The first maritime version of the Camino Maltés de Santiago de Compostela pilgrim route from Malta to Spain started on Tuesday – a year after it was launched.
The pilgrimage, which ends at the end of July, is being supported by the Embassy of Malta in Spain, in collaboration with Heritage Malta, the Malta Tourism Authority and Yachting Malta.
The initiative is being piloted by the Gabarron Foundation in Spain, in partnership with Xircammini, the NGO that operates the Camino Maltés de Santiago de Compostela.
“The regatta integrates all types of boats without distinction of class or category. In addition to the spiritual dynamic, its aim is to foster participation in a new maritime route that offers a common historical and artistic legacy of the people and cultures of the Mediterranean,” said Juan Gabarron, captain of the sailing boat Algeiba, which is trailblazing the first edition of this year’s ambitious project.
It is now one year since the Camino Maltés de Santiago de Compostela was officially launched, installing the iconic waymark in Birgu at the entrance to Fort St Angelo as a gift from the government of Galicia in Spain.
“It all came about in the summer of 2021, when I obtained the Compostela after walking the Camino de Santiago with some friends,” said Maltese Ambassador to Spain, Daniel Azzopardi.
Inspired by such a wonderful experience, I started work on a diplomatic level with the government of Galicia, and together with XirCammini and the support of Heritage Malta and the MTA, we convinced the relevant Spanish authorities to officially establish the Camino Maltés de Santiago de Compostela.
“It is now time to launch the maritime way of this route; to be done by sailing boat as per the rules of the Camino de Santiago,” Azzopardi said, adding that it could be a new niche for Malta.
XirCammini is a member of the Camino Compostela Europa Federation and a strong promoter of the initiative, offering logistical and financial support for the first edition of the maritime regatta.
Its ethos is encompassed in its motto: Appreciating Europe’s Cultural and Historical Heritage through Trekking.
The 3,493km itinerary to Santiago de Compostela started in the heart of Malta, outside St Paul’s Catacombs in Rabat, from where the pilgrim sailors were accompanied on their night walk between Tuesday and Wednesday.
They covered 34km through the medieval citadels, towns and villages of Mdina, Żebbug, Siġġiewi, Qrendi, Żurrieq, Gudja, Għaxaq, Żejtun, Żabbar and Bormla, before reaching Birgu.
The walk ended with morning Mass and pilgrim blessing at the Collegiate Church of Lawrence, the Order of St John’s original collegiate church in Malta before St John’s Co-cathedral.
Departure is from Birgu to Sicily and onto the Aeolian islands, Sardinia and Spain via the Balearic Islands, outlined XirXCammini president James Portelli.
The Gabarron Foundation has commissioned the expert sailor and artist Miguel Angel Ruiz to create an artistic logbook, embellishing the narrative script of this cultural adventure with drawings and paintings.
The foundation’s mission is to foster the development of artists, individuals, communities, organisations and governments through the arts and education, in keeping with its strong belief in the power of art as a social tool to improve and transform societies and that education is at the crux of development.
