The tourist who walked 6,000 km from Spain to Jerusalem, arrived in Israel - voila! Tourism

Carlota Valenzuela's pilgrimage from Spain to Israel (Photo: Carlota Valenzuela)

In ancient times people traveled to the Holy Land to be in Jerusalem and the holy places.

But the Spanish pilgrim Carlota Valenzuela arrived in Israel last Saturday after walking a distance of about 6,000 km from Spain.

Carlota began her journey in the town of Finstra in Galicia, Spain, on January 2, 2022 and will arrive in Jerusalem during the month of December. She left her job at a large energy company and equipped herself with a letter from the local church in six languages, that anyone who meets her on the road and can give her a roof and food - to do so and help her. On her Instagram account, she raises spiritual musings from her travels, shows landscapes and tells about her experiences on the journey, and has already gained a witness Fans of 28 thousand followers

During the month of November, she will walk to the main holy places in Israel (from north to south) and she plans to reach Jerusalem next month and meet her family, after a walk that lasted almost a year.

The map of the journey to Jerusalem

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Receiving the Pope's blessing

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in Umbria, Italy

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"I felt that God was preparing a mission for me"

Carlota, how did you come up with this idea?

"I felt that God was preparing a task for me and I meditated, and I felt that God was asking me, 'Who am I looking for?'

And I answered 'Jesus.' And he asked 'Where will you find him?'

And I said 'in Jerusalem'. That's how I started the journey and I felt that I should do it by walking, not by flying."

Carlota, as mentioned, left Spain in January of this year and went all the way to Greece.

In the months of March and April she moved to France, in May-June she moved to Italy to visit the Pope who also gave her a letter asking everyone who came across her to host her and provide her with food.

In July, August and September she crossed Slovenia, Croatia, Montenegro and Albania and then in October to Greece.

In Greece she caught a flight to Cyprus (since she could not walk on water like our Lord Jesus), but then a surprise awaited her: a kind couple from Kfar Saba, who were just about to sail a yacht to Israel, gave her a ride and brought her to Tel Aviv.

"Every day I look for a place to stay, and the most fun experience is getting to know the families and seeing the generosity of the people. When they ask me where I'm going, and I say 'to Jerusalem', they are just crazy about it and invite me."

I feel that every place I've been has prepared me for here, for Israel.

This is my first time in Israel and I had no expectations, but there is no way to imagine Israel.

I thought about pilgrims who came here by boat over the years and history and how they felt.

And when I arrived here, at first, it was a shock for me, but I stayed with the family from Kfar Basa who gave me a ride on the yacht, and for three days I visited a kibbutz and a moshav of their friends.

It was very special."

God also sent her a yacht to bring her to Israel.

Carlota on her way from Cyprus (photo: surfers' photos, Carlota Valenzuela)

Carlota Valenzuela at the Church of the Annunciation in Nazareth (photo: surfers' photos, Carlota Valenzuela)

In Israel, she caught some rain during the week in the Galilee (Photo: Surfer Photos, Carlota Valenzuela)

The beautiful Israeli.

The Israeli family from Kfar Saba that hosted Carlota (Photo: surfers' photos, Carlota Valenzuela)

The Israeli connection

The one who follows and helps Carlotta on her journey in Israel, is Golan Reyes, a former El Al KBT in Madrid, who himself set out on a famous pilgrimage called "Camino de Santiago de Compostela", which covers a distance of 900 km (and usually leaves France), to his grave of Jacob ben Zebedee (originally a Tiberian fisherman and one of the apostles of Jesus) located in the province of Galicia in northwestern Spain.

"A few days before she left for the trip, I saw a post about her intention to go to Jerusalem, and it was during my trip to Santiago, and it interested me," says Reyes in a conversation with Walla!

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"Towards the middle of her journey, I suggested to her that when she arrived in Israel, we would go up to Jerusalem together - 'You as a Christian and I as a Jew, you place your hand on the Church of the Holy Sepulcher and I on the Western Wall'"

According to Reiss, Carlota begins her pilgrimage from the end (Finistera on the Camino) to reach the beginning which is Jerusalem, and in fact the beginning of everything according to Christianity.

"Her uniqueness is that she moves from house to house and stays at people's houses, in different communities and finds a place to spend the night every night," he adds.

Behind Carlota there is a large community of people who follow her due to the media echo she created.

The Ministry of Tourism has also been following the impressive pilgrim from the beginning and decided to adopt her as a marketing model for pilgrims all over the world.

In 2019, over half of the tourists who visited Israel were Christians (53.9%), and about 19% of them came for the purpose of pilgrimage.

"The Ministry of Tourism has an interest in reaching younger audiences of pilgrims. Carlota's pilgrimage has the characteristics of new tourism trends. Her visit may create an increase in demand for a pilgrim product with a new added value," says Director General of the Ministry of Tourism Danny Shahar.

He suggested to Carlota that they go to Jerusalem together.

Golan Reyes on the Camino de Santiago (photo: photos of surfers, courtesy of the photographer)

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Waiting for her family to arrive in Israel

These days Carlota is walking Israel.

She went to Haifa, walked to Acre and Ebalin (where the house of St. Miriam Bowardi is located) and from there she will continue to Nazareth and stay there for a few days.

Today (Thursday) she will arrive via the "Jesus Trail" (Jesus Trail in the Galilee) to Kibbutz Lavi, and according to her, she still has no place to stay (invitations for hospitality will be gladly accepted, according to Carlotta).

After that, she will go to stay in the area of ​​the Sea of ​​Galilee and the churches important to Christianity in the north of the lake, and on November 20 she plans to arrive in Tel Aviv.

From there, Reiss and Carlota plan to walk together from Jaffa to Jerusalem, a walk of about four to five days, along the route of the ancient pilgrims who anchored with boats in the port of Jaffa (this is how the Jaffa Gate in Jerusalem got its name - it faces the direction of Jaffa) and embark on a journey through Mikve Israel along Route 44 of today, up to Lod, Ramla, the Emmaus area and Latron and then in the direction of Shaar HaGai up to Abu Gush and Ein Kerem.

She will then wait for her family to arrive in December, but until then she will also visit the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem and Jordan.

When her family lands in Israel, she will enter Jerusalem with them on an exciting first visit.

"Carlotta's family comes once a month to whatever destination she is in, spends a few days with her and returns to Spain," Reyes adds.

"No, thank God no. In terms of security, it was fine, and there was bad weather sometimes, like snow in France or scary dogs I met on the way, or I was afraid of not finding a place to stay when night fell. But in the end everything was fine and I slept every night in a neat place, not in a campsite." .

in Greece (a few days ago)

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Boarding the yacht from Cyprus

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In the last months when Reis is waiting for Carlota, he asked himself "How do you make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem?"

"There is a pilgrimage route to Santiago in Spain, there is a route to Rome (Via Francigena), but there is no route to Jerusalem on foot," he says.

"In the last few months, I traced the ancient pilgrimage routes to Jerusalem, and together with a company we started trying to create a pilgrimage route for Jewish, Christian and Muslim pilgrims."

The path of the two will begin in the north of the country, and for this they have enlisted the cooperation of archaeologists, academics and also bodies such as the Ministry of Tourism and the Nature and Parks Authority.

"Her route should be ready by Easter 2023," Rice adds.

"I don't know, I leave my life in God's hands."

"Very much! God strengthened me, he spoke to me through the people I knew, he showed me his generosity, and his beauty through the landscapes, and that's the only reason I could get here, and without him I wouldn't have been able to make the journey."

According to Carlotta's plan, she will not celebrate Christmas in Israel, but plans to return on December 23 to Spain and celebrate there with her family.

She came to Israel for the first time in her life, but she is "so happy to be here", she says, and of course she would be happy for good people to host her as part of the last part of the journey to Jerusalem.

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