific production, in book or journal article format, which deals with the relationship between tourism and the Pilgrims’ Route to Santiago de Compostela. It is, therefore, a very useful tool for researchers who will find in one article a large volume of texts on this subject. From the methodological point of view, a search has been carried out which, in the case of books, has focused mainly on those publishers with specific collections of tourism studies. However, the greatest effort has been focused on journals, with the analysis of those with the highest impact factor. Although tourism journals have occupied a relevant place in this research, we have also analysed others, including those related to religious studies, geography or sociology. The final result is materialised in an appendix which includes the complete record, including the DOI or url for better location, of 180 texts. The content of these texts allows us to verify the international relevance of the Way of St. James in tourism and religious studies and the transversality and complexity of the Jacobean phenomenon.