Will The Pound Sterling

kites

time ago talking to a friend about the Camino de Santiago, on the possibility to perform the pilgrimage. Yes I would. A few days later, talking to someone about trips I mentioned the crazy (and unlikely) hope that I have to reach Chalma by the mountain road between Mexico City and the sanctuary. Almost as a joke I said that path would surely many more devout than the Apostle Santiago Compostela, cross betting to their noisy disbelief. But my surprise was even greater, to find data on the number of pilgrims who come to one and another shrine, I almost fell backwards: Santiago de Compostela, the goal of European pilgrimages for more than ten centuries received in 2007 to nearly 120 000 pilgrims, the Lord of Chalma in the State of Mexico was in the days of your party to and a half million pilgrims! not counting those who come at other times of year.

analyzing the data of Santiago I realized that it is very precise way of accounting for the pilgrims and I assumed that the method of counting the pilgrims to Chalma was "the ojímetro" but nonetheless can not be equated in any way. I found some sources say the number of pilgrims each year is 15 million, while the Secretary of Tourism of the State of Mexico (to justify their appalling inaction, I guess) says they are 3 million visitors a year. In any case, an overwhelming amount of people and resources.

still amazes me that there are politicians who see a dim religious tourism, so appreciated elsewhere (say in the State of Israel * Jewish faith, although Christians are pilgrims , or PSOE Spain and Zapatero) if they leave a fortune! Ago ya mucho comentaba en este espacio que había que pagarle un viaje al delegado de la Gustavo A. Madero, a Lourdes, Francia, para que vea lo que se puede hacer en favor de la gente con un foco de atracción como la Villa de Guadalupe. Hoy pienso que lo mismito debe hacerse en Chalma, con el añadido de hacer atractivo el camino mismo.

Los que no conozcan Chalma deben darse una vuelta, es un lugar increíble, donde es posible ver una piedad popular alegre, festiva (¡sí se baila!) y ¡masiva! pero donde lamentablemente no se cuenta con estacionamientos, vialidades, baños, hoteles, comedores, ni adecuados, ni dignos, ni suficientes.

*De hecho, el Estado de Israel debe al turismo religioso el 70% de los ingresos totales correspondientes a esta industria. “Y el turismo en general es el que aporta la tercera parte de la renta nacional, en un país de 7.5 millones de personas (75% judíos, 22% árabes y 3% cristianos), que tiene que dedicar la mitad de su presupuesto íntegramente a defensa.”