CRIME ON THE CAMINO

The Camino is a really safe place and crime is rare here. Yes, there's the occasional theft of small items in the albergues. You protect your valuables in albergues as you would anywhere when you are sleeping in a room with 20+ others. Many people sleep with their iPhone, money and passport at the bottom of their sleeping bag. But on occasion things disappear. Maybe a water bottle, or an item of clothing. Is it taken by mistake or an actual theft? Could be either. Assaults are extremely rare, but they do happen as they do anywhere in the world.

 

I met a woman that has ended up in the same towns as I do and we, along with others have shared dinner together, on several occasion. She walks differently than most as she leaves later in the morning and takes her time getting to the next stop for the night. Late in the afternoon, one day, she was walking by herself on an isolated section of the Camino. Being late in the day, most pilgrims had already arrived at their days destination, so she was pretty much alone.

 

I and others who knew her received a facebook message that she had been assaulted by three bike riders. She later told us that she was accosted by three Spanish men who were doing the Camino on bikes. She said that one of the men seemed to be the ring leader, but that they all were grabbing her and trying to kiss her. They took her cell phone and began taking photos of themselves with her. The photos showed them restraining her by holding her arms and kissing her.

 

Eventually they stopped and it did not get more serious. The dummies gave her back her cell phone and rode off, telling her that they were heading to Leon. When she arrived at her destination, she reported the incident to the Civil Guardia, the Spanish national police. They took the matter seriously. The Camino brings much needed revenue to this part of Spain and the authorities want the pilgrims experience to be a safe one.

 

The next day, while walking to her next destination, Leon, she received a telephone call from the police advising her that the men had been arrested. The police sent a detective to where she was walking, brought her to police headquarters in Leon, filled out the necessary paperwork, provided her with some cafe con leche. At her request they returned her to the location where the detective had picked her up so she could continue walking. That's a pilgrim for you.

 

The next day, the detective once again picked her up, this time from her hotel, and took her court, where the three suspects were being held in jail. After some discussion between the judge and the ever present lawyers, the suspects agreed to plead guilty, pay a 300€ fine each and were ordered to return to their homes in Pamplona. They were forbidden from completing the Camino.

 

This lady was one brave lady. Being in a foreign land, not knowing the language or how the system in Spain works, did the right thing. No telling how many more women would have been accosted by these slime-balls had she not reported what happened. She has continued on with the attitude that she wasn't going to let this incident ruin her Camino experience.

 

I have to wonder if the police in the US would have taken the matter as seriously and responded in the same fashion.

 

 

Posted with Blogsy