Women walking the famous Camino de Santiago have revealed they have suffered “terrifying” sexual harassment in rural areas of Spain, Portugal and France, leaving them fearing for their lives.
Nine women told The Guardian they had been harassed while attempting the pilgrimage route over the past five years.
In a series of disturbing allegations, seven of the women say they confronted men masturbating or touching themselves in Spain and Portugal, one of whom chased a victim across the countryside.
Another woman said she had to fight off disgusting comments from several men, while the ninth said a man approached her in a van and begged her to come inside.
The horrific incidents occurred as the pilgrims walked remote stretches of the Camino, which stretches nearly 500 miles from St. Jean-Pied-du-Port, near Biarritz in France, to Santiago de Compostela in Spain.
Lorena Gaibor, founder of Camigas, an online forum for pilgrims, said: “Sexual harassment is endemic on the Camino… Every damn year we get reports of women experiencing the same things.”
Women walking the famous Camino de Santiago have revealed they have suffered “terrifying” sexual harassment in rural areas of Spain, Portugal and France. (Archive image of the Camino de Santiago)
The horrific incidents took place as the pilgrims walked remote stretches of the Camino, which stretches almost 500 miles from St. Jean-Pied-du-Port, near Biarritz in France, to Santiago de Compostela (pictured) in Spain .
A 25-year-old woman, identified by The Guardian as Rosie, said she was walking along a wooded path in Portugal during the summer when she came across a man with no pants on and masturbating.
She described the incident as “scary” and claimed that local police did not answer the phone when she tried to call them. “I felt completely alone,” she recalled.
Rosie, who did not give her last name, said this was an added element that hikers face on a trail that is already physically and mentally demanding.
The Camino de Santiago has grown in popularity in recent years, with a record 446,000 people walking it last year, 53 percent of them women.
Marie Albert, a feminist journalist and writer, told The Guardian that there is a “taboo” around claiming that the routes are not safe for women.
During his big trip to Santiago de Compostela in 2019, he recalled suffering several attacks.
One man tried to kiss her, another masturbated in front of her, a third bombarded her with text messages and a fourth followed her down the street. On some occasions, the harassers were fellow pilgrims.
Of the nine women who spoke to the Guardian, six reported their incidents to the police. And only in one case was the perpetrator found and prosecuted.
The accusations follow a series of incidents along the famous trail. In 2018, a 50-year-old Venezuelan woman was allegedly kidnapped and raped by two men while walking in northern Spain.
The Camino de Santiago has grown in popularity in recent years, with a record 446,000 people walking it last year, 53 percent of them women. (File image)
Last year, Spanish police arrested a 48-year-old man accused of holding a 24-year-old German walker against her will in his home and sexually assaulting her.
And in 2019, police in Portugal arrested a 78-year-old man accused of kidnapping and attempting to rape a pilgrim from Germany.
The Spanish government launched a campaign in 2021 for pilgrims to access information on how to contact emergency services.
Police in Portugal told The Guardian they had stepped up patrols along several routes along the Camino.