Short story: Terror on the Camino de Santiago

INTRODUCTION

In 2019, my wife, Hazel, and I walked the Camino de Santiago, the ancient 800 km pilgrimage trail across Northern Spain. It was a wonderful experience that has left me with many happy memories. Most people who come back from the Camino and write about it focus on the positives. I have no idea why the following (entirely fictional) dark tale occurred to me but, as I seem to have hit a block on its further development (I had intended to do further research on the ground), I thought I would share it with those with 20 minutes to spare.

THE STORY

I am an independent producer of documentaries for television. What follows is an edited transcript of a programme screened on RTE, a major Spanish television channel, and, in adapted form, the UK’s Channel 4. It is followed by a curious reaction to the programme that has turned our thinking upside-down and led to further, very frustrating, enquiries. 

Part One 

The sensational reporting of the recent deaths on the Camino Frances means that we all think we know what it was like. We sent our crew to talk to some of the people directly involved and get their reaction.

Section One: The Calls 

1 Mohammed is one of the co-ordinators for the emergency services operating out of Burgos in Northern Spain. We asked him about his experiences and recollections of the events of 4 June. 

We have had deaths of pilgrims on the Camino before. We get occasional call-outs for pilgrims in distress. Heart attacks are not even all that uncommon, although usually call-outs relate to dehydration and the pilgrim feels more ill than he or she really is. We have had road traffic incidents too; although I have never known of a death of a peregrino in a road traffic accident, I believe that it used to be more common. Now the Camino is mainly routed to avoid the roads and, where it runs close to a busy road, then, in our region at least, there is almost always a separate path. 

Some of the quiet country roads that are part of the original pilgrimage route don’t have anything but a sign telling peregrinos to keep to the left, facing oncoming traffic. But I know from my own driving that pilgrims, especially those in groups, can take up most of the road and are sometimes so busy talking that they need to be reminded that there are cars around – perhaps with a blast on the horn. 

So, at first, we thought that it was just a simple road traffic incident. We got a call that said that a young woman had been hit by a car but that was all we knew. Then the same person told us that four people appeared to have died. The caller only spoke English and we had to wait a few minutes before we got all the details – nearly half our operatives speak some English but not all of them are fluent. It was while we were arranging for one of our best English speakers to get the caller to give full details – he didn’t seem very clear as to what road he was on and where the casualties could be found because he was just using a guide book for walking the Camino, not a road map or a full GPS system – it was then that we had another call about people having been hit by a vehicle. Naturally, we assumed that was the same incident being reported by two different people. Although the places described were different, they were separated by just a few hundred metres and we wondered if things had just got a bit confused, even though the second caller mentioned cyclists. 

Then the second caller, who had stayed on the line and had seemed very calm, suddenly started to scream and said ‘Oh My God, I think this one has had his throat cut’. That’s when we realized that this might be something other than a road traffic incident.

2 Neville is an Australian software engineer. He was walking the Camino for the first time while between contracts. His was the first call received by Spanish emergency services. 

I don’t know if you have walked the Camino. Well, ‘bits of it’ doesn’t really count. For me, while I loved interacting with pilgrims from all over the world at the end of the day, I gloried in the times when I had the path to myself. And I had just had 40 minutes where it felt like that, even though I suppose it was just a bubble. I was totally lost in my own thoughts. The Camino was supposed to help me sort out my priorities and, I suppose, it should have. God knows that what happened that day should make you realise what’s important. 

I came out from a beautiful stretch of the path that ran through banks of flowers and saw the arrow that meant I was to carry on, pretty well straight ahead, and walk on a road. There is always a sign warning you to look out for traffic, even before the most minor of roads. As I came out onto the road, I could see somebody lying by the side of the road, maybe 15 yards in front of me. Yeah, metres, yards, whatever – do you really think that matters? 

People stop by the side of the road all the time – have a rest and a drink, maybe even a picnic. But this person wasn’t in shade and wasn’t lying right. So I put a stride on to see what was what. It was obvious that she was hurt real bad. She wasn’t conscious and I could see that her legs just weren’t right. There was blood coming from her mouth too. I was shocked and was fumbling for my phone and then I had to get that to open and needed my glasses. It seemed to take ages but I guess it was just a matter of seconds but then it took me a moment or two to remember what number was right. I started to dial 911 and then cancelled that and did 112. 

I haven’t got any Spanish worth talking about – I can order a beer and a sandwich and that’s about it. So I was just talking slow in English. But I am not sure I was all that coherent, even in English. I mean I was standing in front of this poor South Korean girl – I know now it was Lo Kim – and they were asking me stuff that I didn’t understand. You’ve probably heard the tapes. I heard them a few days later on some news show – I fell apart when I heard them, even more than I did on the day. I can’t watch those sorts of channels anymore. 

Then a woman came on the line with really good English and I explained what I had seen and that we needed an ambulance. She was asking where I was. I wasn’t much help. I said I was between Burgos and Leon, not much help by any standard but I had been thinking in terms of 30 minutes to my lunch stop not pinpointing my place on a map and I was pretty shaken. Then I remembered that I had left Carrion that morning. The emergency call centre lady told me to look for a landmark or a road sign – they have kilometres marked with the road number quite regularly – and, while I was looking for that, I lost my connection. Actually, I dropped my phone; I was shaking so much. But they called me and it was when I was picking up the phone to answer that I saw the other bodies. 

They must have thought I was mad when I answered and told them that it wasn’t one person hurt - it was four. 

3 Peter is Swiss but lives in the USA, where he worked until early retirement. He was walking his fourth Camino and this was his second time on the Camino Frances. 

I was having my lunch stop under a tree. I had just come off a stretch of road and back onto a quiet part of the Camino and had found enough grass to sit comfortably. You have to take the chance to rest in the shade when you can. I had pretty well finished my bocadillo when I heard a car. I thought it was just some young idiot ripping it up. You could tell it was going too fast for a Camino road but, from where I was sat, I only glimpsed it. It was only because I thought he might be racing or something and another vehicle might be following that I bothered looking back down the road and saw the bike by the side of the road. It didn’t look right and I immediately thought the cyclist might have been hit by the speeding car so I went to have a closer look. I spotted the other bikes pretty well straight away – they each had a Mexican flag at the back - but even then I never imagined the true cause. Of course, I thought that the speeding car was responsible but that it was all just a terrible accident that had become a hit and run. I called 112 even while I was trying to work out who to help. They seemed confused at first, saying the incident had already been called in. I couldn’t work that out as there was nobody in sight other than the cyclists. I went to one who was way off the road, and away from the bikes. He was clearly younger than the other three. It was then that I saw that he’d had his throat cut. Like all Swiss, I had a short spell of military training and we were trained on medical care for wounds of various kinds so I know what to look for but this was beyond my worst imaginings – like a horror film. The emergency call centre staff say I screamed. I was trying to stay calm but I knew at that moment that I might be in danger myself so perhaps I wasn’t as calm as I would like. I am ashamed to say that there was brief moment when I wondered if it was some sort of Mexican feud – you read about these drug wars – and that the killers might come back. The worst thing was that I couldn’t do much to help. One of the cyclists, Jesus, was still alive for sure but it was as if he had been crushed; he was beyond any sort of first-aid skills – at least the kind that I have. I tried to talk to him while we waited for the ambulance. He was asking me something but was hard to understand; I speak Spanish but he could hardly speak. I worked out that he was asking about Juan Luis. I know now that that was his son and that it was his son that I had found with his throat cut. Obviously, I tried not to answer. I don’t think that he was still alive by the time the ambulance arrived – that felt like a very long time. 

Section Two: The Scene 

1 Miguel is an experienced paramedic. He and his partner were responding to Neville’s call. 

We were still waiting for a precise location but the call centre had sent us on our way because we had, quite coincidentally, just finished a routine call that turned out not to require a trip to hospital and we were near to the location, as best we could establish. 

We ended up at the 'wrong' incident because our route, which was meant to take us to the injured pedestrians, took us past the place where the cyclists had been attacked. A man waved us down but we had no intention of passing by – we could see that this was a major incident. My colleague, Maria, rang in the details of our location and we were told that other ambulances and police were on their way to the original incident. I ran over to where Peter X was cradling a man’s head –it was pointless as the internal organs had been fatally damaged but we don’t ever assume. I have seen many road traffic incidents – hundreds that have involved serious injury alone – but this was like nothing I had seen before. Training kicks in but the horror is still real. My colleague and I examined each of the cyclists. Maria went to the young man who had had his throat cut – his situation was especially awful. We are not robots. Maria has not been able to return to work – I am not sure she ever will. It was clear to us that all four men were dead. We tried to resuscitate one but it was really a way for us to cope as much as in any expectation of success. Does that sound wrong? The police cars began to arrive then. It turns out that two of the men had been cut not just one but we didn’t realise that at first. 

2. Izaro was the first police officer at the scene of the pedestrian incident. 

This all happened two weeks after I began to serve as an officer in the Guardia Civil. I wasn’t really prepared for any of this. I have never seen anything like that before and hope that I never see anything like that again. 

Our first task was to support the paramedics but it soon became clear that there was nothing that they could do. Our focus then was on maintaining the integrity of the scene – a major crime scene. 

That task was not that easy because a number of peregrinos had arrived and some were very severely distressed. Two or three wanted to pray over the bodies, which we obviously could not allow. 

I should say that we had heard that there had been other victims and that it was clear that this was not an accident but a major incident. There was a lot of blood and the damage to the vital organs of the victims was such that a lot of flies had been attracted from the fields. 

That’s what I remember most – the flies and the awful smell. 

3 Inspector Jimenez is a senior officer in the Policia Local for the area of the attacks 

I arrived at the scene only 40 minutes after the first ambulance. My initial arrival was the scene of the deaths of the cyclists; I went on to the other crime scene shortly thereafter. 

My first concern was that the many other pilgrims on the Camino might be at risk. It seemed clear to many of us that this was a systematic attack on pilgrims and there are many hundreds vulnerable to attack on roads. And, since I considered that it was likely that this was a terrorist attack, it seemed to me that pilgrims were vulnerable across many parts of Spain – the possibility of co-ordinated attacks could not be ruled out. 

In the event, as you know, our fears were groundless – at least at this date. But the very first aim has to be preservation of life and that is why some of the resources that might have been used to create roadblocks or the like were used to check other areas where pilgrims might be vulnerable. I don’t regret that and am not going to apologise for it. Of course catching the perpetrator or perpetrators was important but not as important as protecting people from further attack. 

Beyond that concern, it was immediately apparent to me that the investigation of these incidents was one for the national police and required resources which would far outstrip the resources available to us at Carrion. I indicated as much to my superior officers and was assured that the necessary resources would be available. 

I am aware that the choices that I made and the priorities that I set have been subject to criticism. While the press are always going to second guess, I am very disappointed that some of my colleagues in law enforcement who have become involved in the investigation at a later stage have used their public platform to suggest that I failed to take the necessary steps that might have led to the capture of the killer or killers. 

Section Three: The Investigation 

1 Superintendent Lionel Ramos (not his real name) is the co-ordinator for police investigations into incidents of terrorism in Spain. His words were spoken by an actor. 

Sadly, I was not involved in this investigation until 36 hours after the killings. You will be familiar with the concept of the ‘golden 48 hours’ – the period within which major clues must be found if an investigation is to be successful. To be fair to Jimenez, this was a crime that neither he nor his force was equipped to deal with. His knowledge of murder is largely via domestic violence and his experience of terrorism is nil. And he recognized that. It was his superiors who, in my view, were slow to pass this on to the right quarter. It was only when the group Islam Resurgent claimed responsibility that it was formally classified as a terror crime. For once, the press and their facile reporting were right: ‘what else could it be?’ Although the press had to overdo it – equating Islam Resurgent with IS. I expect the Islam Resurgent guys were jubilant, bearing in mind what an ineffective bunch of wankers they actually are. 

I greeted the Islam Resurgent claim with some skepticism. You will hardly be surprised to learn that we monitor them closely and, while it is possible for an operation to be conducted in such a way that we are unaware of it, the absence of any chatter and the delay in making the claim, which included no details that were not publicly available, raises a fair degree of doubt about its authenticity. 

It does seem likely that the perpetrator of these terrible crimes was an Islamic terrorist. There are aspects of the killings that point to that which I am afraid we are unable to share with the public. But most common-sense people will have worked out that the targets were all Christian pilgrims and that certain elements among Islamic extremists see such people as legitimate targets. The method employed – a combination of motor vehicle and blade - did not require a massive amount of organization and so we could easily be talking about a lone wolf terrorist rather than a terror cell. But we simply don’t know. 

I appreciate that there is immense pressure on us to reach a conclusion in this case because of the enormous economic impact and the effect on the international image of Spain but my first duty is to protect against further acts and I assure you that my operatives are well placed to do that. My second duty is to the victims – their families and their memory. I achieve nothing for them by ‘rounding up the usual suspects’. 

Yes, I accept that there were knee-jerk arrests and that no significant charges were brought, although we may have undermined a threat that was in development. No forensic evidence tied any of those arrested to this crime. 

Obviously there is a great deal of forensic evidence, some of which still requires analysis even now. That is, it requires further analysis – we have not ignored it and I don’t like the implication of your comment. As you know, we have been able to identify the likely make and colour of the car used in the attack and have asked the public for information about any damaged car of that type. It is unfortunate that both make and colour are among the most commonly found in the country. What a pity the terrorists did not drive a green Ferrari. 

Yes, I did say terrorists in the plural because we think it unlikely that one person could have carried out one element of the attack, namely the killings by blade. But I retain an open mind on this at this stage. 

Now, I think we have used up more than the allotted time. I must return to the job in hand. I want to assure you, the public and, above all, the families of the victims that I will not rest until this case is solved and justice is served. 

2 Richard Gardner is an English security consultant and acknowledged expert on European terrorist groups. He walked the Camino Frances in 2017. 

While one should not give up hope entirely, the information I have about the investigation suggests that it has got nowhere. The initial mistakes and the failure to focus on the escaping perpetrator from the get-go may prove fatal. 

Spanish counter-terrorist officers have always had a special problem – the Basques. Now they have another, though we must whisper it for fear of offending Barcelona, the Catalan separatists. That makes it hard for them to focus on the threats from Islamic extremists – the resources can only be stretched so far. And Spain has another special problem. While many countries in Europe have significant Islamic populations, only in Spain can it truthfully be said that Islam once ruled – the Caliphate of Belgium is a ridiculous idea and only an idiot would give the idea any credence; the Moorish Caliphate in much of Spain was a reality and its legacy is very visible – as is the suppression of Islam, celebrated in every town and village each year with one ritual or another. It’s not hard to see that creating resentment on a murderous scale. 

Another issue, unique to Spain among all Western European countries, is the proximity of Islamic countries. Morocco is practically within hailing distance, though I admit it is a long way from the scene of these crimes. 

My theory, having listened closely to a number of official and unofficial briefings from those investigating this crime, is that we should be looking for a convert. Someone who is local to the area where the crimes were committed and who knows the area well but has been upset – unhinged if you like – by something done by the church and who has turned his face to Islam and found the idea of jihad especially appealing. I think the timing of the attacks and the choice of location suggest that there was an in-depth knowledge of the Camino. And the failure to locate the vehicle involved may be because it had ‘gone to ground’ within minutes of the alarm being raised – not that there was any great rush, the delay in setting up police checks on exit roads was unpardonable. 

Of course, I don’t dismiss the possibility that the terrorist was just lucky. 

Do I think a similar attack could happen again? I am afraid that I do. The preventative measures and the advice given to travellers on the Camino cannot stop a committed attacker. How could you stop an opportunistic attack on the meseta – say by a driver in a 4x4? 

I hear that some of the pilgrims from the USA want to carry guns. That’s sad. How does the hymn go: ‘onward Christian soldiers, marching as to war’ – that is hardly the Camino spirit. 

Part Two 

Section One: ‘San Domingo’ 

After the programme was screened in Spain, the RTE website received a large number of comments. They varied in nature, with many praising the programme, some lauding the first responders and others condemning the police reaction. Many Spanish said that they would be praying for the souls of the murdered pilgrims and an almost equal number filled their comments with Islamophobic hate. In all the comments, this one from ‘San Domingo’ stood out. (It has been translated and clarified in the version below.) 

These people were not true victims. Santiago himself would not recognize them as pilgrims. Like Christ in the temple, sweeping away the money-lenders, we needed something like this to purify the Camino. 

These people come for ‘a spiritual journey’ or to ‘transition’ or to prove something to themselves and their friends. I listen to the babblings in the albergues, provided by Christians for Christians who wish to complete a pilgrimage, and all I hear is tales of blisters and people ‘finding themselves’. Some are even there to party. But they take the bread from the mouths of the true believers who cannot find a bed in the Christian houses established for the true pilgrims. 

The Camino was always beset with danger. What sort of pilgrim flees from danger? If the economy of the towns and villages are damaged, too bad. The bar owners and the hoteliers should be helping true pilgrims without thought of reward beyond the eternal peace they will receive in heaven. 

Of those who died, some were smoking drugs on the Camino and others were not true pilgrims. How can it be right to complete a pilgrimage to the saint on a bicycle? Santaigo had no bicycle, still less a tandem like the Mexican victims. The Camino is for pain and a journey with God not shouting out and speeding through the paths of true pilgrims. Decorating your bikes with pictures of Our Lady desecrates the Holy Mother and the Camino too. 

I hope that the word goes out to these fat American ladies and the hippy girls from Germany that they are in danger. The Camino must be defended as St James defended the faith at Clavijo. Let the sword of St James slay those who undermine the true faith and the true way as it slayed the Muslims. 

Section Two: Subsequent Enquiries 

The RTE system provided for comments to be monitored and this comment was picked up by its operatives and referred to the police. I understood straight away that there were pieces of information in the comment from ‘San Domingo’ that had not been put into the public domain. Two of the victims had clearly been smoking pot on the Camino and the Mexican victims included the riders of a tandem, a very rare sight on the Camino. I was astonished by the lack of interest shown by the Spanish authorities initially. They pointed out that anyone in the locality of the murders might be aware of this information but, for me, there was something in the comment that chilled. My team tried to find out more and one of our researchers teamed up with Richard Gardner, the English security consultant who had worked with us on the programme. They reported back. 

The person posting as ‘San Domingo’ took a great deal of trouble to make it difficult to establish his (or her) identity. The comment was posted from a phone – and we were able to trace the owner of that phone. But the owner turned out to be a lady from Colorado in her late 60s who had left Spain by the time of the murders. She had lost her phone while on the Camino and initially was unable to say exactly where or when. We traced the date by establishing when there was an interruption in her communication with her family and were also then able to establish that she was then in Logrono and had stayed at a parish albergue. The lady from Colorado could not say whether she had the phone on the morning she left the hostel and only noticed its absence after showering at her stop in Naveratte, 12 kms further on. On that occasion she had stopped in a hotel. We thought it most likely that the phone was lost or stolen in the Logrono hostel but it is possible that it was taken from her elsewhere, even at the café she stopped at en route (which we could not identify with any certainty). 

Given the message from ‘San Domingo’, it seemed likely that he or she used albergues run by fellow Christians. We considered it likely that ‘San Domingo’ was either staying at the hostel in Logrono run by the parish or worked there – as well as local workers, the albergue had volunteer workers from a number of countries who stayed there for periods ranging from one month to three months. 

Our attempts to access the albergue’s records met with a refusal, based on ‘policy and data protection restrictions’. That appeared to us to make further enquiry impossibly difficult. An interview with the manager of the albergue elicited no useful information and a very defensive attitude. 

We felt that we had enough evidence to refer the matter back to the police. After all, as a minimum, there was evidence that a phone had been stolen. We met with a number of negative reactions. First, it was pointed out that the phone might simply have been lost and, under Spanish law, no crime would have been committed by the finder if there was no realistic way to return the property to the true owner. Secondly, the police referred to the claim of responsibility by Islam Resurgent, despite the fact that they had questioned its authenticity. They dismissed the idea of Christian terrorism on theological grounds. That objection left us truly shocked as nobody had suggested that the murders were the work of a true Christian, we had felt that ‘San Domingo’ was dangerously deluded. 

The identity of ‘San Domingo’ remains a mystery.