034: When Smoke Swings Through the Cathedral
The Camino’s Most Spectacular Swing (and How to Catch It)
Hello Camino friends! Here’s what’s in this issue:
💨 “When Smoke Fills the Cathedral”
📸Scenes from the Camino: Walk with Rebecca 2025
🎥Live interviews for October.
🥾How to get help planning your Camino.
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“What’s the Camino?”
❓Not even sure what the Camino de Santiago is? Start here.
🤔Heard of the Camino but not sure if it’s for you? Read this.
Let’s get started!
When Smoke Fills the Cathedral
“You said that people can make a donation to ensure that the incense burner swings. Do you know how much it is?”
“I’ve never actually looked into it,” I said. So I did some research.
The incense burner to which my friend Kathie was referring is called the botafumeiro. The five-foot-tall silver-plated brass structure hangs 65 feet up over the altar of the Cathedral in Santiago de Compostela. If you’re lucky, at the end of Mass, eight men in maroon capes will work together—maneuvering the ropes that operate the overhead pulley system—to lower the botafumeiro, fill it with incense, and then raise it again to swing the 117-pound structure back and forth across the congregation.
Those of you that have seen the movie The Way may recall this scene. It has become one of the top things Camino pilgrims hope to see when they get to Santiago de Compostela.
I say “hope” because there are only a 11 days on which it’s guaranteed to be swung:
The Epiphany: January 6th
Easter Sunday (date varies)
The Apparition of the Apostle at the Battle of Clavijo: May 23rd
Pentecost Sunday (date varies)
The Feast Day of Saint James: July 25th
The Assumption of Mary: August 15th
All Saints Day: November 1st
Christ the King (date varies)
The Immaculate Conception: December 8th
Christmas: December 25th
Transfer of the remains of the St. James: December 30th
It swings many other days, but there’s no schedule. You can ask the people working in the cathedral and they’ll shrug their shoulders. Someone described those employees as having “lips tighter than the priest who hears your confession.”
So if you want to see it, you just have to attend one of the four daily Masses and hope.
Or pray.
Or pay, as it turns out.
Somewhere along the Camino, I learned that, for a donation, anyone could ensure they’d see the botafumeiro swing at the end of the Mass. “Tour groups often make the donation to be sure their group sees it,” someone told me. A tour group leader confirmed to me this was the case.
So I’ve told pilgrims, “If you see a tour group walking the Camino, ask them what day they’re arriving in Santiago and what time they’re going to Mass.” I should clarify: if you see a group of people whose tour transports their luggage for them, has one or more support vehicles, and has “snack stations” set up for the group along the trail—those are more likely the kinds of groups who make the donation.
However, anyone can make the request and donation. Some pilgrims do this in honor of a loved one, for example.
So how much does it actually cost? There is no specific donation amount listed on the official cathedral website. Internet sources say €500 ($581). For many pilgrims, that’s certainly worth it. Or, I learned, they split it among a few people.
So if you want to make the donation, what’s next?
The next step is to send an email to botafumeiro@catedraldesantiago.es with your requested day(s) and time(s). Kathie, one of pilgrims on my first Camino Walk With Rebecca, did this prior to our trip and was told it wouldn’t be possible. She was disappointed, but I had a hunch.
“That’s probably because someone else already paid to have it happen,” I assured her.
For the 7:30pm Mass (the one about which Kathie had inquired), we were on the entry line by 6:45. Security officials peeked in our bags, and we entered to find every seat in already taken. The cathedral has an official capacity of 1,200, but I’m told with all the people standing or sitting on the floor, it’s normally filled with many more.
Just before the Mass was due to start, I saw him: a man dressed in maroon robes with scallop shells on the lapels. “That’s a good sign,” I said to Kathie. “The guys who swing the botafumeiro wear those robes.”
Forty-five minutes into the Mass (after Communion), a security guard came by to clear out a group of pilgrims who were sitting on the floor at the base of the stone column to which the ropes for the pulley system were secured. The men in the maroon robes arrived. Some grabbed one or two of the ropes, another undid the knots securing the rope to the column. They then moved as one toward the altar and lowered the botafumeiro. Now filled with incense, the smoking structure was then lifted over the altar once again and swung like a pendulum back and forth across the congregation.
Traditionally, this was done at the start of the Mass to supposedly clear out the smell of the pilgrims. However, when too many people were coming to see it and then leaving before Mass, the process was changed. And if you think you can just sneak in at the end of Mass to see it: nope. No one is allowed admission to the church during the Mass.
So if you join us on the next Camino Walk with Rebecca, can I guarantee you’ll see the Botafumeiro swing? No. But now you know how you can make it happen.
With love,
Rebecca
P.S. Want to join me on my next Camino Walk with Rebecca? Keep reading!
P.P.S. Did you know there’s a botafumeiro in the US? Click here for more info.
Camino Walk With Rebecca in 2026
Before the end of the year, I’ll be sharing details about my next Camino Walk with Rebecca — happening in June 2026! But before I announce it here in the newsletter, I’ll be sending that information first to a special list I’ve created — and a few folks have already signed up.
If you’d like to get the details before everyone else (and have first dibs on joining me!), you can sign up for that early notification list here.
📸Scenes from the Camino Walk with Rebecca 2025
🎥Join me for live interviews here on Substack!
I’m taking a break this week! But I’ll be back with more great guests after that.
Wednesday, October 22, 11-11:45 EST: Lisa and Matt McMann — Lisa and Matt are nomads who make it a priority to find a local hike/walk everywhere they go. I look forward to hearing how they go about finding walking trails around the world — so that you can find more great walks wherever you are!
Wednesday, October 29, 11-11:45 EST: Dora Elias McAlister — Dora walked the 100km route from Lugo on the Camino Primitivo. She’ll share what surprised her, what she learned, and the little things she wishes she’d known before setting off. Spoiler alert: She’s got some funny stories of things that “wouldn’t have happened if we’d hired Rebecca to help us plan!”
🇺🇸Come meet me in the USA!
I’ll be in the US for a few months at the end of 2025. If you’d like to have an in-person Camino planning session, I’d love to meet you! Click here and I’ll be in touch.
Asheville, NC (Oct. 15- Nov. 4; Nov. 24- Dec. 12)
Poughkeepsie, NY (Nov. 10-14)
Columbus, OH (TBD)
Also, on Nov. 5, I’ll be giving a Camino talk at REI Asheville. It’s free but registration is required. I’ll post the registration link on the newsletter once REI publishes it.
🥾Ready to start planning your Camino?
Rebecca Weston
Camino Planning & Preparation Guide (for People 45+)
Rebecca@TheCaminoCalls.com
Your Camino adventure should feel exciting, not stressful — here are some ways I can help you get ready:
Watch Camino Conversations for practical tips and advice from my guests who have done the Camino (or more than one!).
🗓️ Camino Planning Session (60 min): Get answers to your top questions and a notes doc created during our call.
📞 Full Camino Experience: 6 coaching calls with detailed notes to plan your trip with confidence and ease.
🥾 Walk With Rebecca: 7-day hybrid Camino walks — 3 days guided, 4 days independent, private rooms, preparation classes, and optional check-ins. Click here to be the first to be notified about my next trip.Rebecca Weston is an American who walked her first Camino in 2012.
About me: I’ve walked more than a dozen Caminos since my first in 2012. I’ve spent many days volunteering along the trail, and if I’m not walking one now, I’m planning the next—and would love nothing more than to help you plan yours, too. Originally from the US, my husband and I live in a town of 6500 people on the Camino del Norte.
It was a wonderful Camino Inglés! The Botafumeiro was certainly a highlight. Getting ready to go back to our everyday Camino. Thanks! 💕