Pilgrims still stay at simple hostels which may only offer a bunk bed and a frugal Mediterranean meal of bread, olives and red wine, shared with fellow pilgrims in candlelight.
People from all over the world make the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela, some for the sporting challenge, others to find healing solitude and a few to repent for a sin or to save a dying relative.
Many also come to visit ethereal Gothic cathedrals, millennial monasteries and imposing medieval castles en route.
Tales of Saint James abound, as do stories about the Frankish king Charlemagne and characters such as Saint Virila, a monk who got lost in the wilderness and spent 30 years listening to birds sing.
Even for visitors who have lost their religious faith, there is a spiritual presence there, "the trace of so many people who have passed through with so much faith," the late US photographer Inge Morath and wife of playwright Arthur Miller, said after a visit to Santiago.
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