Sarria marks the beginning of the section of El Camino that attracts the largest number of pilgrims. It is the first stage for those who join El Camino with clean feet and dreams of Compostela. We are joined by new names, other nationalities, languages, people. Some of them new, some that we have seen but forgotten. An interesting trick to play on pilgrims just arrived to their destination (which for us today it would be Portomarín) is to ask where they started the day, just to see them struggle as they attempt to recall. El Camino trips our steps and hardens our memory, but it also refreshes the soul, and confirms that one does not need to know or remember a lot to be happy. Happiness on El Camino is as ephemeral as certain, and one must pay attention so as not to miss the subtle flight of a butterfly that crosses the path, or a bench in the shade, or the memory of your eyes looking at me as I discover a fountain as unexpected as fresh. There are recurrent questions on El Camino, and there is always someone who asks me if the Universe, if other Earths, if the stars. I always tell them about other dimensions, and about the multiverse that wraps our own. Which brings up the question of whether there are other Caminos. If they go in other directions, if there is another Santiago. I tell them yes, that Santiago repeats itself, in the geography of the world and in our sons, in our history and in your eyes. There might even exist another Camino where I wouldn’t think of you at every step. But I don’t think so.

“Yo sé que allí

allí donde tú dices

las nubes callan palabras

y el cielo no dice nada

y el sol es un sol

transparente como tu corazón”---Luis Eduardo Aute (“Albanta”)