Bush’s daughter joins pilgrim’s trail

4 June 2004

SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA – US President George W Bush’s daughter Jenna was due to complete the last leg of a Christian pilgrimage in Spain Friday.

Jenna Bush, 22, has spent the last few days walking the famous Way of St James route to Santiago de Compostela in northern Spain, the BBC reported.

She is expected to arrive in Santiago after completing 180km of the route with friends and a discreet set of bodyguards.

The trek follows her recent graduation from the University of Texas in Austin.

Jenna started the route on Sunday in the town of Samos, where she visited the monastery, and has set a gruelling regime of about 30km a day.

Jenna’s university years, along with her twin sister Barbara, were low profile except for a few brushes with the law for under-age drinking in bars.

This year is a Holy Jacobeo Year for Santiago pilgrims because the 25 July feast day of their patron saint, St James, falls on a Sunday.  

Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims, wearing symbolic shells, are expected to travel along the route, mostly on foot or by bicycle.

They also carry a special “passport” which is stamped along the way, proving they have made the journey.

This year Spain celebrates with a year-long series of concerts starting that culminates with a three-day pop festival next month.

[Copyright Expatica]

Subject: Spanish news