Saint James' Day (Galicia Day)
25 July 2026 — Buen Camino! Every road leads toward the light.
On 25 July the Catholic Church honours the apostle James the Greater, and in Spain, whose patron saint he is and where he is known as Santiago, the day is an official holiday in Galicia and in some other regions. Tradition says his relics rest in the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia, the destination of the Camino de Santiago, Europe's most famous pilgrimage route. The pilgrim's emblem is the scallop shell, usually tied to a backpack beside a walking staff. The date is also Galicia Day, when the region celebrates its identity with music, bagpipes and processions. On the evening of 24 July, fireworks light up the square in front of the cathedral. In years when 25 July falls on a Sunday, a Holy Year is declared and the Holy Door is opened. The Milky Way has long been linked in folk tradition with the pilgrims' road, and the name Compostela is often explained as „field of the star“, though its origin is disputed.
Flying across the sky: An ethereal, bluish-silver figure of a pilgrim made of luminous dots and fine lines, like a constellation, walking across the sky with a long staff and a scallop shell glowing at the shoulder
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