Oficina de Acogida al Peregrino, annual pilgrim statistics

The Oficina de Acogida al Peregrino's annual pilgrim statistics are the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela's own official count of pilgrims completing the Camino de Santiago and receiving the Compostela certificate each year, published by the pilgrim reception office that issues those certificates directly. Its strength is that it is a primary institutional record, the office doing the actual counting and certifying is the only entity positioned to state these figures with authority, and the data is used internationally as the standard reference for Camino pilgrim numbers. Its limit is that the count reflects only pilgrims who registered and claimed the Compostela at the cathedral's own office, meaning it understates total Camino traffic by excluding walkers who did not seek certification or who traveled shorter distances than the minimum the certificate requires, so a claim about the Camino's total volume of walkers rather than specifically its certified pilgrims needs to account for that gap between the two figures.