One of the 12 young men who, over Easter 2026, completed the 10-day hike from northern Portugal to Santiago de Compostela – the iconic Cathedral where lie the bones of the great apostle St James – was our very own Dominic Tuffin.
The walk became a marvellous retreat from the modern chaos with lively and elevated conversation, great camaraderie, and countless prayers, visits to beautiful churches, etc. See below a personal testimony of Dominic to the grandeur of this Spanish escapade.
The Camino de Santiago was an absolutely phenomenal experience!
It was a time of prayer, of contemplation, of soul searching, and some suffering! It was a journey back through time, a look at 20 centuries of the Catholic Faith in Spain. It was a journey of following in the footsteps of many Saints, holy people, and fellow Catholics, starting with St James and going through history to the present time.
My fellow pilgrims and I started walking the Camino de Santiago on April 3rd, Good Friday. We had spent nearly a week travelling Spain prior to starting the Camino, admiring the monuments our Catholic brothers built in honour of God’s Glory over the centuries, and visiting holy sites and homes of Saints.
We arrived in Madrid at 6am on a cold early spring morning, and set off immediately to Toledo, traditionally famous for its sword making, spending a few hours there visiting various churches, the Alcazar, and a traditional sword shop.
Then on to Avila, famous as the home of the great St Teresa of Avila. Avila is the best-preserved example of a fortified Medieval city in the world and is truly magnificent. There we witnessed a beautiful Procession through the streets of Avila, with a float of Our Lord Crucified and the Sorrowful Mother, attended Palm Sunday Mass in the Avila Cathedral, and went to all the sites connected with St Teresa.
Leaving on Easter Monday morning, we went to Burgos, to see the magnificent Gothic styled Burgos Cathedral, wherein lies El Cid, one of Spain’s most famous heroes.
Tuesday morning found us on our way to Covadonga, the birthplace of the great Spanish Reconquista, the 700-year long war to rid Catholic Spain from the Moslems who had invaded and taken control in 711. It was truly a special place, and a personal highlight of the trip. The sense of peace and grace one senses in that blessed place is indescribable and truly remarkable. We spent two nights there, climbed a nearby peak to get a fantastic view of Covadonga from above, experienced the local cuisine, and prayed the Little Office of Our Lady in the cave of Covadonga, in front of the beautiful statue of Our Lady of Covadonga.
On Holy Thursday we left Covadonga and set off on the 6-hour journey to Porto, Portugal, where we started the Camino! Everyone was very excited to start walking, and I do not think anyone slept very well that night. We started before sunup on Good Friday, and entrusting ourselves to Our Lord, Our Lady, and St James, we set off on our nine day, 230km hike.
We spent the morning walking out of the city and into the countryside, all the time following the beautiful Portuguese coastline north of Porto. We started on a small detour of the main trail, so by mid-morning we arrived on the official main trail heading up from Lisbon to Santiago. There we officially started our Camino by reading our 10 Commandments of the Camino, which were the rules that we would abide by as pilgrims over the next nine days. We also read out all our official intentions, primarily reparation for the sin of abortion in the world, as well as many other prayers, hopes, and intentions we were bringing with us from our various homelands, as well as those of the individual pilgrims on the trail.
The next nine days on the trail were really meaningful and very blessed. We visited churches, passed through old towns, travelled across the bright sunny Portuguese countryside, crossed the border back into Spain, and learned bits of Portuguese and Spanish. We suffered in the early spring heat and hiked for two days in the rain and cold. We attended Easter Sunday Mass in a church overflowing with Portuguese Faithful. We enjoyed the immense hospitality of the Portuguese who treated us like long-time friends the moment we appeared and were invited to join a house blessing ceremony on Easter Monday, being treated to food and drink at the same time.
We climbed up mountains, we climbed down mountains, crossed rivers and walked through forests, and hiked an average of 25km per day. Most important of all, we spent each day in prayer, contemplation, and good conversation. We stopped at every road-side shrine to say an Ave Maria or a Salve Regina. We entered every church on the way to visit the Blessed Sacrament and say some prayers. In many churches we sang the Salve Regina, much to the surprise and delight of locals and fellow pilgrims alike. And above all, we kept our focus on the true meaning of the Camino, that we were doing a pilgrimage in reparation for sin and for the betterment of our souls.
We arrived in Santiago on Saturday, 11 April 2026. We had seen the steeples of the Cathedral of Santiago from several kilometres away earlier in the day, so the anticipation and excitement was at an all-time high as we finally made it into the city, wending our way through the crowded, narrow streets toward the steeples we could see rising up above the other buildings. It was a most incredible feeling to finally arrive in the square in front of the Cathedral, to look up at the impressive facade, and to think back on all nine days of hiking that it took to get here. It was absolutely phenomenal!
After dropping our backpacks at our accommodation, we proceeded straight to the Cathedral to visit St James and give him the traditional “abrazo,” where pilgrims climb up behind the statue and give St James a hug. We also went below the main altar where the remains of St James are kept and placed our intentions there. I placed there all the intentions of the SANOL supporters who had sent intentions to be taken along and said a prayer to St James that he would answer the prayers, hopes, and pleas of our Nation, and bountifully bless all those who requested his intercession. We spent two days in Santiago, visiting the Cathedral multiple times and exploring the city.
With a little regret we left early on Monday morning with a 6-hour trip ahead of us to the airport where we would all split up once more and go our different ways back to our respective homes across the globe.
We were very fortunate to have the privilege of doing the Camino de Santiago. It was a really epic journey through time, and almost a ‘refresher course,’ on what it means to be Catholic and just what a privilege it is to have the Faith. It was highly beneficial to all of us, psychologically, physically, and most important of all, spiritually. We all departed Spain with our spiritual ‘batteries’ recharged and ready to continue the fight for the preservation of Christian Civilization and the Glory of God!
I would like to specially thank everyone who donated toward this journey and helped make it possible. Your support is greatly appreciated, and I prayed a daily Rosary on the Camino especially for your intentions, and that Our Lady would bless you immensely.
Please keep the works of SANOL in your prayers, that we may continue in God’s service to bring the Reign of Christ on our troubled world.
Viva Cristo Rey!
Dominic Tuffin.
Watch a short video below and listen to the prayers and chants the pilgrims sang along the way at various churches and shrines.
