Discover the newest route on the Camino de Santiago: Spain's Way of St James gets a new African trail

The autonomous city of Melilla now has its own departure point for making the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage

The Way of St James (El Camino de Santiago in Spanish) is probably the best-known pilgrimage in the world and thousands of people every year take one of the various established routes from all over Spain and other countries for its spiritual, physical and mental health benefits.

The majority make their way to the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia via the French Way, others take the Portuguese Way or the English Way, but there are others which are less renowned but nonetheless impressive, and new ways are still being added all the time.

One of these is the ‘Vía Rusadir’, which was established in March 2025 and connects two of the most distant places in Spain, stretching 972 kilometres between Santiago and Melilla, the autonomous Spanish city on the shore of the Mediterranean in North Africa, by the northern border of Morocco.

Also known as the African Way, it had already been completed by 71 people by the end of April, according to the Oficina del Peregrino (Pilgrim’s Office), more than from many much more populous regions of mainland Spain despite Melilla only having about 85,000 inhabitants.

This new route is a great alternative for more adventurous people who fancy the challenge of starting their trek from North Africa, on their way to one of the most important places in the Christian world, which welcomes thousands of people every year.

Tourism boost

Moreover, its establishment as an official way has significantly boosted the number of participants coming from Melilla, of whom there were only two in March, one in February and none in January.

The Vía Rusadir was instigated by the Melilla Monumental Foundation, a public institution of the autonomous city.

Its president, Francisco Díaz told Spanish state news agency Efe that he believes the numbers will continue to grow, since “the good weather has not arrived yet”, which is when more pilgrimages are made to Santiago.

The foundation, which is responsible for stamping Pilgrims’ Credentials at the city’s lighthouse, has recorded a sudden interest from tourists in the new official route, which was inaugurated on March 19 by the presidents of the regional governments of Galicia and Melilla, Alfonso Rueda and Juan José Imbroda, respectively.

One of the visitors who asked to see the concrete milestone indicating the direction towards Santiago was the ex-Prime Minister of Spain, José María Aznar, during a private visit in April with his wife, ex-mayoress of Madrid Ana Botella and a friend of the couple.

Aznar said at the time that he thought there was no better place to start the Way than Melilla, “where Spain begins”.

Historical background

There are numerous statues and references to St James or Santiago in Melilla, and the starting point is the Capilla de Santiago, the only Gothic chapel in Africa, which was blessed following its restoration 60 years before the inauguration to the day.

The milestone with the Camino’s characteristic yellow arrow and scallop shell, which identifies it as a Cultural European Route, has been set up in Melilla’s Puerta de Santiago, a fortification built in 1549 and converted into a drawbridge over a century later.

Scallop shells are easy to find on the Galician coast and, in the olden days, pilgrims used to take these shells home with them as proof that they had reached the end.

The inauguration also coincided with the 250th anniversary of the end of the Siege of Melilla by the Sultanate of Morocco, supported by Great Britain and Algerian mercenaries, which the population resisted for 100 days.

Images: Gobierno de Melilla