Jacobean Years

During Jacobean Years, the Consejo Jacobeo (Council of Saint James) takes a leading role both in the organisation of cultural celebrations and in certifying the suitability of expenditure by collaborating companies for plans and programmes to mark the event for the purpose of tax benefits.

Jacobean years are the best occasion for emphasising the commemoration of the thousand-year-old routes that lead to Santiago de Compostela, and to enhance the permanent appeal of the Camino de Santiago to pilgrims.

A Jacobean Year is one on which the 25th of July, the feast of the Apostle James the Greater, falls on a Sunday. This occurs every 11, 6, 5, 6 years in succession. In these holy or jubilee years, the Catholic Church grants plenary indulgence to pilgrims who make the pilgrimage along the Camino de Santiago.

To commemorate Jacobean Years, the Consejo Jacobeo offers a combined programme of activities to celebrate the event and to improve the reception offered to visitors and pilgrims on the Camino de Santiago. Likewise, the council administers the tax benefits associated with the declaration of Jacobean Years as events of special public interest.

This section offers information on the actions carried out in the most recent Jacobean Years, celebrated in 2010, 2004 and 1999.