Pilgrims are being warned to avoid walking alone along a 15-mile stretch of Spain’s Camino de Santiago after police launched an investigation into an attempted abduction in the same area where an American pilgrim went missing in early April.
Denise Thiem, from Arizona, was last seen in the town of Astorga, in the north-western province of León on 5 April. The 41-year-old was walking along the Camino Francés, one of the most popular of the pilgrimage routes to Santiago de Compostela, which between them attract hundreds of thousands of people each year.
More than six weeks after her disappearance, Spanish police say the investigation remains open. Her family and friends, meanwhile, are recruiting volunteers for local searches of the area, with the next search planned in Astorga on Saturday.
As alarm grew among residents of the small municipality of Astorga over Thiem’s disappearance, warning bells went off again last week when a local woman jogging near a popular resting spot for pilgrims was approached by two men in a car. “It was a terrible experience,” the woman, who is in her 50s, told Atlas media. As the young men attempted to get her attention, she noticed that one of them had his face partially covered. One of them grabbed her by the arm, attempting to force her into the car. “He left marks on my arm where he grabbed me.”
She slipped out of his grip and took off running. “I headed into the bushes and he was behind me.” She found a place to hide, calling for help on her mobile. Police are investigating the incident.
With local media drawing parallels between the attempted abduction and Thiem’s disappearance, one of the pilgrimage’s largest English-speaking forums advised pilgrims not to walk alone on the section of the route, which stretches from Astorga to Rabanal del Camino. “It seemed like it got to a point where there were so many things, and when you put them together it sounded like we should tell people about this,” said site administrator Ivar Rekve.
Residents had told local daily El Diario de León that this wasn’t the first they had heard of incidents like the attempted abduction, and complained about a lack of security in the area.
With local media drawing parallels between the attempted abduction and Thiem’s disappearance, one of the pilgrimage’s largest English-speaking forums advised pilgrims not to walk alone on the section of the route, which stretches from Astorga to Rabanal del Camino. “It seemed like it got to a point where there were so many things, and when you put them together it sounded like we should tell people about this,” said site administrator Ivar Rekve.
Residents had told local daily El Diario de León that this wasn’t the first they had heard of incidents like the attempted abduction, and complained about a lack of security in the area.
In his 10 years of running the forum, Rekve said it was the first time he had ever sent out such a warning, in which he highlighted the credible reports about improper behaviour towards women along the route. “The Camino has been a very safe place, and it still is, but it only takes a few to make the situation more uncertain,” he added.
In his 10 years of running the forum, Rekve said it was the first time he had ever sent out such a warning, in which he highlighted the credible reports about improper behaviour towards women along the route. “The Camino has been a very safe place, and it still is, but it only takes a few to make the situation more uncertain,” he