We have always given part of what we earn back to the Camino
This page says how much, to whom, and what changed. Including the part that is no longer true.
The promise has not changed — only who it reaches
The albergues
When the pandemic closed the Camino, the albergues that keep pilgrims fed and sheltered had no pilgrims and no income. Many are donation-only houses with no reserves at all; some did not expect to open again. Camino for Good members funded relief payments to the hospitaleros named further down this page.
They are still there. They reopened.
We stopped
That need passed, and we ended the payments, because the honest thing to do with a relief fund is to end it when the emergency ends. Continuing to collect for it would have been easier and better marketing. It would also have been a lie.
The Pilgrim Grant
The need moved. Part of what you pay now sends a pilgrim to Santiago who could not otherwise go — at least one walker a year, fare and flights paid in full.
A number, next to every price
Every year we meet people for whom the Camino is not a question of will but of money — someone walking out of grief, illness, divorce, service, or a life that has just come apart, who cannot find $6,000 for the flights and the beds. The fund sends at least one of them every year, in person, with us — and more when the fund allows.
A place covers flights, every night’s lodging, luggage transfer between towns, hosting and the walk itself. Each grant is worth the full published fare plus round-trip airfare — about $6,000 for the 2027 Camino Portugués.
| When you buy | To the fund | How often |
|---|---|---|
| A single route — $35 | $5 | Once, at purchase |
| The Pilgrim Pass — $59 a year | $10 | Every year you renew |
| A seasonal walk — $19 | $3 | Once, at purchase |
| The Group Pass — $199 a year, up to 20 people | $25 | Every year you renew |
| Pilgrim Patron — $199, lifetime | $100 | Once |
| A place on a hosted pilgrimage | $100 | Once, per place |
The ceiling. There isn’t one. When the fund takes in more than one grant costs, we open it to more pilgrims. The surplus never comes back to us.
The part we have to say plainly
Camino for Good is a for-profit company, not a charity. These amounts are not charitable donations and they are not tax-deductible. Nobody will send you a receipt for your taxes, because there is nothing to receipt.
What they are is a published, fixed part of a price you pay us, which we have committed in public to spend on one thing — and which we account for every January, on this page.
The accounts, published here
How much the fund took in, broken down by product. Who walked. What their place actually cost. What is carried into the following year. If the number is disappointing, we publish the disappointing number.
A promise about money that is never audited in public is just marketing. This is the audit. The first one appears in January 2028, covering 2027.
The albergues you helped
These are the houses and the hospitaleros that Camino for Good members kept open through the closure. We have not taken this list down and we are not going to. It is the reason anyone should believe the paragraph above.
| Hospitalero | Albergue | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Ana Mari Barrios Carmona | Albergue Van Gogh | Zafra, Spain |
| Acacio & Orietta | Refugio de Peregrinos | Viloria de Rioja, Spain |
| Jessica & Marijn Voogt | Albergue Ecológico El Beso | Lugo, Spain |
| Manuel Santos | Villa San Clemente | Tui, Spain |
| Bruno Bernoni | Albergue San Bruno | Moratinos, Spain |
| Mike de Ayala | La Rosa del Agua | El Acebo, Spain |
| Susi Swain & Fermín | Casa Susi | Trabadelo, Spain |
| Ernesto Díaz | Casa de las Sonrisas | Grañón, Spain |
| Santiago | Albergue Turístico Salceda | Salceda, Spain |
| Marcelo Ramos Einloft | Albergue A Casiña di Marcello | Palas de Rei, Spain |
| Enrico Biolcati | Albergue Dois Caminhos | Valada, Portugal |
| Paula Castro | Quinta da Burra | Porto de Muge, Portugal |
| Pierre Tremblay | Albergue Emaús | Burgos, Spain |
| Natan de Souza | La Fuente Albergue | Liñares, Spain |
| Jan Bouwman | Oasis Trails | Villamayor de Monjardín, Spain |
| Lalo Álvarez | Albergue El Paso | Vega de Valcarce, Spain |
| María Cecilia | Casa Licerio | Samos, Spain |
| Nicolás | Albergue Fontenonaya | Salas, Spain |
| Filiberto & Lili | Albergue Turístico de Sabre | El Cubo de Tierra del Vino, Spain |
| Javier Maderuelo | Albergue Camynos | Ambasmestas, Spain |
| Kim Narenkivicius | The Stone Boat | Rabanal del Camino, Spain |
| Neill Le Roux | The Abbey | Ilarratz, Spain |
| Juanma & Paloma | Albergue Casa Maralotx | Cirauqui, Spain |
| Pedro | Albergue Casa de Carmen | Barbadelo, Spain |
If you were one of the members who funded this: thank you. It is still the thing we are proudest of, and it is why the new fund has a floor rather than a vague intention.
The awkward ones
Do you still pay albergues?
I subscribed because of the albergues. What now?
Is this a registered charity?
Why not just donate to an existing charity?
How do I know the money actually moves?
Somebody walks because you bought something
A fixed amount, published next to the price, spent on one thing, accounted for in public every January.
Camino for Good is a for-profit company. Contributions are not tax-deductible.
