Pilgrim once again joins forces with “El Camino de los Valores,” a solidarity initiative that combines sports, community, and inclusion for young people at risk of social exclusion. In its 9th edition, under the theme “Walking for Mental Health,” more than 200 participants walked the Camino de Santiago, living a transformative and educational experience.
Pilgrim supports once again the initiative “El Camino de los Valores”
The initiative “El Camino de los Valores” held its 9th edition under the theme “Walking for Mental Health,” and Pilgrim actively collaborated once again, contributing for the third consecutive year to the development of a project that seeks to raise awareness and shed light on a different social issue each year.
“El Camino de los Valores” is a solidarity initiative promoted by the UP2U Association, presided over by Judge Reyes Martel of the Juvenile Court No. 1 of Las Palmas. The association promotes social integration and education in values for young people at risk of exclusion.
This initiative, which seeks to combine sport, coexistence, and inclusion, consists of two phases. The first takes place in the Canary Islands, where participants walk the stretch of the Camino de Santiago that runs through the island of Gran Canaria between Tunte and Gáldar — stages that took place on July 28 and 29. The second phase is held in Galicia, with a different starting point and itinerary each year.
On this occasion, the pilgrimage began in Samos on October 9 and ended in Santiago de Compostela on October 12, following the route of the French Way. Nearly 200 people took part in the walk, more than half of them young people in vulnerable situations from various regions such as the Canary Islands, Andalusia, Cantabria, Valencia, Madrid, the Balearic Islands, Melilla, Castilla-La Mancha, and Galicia itself.
For them, the Camino becomes an educational and transformative experience that fosters shared learning and a sense of belonging. Indeed, the success of this initiative is overwhelming — many former participants have become volunteers helping with the organization of the pilgrimage, while others have gone on to pursue university degrees in fields such as education or higher studies in nursing assistance, continuing this legacy of helping others.
Welcomed at each stage by numerous institutional and social representatives such as mayors, councilors, and even the president of Xacobeo, the arrival at Santiago’s Plaza del Obradoiro was filled with emotion and concluded with the closing ceremony of this ninth edition, led by Reyes Martel, who expressed her gratitude and reaffirmed her commitment to young people and social integration.
Pilgrim, as an organization committed to social causes and to all initiatives that aim to improve people’s lives, the Camino and its environment, and the future of all those who will walk it, will once again support “El Camino de los Valores” in its 10th edition in 2026.
