Routes to Fátima: Tourism and Security issues (a case study)

Débora Fino Natural Hazards Research Center (NHRC.ipt), Polytechnic Institute of Tomar, Portugal

Cristina Andrade. CITAB University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro, Quinta dos Prados, Apart. 1013, 5000-801 Vila Real, Portugal

 

 

ABSTRACT

The city of Fátima is located in the center region of Portugal in the Santarém district, municipality of Ourém and has become a popular pilgrimage destination since 1917, when Our Lady of Fátima (Nossa Senhora de Fátima) made an appearance in Cova da Iria to the three little shepherds. During this period Fátima was visited six times by Popes: in 1967 by Pope Paul VI, by John Paul II in 1982, 1991 and 2000, in 2010 by Benedict XVI and, finally, in 2017 by Pope Francis.

The growing number of visitors during the so-called major pilgrimages (namely, on May 13^th, August 13^th, and October 13^th) triggered the need to improve security. During the commemoration of the centennial of the apparitions of Nossa Senhora de Fátima (2017), Fátima received approximately 9 million visitors. However, security issues are relevant not only during religious events but also in the pedestrian routes used by pilgrims, Caminhos de Fátima. Although there are several major known tracks that cross the country, such as Caminhos do Norte, do Sul, do Sudeste, do Sudoeste, do Poente and Nascente there are still numerous secondary uncharted routes used by these pilgrims.

The aim of this study is to identify secondary routes and to research security conditions of the pedestrian routes used for the Fátima pilgrimage. In this case study, three main secondary itineraries with departures from Tomar, Entroncamento, and Caxarias were identified and security conditions were investigated. These alternative routes are located on roads with less traffic or mountain tracks, thus offering the pilgrim several challenges. Inquires made to several organizations allowed us to conclude that security conditions can be improved, namely the ones related to better signage, lighting and pilgrims’ support points. It is also necessary to improve the awareness of the institutions that organize pilgrimages regarding their planning.

Although the main focus of this study was primarily linked to security conditions, it is also worth notice that, it allowed us to conclude that these pilgrimage routes can be appealing to a new segment of pilgrimage tourism or ecotourism, meaning the Fatima pilgrim that spends more days in the municipality of Ourém to get to know its culture, history, nature, and customs.

Key Words: Fátima, Pilgrimage, Security, Religious Tourism

 

INTRODUCTION

Since the dawn of mankind, Religious Tourism is one of the earliest forms of tourism. The pilgrimage to religious centers or holy sites had become not only part of the cultural landscape but also highly relevant to the economy of those sites (Clayton and Radcliffe, 1996; Wagner, 1997; Sunstein, 2002; Coleman and Elsner, 2003; Andriotis, 2009; Tribe, 2012; Antunes et al., 2016). Travelers face several challenges from risk to safety issues during their pilgrimage. The mass gatherings, terrorism, crime, and security are specific problems and challenges in risk assessment in religious sites (Sunstein, 2002; Sackett and Botterill, 2006; Clayton et al., 2014; Tarlow, 2014).

Besides terrorism, pilgrimage sites and destinations, like Lourdes (France), Jerusálem (Israel), Fátima (Portugal), Santiago de Compostela (Spain) face challenges linked to sustainability (Sunstein, 2002; Sackett and Botterill, 2006; González and Lopez, 2012; Lopez, 2013). Indeed, sustainability entails taking steps to equip and maintain, providing a good environment to pilgrims using access ways and traffic corridors in order to prevent congestion and not exceed load capacities. In case of large religious events and mass gatherings, these challenges include flows management and access to ensure that travelers are received and accommodated under proper hygienic and public-health conditions (Tarlow, 2014). Therefore, pilgrimage routes and religious itineraries require well-coordinated partnerships and collaboration among the involved territorial authorities.

Fátima is a Marian sanctuary, located in the center region of Portugal in the Santarém district, municipality of Ourém (Figure 7) and has become a popular pilgrimage destination since 1917 (Prazeres and Carvalho, 2015). In this year Our Lady of Fátima (Nossa Senhora de Fátima) made an appearance in Cova da Iria to the three little shepherds (Figure 8). The growing number of visitors during the so-called major pilgrimages (namely, on May 13^th, August 13^th, and October 13^th) triggered the need to improve security. As aforementioned, these travelers face several challenges, in particular, Fatima pilgrimage is characterized by a considerable number of pedestrian pilgrims.

Figure 7: Fatima sanctuary location a) location of Ourém municipality in Portugal, b) Ourém municipality and parishes division, c) Basilica (Nossa Senhora do Rosário de Fátima) in Fatima Sanctuary

The assessment of these pilgrims traveling conditions is going to be, the main focus of this study.

 

The Fatima pedestrian pilgrims, whether traveling alone or in a group, give rise to other relevant security and risk assessment issues. During the pilgrimage, these travelers can follow Pedestrian routes, like the well-known Routes to Santiago de Compostela (González R. and Lopez, 2012; Lopez, 2013), here, known as Routes to Fatima (Caminhos de Fátima). Although there are several major known tracks that cross the country, such as Caminhos do Norte, do Sul, do Sudeste, do Sudoeste, do Poente and Nascente (Section 2.2.). There are still numerous secondary uncharted routes used by these pilgrims. The identification and security conditions of several routes in the vicinity of Ourém municipality are going to be assessed and presented herein.

Figure 8: Three little shepherds (Saints Lúcia, Francisco and Jacinta)

 

 

ROUTES OF FATIMA

 

Fatima Sanctuary

The city of Fatima (Figure 7) is commonly referred as the "Altar of the World". In 1568, this city was founded as a parish due to the disaggregation of Ourém’s collegiate. Fatima was a small unknown town until 1917 year of the apparitions of Our Lady of Fatima to three young shepherds (Figure 8). Fatima’s Basilica (Basílica de Nossa Senhora do Rosário de Fátima) was built in 1928 in the Cova da Iria, which led to the fixation of more population. With the increasing number of visitors, local commerce, restoration, and accommodation facilities also increased to meet the needs of pilgrims and tourists. In 1977 Fatima was elevated to a village and became a city in 1997. This is the second major city in the municipality of Ourém.

Fatima Sanctuary (http://www.fatima.pt/pt/) hosts annually thousands of pilgrimages and tourists from several religions and from all over the world. In 2016, the sanctuary authorities announced having registered 1,686 and 2,615 national and international organized pilgrimages, respectively (Figure 9). During this year the Sanctuary received about 568,319 national pilgrims and 125,583 foreign travelers. However, these numbers[1] are only an estimate since there are many organized and non-organized pilgrimages that do not report its presence to the Sanctuary authorities. The Fatima pilgrimages of May 13^th and October 13^th are the major events and hence the number of pedestrian pilgrims is also higher, which raises additional safety concerns. Besides the security issues, the potential for domestic and international pilgrimage tourism has grown substantially during the last few years (Reader, 2007). Realising the importance of pilgrimage tourism should lead to initiatives to improve or create infrastructures and gear to encourage private sector investment and promoting partnerships.

Figure 9: Number of organized pilgrimages in Fatima (2016). (Source: Santuário de Fátima1)

[1] http://www.fatima.santuario-fatima.pt/files/upload/2016n/Estatisticas2016%281%29%20%281%29.pdf

Fátima is an increasingly relevant religious site, receiving millions of visitors every year. For example, in 2017 it reached up to 9 (nine) millions due to the pilgrimage of Pope Francis that coincided with the celebration of the centennial of Our Lady of Fatima apparitions.

 

Routes of Fatima: identification and security issues

Risk usually implies a situation of potential danger, which is partly socially defined. Indeed, since it is linked with events that have not happened yet, it is a possible future condition. Risks are also the combination of the chance that a particular event will happen, and the number of times that one is exposed to it (Clayton et al., 2014; Tarlow, 2014). Risks are usually expressed as percentages. An extremely low risk has a probability close to zero (impossible), whilst an extremely high is close to one, or 100% (certain). The perception of risk is, therefore, not necessarily the same as a statistical risk. Within this case study, this means that the majority of the pilgrims is more concerned with the traveling security conditions that with the overall experience (safety) in the sanctuary.

One of the major apprehensions regarding the pedestrian pilgrimage to Fatima is related to the traveling conditions. During the major pilgrimages devote travelers cross the country by foot towards Fatima sanctuary, in groups more or less organized (Figure 10).

Figure 10: Pilgrimage to Fatima (Source: https://www.noticiasaominuto.com/pais/785261/vai-em-peregrinacao-a-pe-para-fatima-siga-estas-recomendacoes)

 

As aforesaid, there are several charted pedestrian Routes of Fatima (Figure 11) such as the Northern route (Caminhos do Norte), Southern route (do Sul), Southwestern route (do Sudeste), South-eastern route (do Sudoeste), Western route (do Poente) and Eastern route (Nascente) that crosses the country. During recent years several attempts were made in order to recommend pilgrims to avoid routes that are superimposed to roads with an intense traffic flow, or that imply their crossing. Information is promoted by the authorities and media with advice on how to prevent hazardous situations. However, unfortunately, every year there are casualties due to road traffic.

Figure 11: Main pedestrian routes of Fatima.

 

The signaling in the aforementioned routes is another major problem. The identification of these routes has also been discussed, however, there is not a global consensus regarding this issue (Figure 12). There is no clear understanding of who was responsible for its implementation, manutention or design. The signaling is not clear and in most of the paths is non-existent.

Figure 12: Signaling that identifies the paths of the Fatima routes.

 

During their several days' journey, it is necessary to ensure that travelers are received and accommodated during the night under proper hygienic and public-health conditions in several support points. These include accommodation, security and health points. Usually, these pilgrims are followed by support vehicles along with their journey, therefore parking conditions are also pertinent. Due to their relevance in the safety conditions assessment, support points near Ourém were thus identified; however, they are not going to be present in this paper.

For this case study, a survey method by means of interviews was used. The collected data was used to gather information about several security issues experienced by pedestrian pilgrims when traveling to Fatima. The interviews were conducted in three locations: Tomar, Entroncamento, and Caxarias. These locations were chosen due to their proximity to Ourém municipality. Due to the short distances, these groups travel mainly during the night, therefore security issues reflect the challenges brought by the absence of light. Also, the paths used do not follow the known pedestrian Routes of Fatima (Figure 11). Interviews were conducted with the main organization entities in these locations, the main goals of this case study were to:

• Identify their pilgrimage routes;
• Identify their difficulties during the journey (partially shown);
• Characterize these groups (not shown).

These inquiries allowed to identify three main secondary itineraries with departures from Tomar, Entroncamento, and Caxarias (Figure 13) the preliminary results are going to be presented herein.

Figure 13: Secondary pedestrian pilgrimage routes with departures from a) Tomar b) Entroncamento c) Caxarias.

 

The route with departure from Tomar has about 30km long, and the number of pilgrims round 300 to 400 participants (Figure 13 a). During their itinerary, these groups cross the municipalities of Tomar and Ourém and a major road IC9 (Complementary itinerary 9). This fact along with the absence of clean road verges and traffic speed is the main safety concerns. They are usually accompanied by police forces. Between Entroncamento and Fatima, three secondary pedestrian routes were identified (Figure 13 b). They are about 26 to 35km long and crosses the municipalities of Entroncamento and Ourém. Groups are smaller, about 120 participants with ages from 17 to 70 years old. These groups are not accompanied by police forces and the absence of signaling and light, road traffic, and support points are the main security issues pointed out. Finally, from Caxarias three secondary pedestrian routes were also identified (Figure 13 c). These tracks are about 19 to 36 km long. These groups are not accompanied by police forces and the absence of clean road verges and healthcare support are the main concerns.

Overall, these alternative routes are located on roads with less traffic or mountain tracks, thus offering the pilgrim several challenges. Traveling by night also presents other risks. Road traffic and pavement conditions lead to accidents linked to poor light conditions often lead to hazardous situations. Risk assessment serves the dual purpose of evaluating the risks and dangers associated with pilgrimages, particularly in this case study, risks associated with these secondary routes. Therefore, risk assessment to these pilgrims involves the evaluation of the dangers/hazards, risks, possible consequences and the prevention measures that should be taken into consideration before and during pilgrimages. Results of this evaluation are found in Table 2.

Table 2: Risk assessment

Hazards	Risks	Consequences	Prevention
Road walk	Accidents Falls Environmental risks Physical and psychological fatigue	Musculoskeletal injuries Death Temporary or permanent incapacity Pollution Fires Anxiety Decreased energy	Alternative routes Maintenance of roads verges Correct signaling People and pilgrim’s awareness Better lighting conditions
Signage
Pavement conditions
Road traffic
Travelers without proper signage
Long tracks
Lighting
Weather conditions	Solar or rain exposition	Solar burns Flu or colds tension breaks or fainting	Sunscreens and raincoats Proper hydration Proper shoes
Wild animals or abandoned animals	Attacks Falls	Physical or psychological injuries Temporary or permanent incapacity	Public awareness

 

The preliminary analysis of these inquiries allowed us to conclude that security conditions might be improved, namely the ones related to better signage, lighting and pilgrims’ support points (not shown). Physical and psychological fatigue along with weather conditions exposition were also reported as major safety concerns. It is also necessary to improve the awareness of the institutions that organize pilgrimages regarding their planning.

 

Final remarks

Tourism security officials and local authorities are increasingly aware of the level of professionalism exhibited by those who would seek advantage of the tourist and namely the religious tourism. Despite the developments outlined in this study, a recognition that security and safety concerns in religious pilgrimages like Fatima are a relevant problem. Indeed, protection requires partnerships. These partnerships include all aspects of the security and safety, government, police forces, hotel managers, tourism agencies, and offices. Furthermore, efficient risk management plans have to address both the real risk and also the public perception of the risk (Table 2).

For this case study, a survey method by means of interviews was used. The collected data was used to gather information about the identification of alternative routes and several security issues experienced by pedestrian pilgrims when traveling to Fatima. The results showed that individuals' perceptions regarding directional signage, lighting, safety and security, and further support points are several features to improve. Although the Sanctuary (http://www.fatima.pt/pt/pages/organizar-uma-peregrinacao) territorial authorities, like the Portuguese Civil Protection Authority (ANPC) (for example, Infraestruturas de Portugal: http://www.infraestruturasdeportugal.pt/centro-de-imprensa/peregrinacao-fatima-2017; ANPC: www.protecaocivilfatima.pt) and associations (for example, Associação Caminhos de Fátima: http://caminho.com.pt/mapas.html; http://www.cnc.pt/artigos/28), have in their websites information on how to organize a pilgrimage, the best practices, the charted routes, among other relevant information there is still a long way to go.

Although the main focus of this study was primarily linked to security conditions, it is also worth notice that, it allowed us to conclude that these pilgrimage routes can be appealing to a new segment of pilgrimage tourism or ecotourism, meaning the Fatima pilgrim that spends more days in the municipality of Ourém to get to know its culture, history, nature, and customs.

 

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