Our last Spanish summer festival is 25 July, Saint James’s Day: Santiago, the patron saint of Spain. For more than a thousand years, pilgrims have walked across Europe to his tomb in Santiago de Compostela, following the Camino.
Learn from Songs · Festivals: Summer in Spain · Part 4 of 4 · B1–B2
Saint James’s Day: The Road to Santiago
Part 4: 25 July, the feast of Saint James (Santiago), patron saint of Spain, and the Camino de Santiago, the great pilgrimage across northern Spain, with Paul Simon’s road song “Graceland”. Verbs followed by -ing or to (decide to walk, enjoy walking), the present perfect for experience (Have you ever walked…?), and the language of journeys and pilgrimage, with Philo, Sophia, Marcos and Demetria.
SOPHIA
DEMETRIA
My cousin walked the Camino last summer!
SOPHIA
Then you know how special it is. You may remember our song from Unit 4: “Graceland”, a man’s journey to a place of meaning. Tonight we listen to it again as a pilgrim’s song.
PHILO
Every journey can be a pilgrimage. I remember.
Before you listen: the song
Santiago de Compostela, 25 July
Saint James (Santiago) was one of the twelve apostles of Jesus, a fisherman from Galilee, and the first apostle to be martyred, in Jerusalem around 44 CE. According to medieval tradition, his body was brought by boat to Galicia, and in the 9th century a hermit discovered his tomb, guided by a light over a field. A church was built there, and the city of Santiago de Compostela grew around it. 25 July is his feast day, and also the national day of Galicia.
The Camino de Santiago (the Way of Saint James) is a network of pilgrimage routes from all over Europe. The most famous, the French Way, crosses the north of Spain for about 800 kilometres. Pilgrims carry a scallop shell, follow yellow arrows, sleep in hostels called albergues, and collect stamps in a pilgrim passport. Those who walk at least the last 100 km receive a certificate, the Compostela. In the cathedral, a giant incense burner, the botafumeiro, is swung across the church by eight men. In recent years more than 400,000 people a year have walked the Camino, for faith, for adventure, or to think about their lives.
Our song: in “Graceland”, Paul Simon drives with his son to Elvis Presley’s home in Memphis after the end of his marriage, not knowing exactly why he has to go. Many people describe the Camino in the same way: they decided to walk without knowing why, and kept walking until they found out.
The road changes the traveller.
Listen: a pilgrim’s song
PHILO
Listen again to “Graceland”. Why is the singer travelling? How is his journey like a pilgrimage? What might he find at the end?
SOPHIA
Then answer Section A.
🐚 Listen to the song: “Graceland” (Paul Simon, 1986), by Paul Simon.Find the recording →
📜 Read the words while you listen: “Graceland”, Paul Simon.Read the lyrics →
Verb + -ing or to + verb
MARCOS
I decided to walk the Camino. I enjoyed walking every day. I kept going. I hope to return. I can’t imagine stopping.
SOPHIA
+ to: decide, hope, want, plan, promise, learn, need. + -ing: enjoy, keep, finish, imagine, avoid, mind, give up. Some change meaning: stop to rest (in order to rest) vs stop walking (no more walking).
The present perfect for experience
DEMETRIA
Have you ever walked the Camino? I’ve been to Santiago twice. She has never seen the botafumeiro.
SOPHIA
have / has + past participle for life experience, without a time. ever in questions, never in negatives. With a time, use the past simple: I walked it in 2023.
Journey words
PHILO
a pilgrim, a pilgrimage, a route, a stage, a hostel, a blister, a backpack, to set off, to reach the cathedral, to get lost, to keep going.
SOPHIA
Phrasal verbs of travel: set off (start), keep going (continue), get lost, stop off (stay for a short time). reach + place (no to): We reached Santiago.
Sophia’s comparison: the road to Jerusalem, and to Siwa
PHILO
Three times a year we go up to Jerusalem, singing the Songs of Ascent on the road: “I lift up my eyes to the hills.” The walking is part of the prayer.
SOPHIA
And three hundred years ago Alexander himself walked for days across the desert to the oracle of Ammon at Siwa, and came back changed, they say. Every people has its long road to a holy place.
Sophia’s summary
| Words and forms | Use | Example |
|---|---|---|
| decide / hope / want / plan + to | verb + to + verb | I decided to walk the Camino. |
| enjoy / keep / finish / imagine + -ing | verb + -ing | I kept walking. |
| stop to do / stop doing | change of meaning | We stopped to rest. |
| have you ever…? / I’ve never… | present perfect for experience | Have you ever walked the Camino? |
| set off, keep going, reach | journey language | We reached Santiago. |
Practice
Listen to the song for Section A, then do the rest. Press “Check my answers” at the end. You can try again as many times as you like.
A · Listen: the song
Listen to the song and choose the best answer.
1. Who was Saint James?
2. When is Saint James’s Day?
3. What do pilgrims carry?
4. How far must you walk to get the Compostela?
5. What is the botafumeiro?
6. Where is the singer of “Graceland” going?
B · Grammar and vocabulary
Write the missing word or words.
7. I decided walk the Camino.
8. I enjoyed every day. (walk)
9. We kept . (go)
10. Have you walked the Camino?
11. She has never the botafumeiro. (see)
12. We Santiago after 30 days. (arrived at)
C · Right or wrong?
Is the sentence correct English?
13. “I decided walking the Camino.”
14. “I enjoyed meeting people from everywhere.”
15. “I have walked it in 2023.”
16. “We reached the cathedral at noon.”
Talk and write
Discussion and writing
Have you ever…? In pairs, ask about journeys: Have you ever walked more than 20 km? Have you ever got lost? Then ask when and how, in the past simple.
Discuss. 1. Why do you think so many non-religious people walk the Camino? 2. Is the journey more important than the destination? 3. Would you like to do a pilgrimage? Where?
Write (120–150 words). A pilgrim’s diary. Write one day of a pilgrimage, using verb + to / -ing, the present perfect and journey words.
Now play the gamebook: a walk across the desert to the oracle of Siwa.Play the gamebook →