Paradores de Turismo will support the promotion of the historic pilgrimage ways to the Royal Monastery of Santa María de Guadalupe, in Extremadura, a 16th-century sanctuary declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1993 and considered one of the great pilgrimage centres of the Iberian Peninsula.
The president of the state-owned hotel chain, Raquel Sánchez, and José Miguel Martín, president of the Cooperation Network of the Historic Pilgrimage Ways to Guadalupe, today signed a general collaboration protocol in the town to develop this project. “With this agreement we are taking a step forward in promoting the historic pilgrimage ways to Guadalupe, making Paradores part of the pilgrim experience and helping to revitalise the area through a sustainable, high-quality tourism model,” said the president.
The agreement sets out a framework for collaboration between both organisations to promote, enhance and publicise the Historic Pilgrimage Ways to Guadalupe, linking them to the Paradores network as a benchmark tourism infrastructure.
The main areas of action include joint promotion at national and international level, the design of products and experiences linked to cultural, historical, nature and pilgrimage tourism, as well as communication and marketing activities and collaboration in events, conferences and meetings related to sustainable tourism and heritage.
The protocol also provides for the exchange of information and good practice, as well as support for local development, encouraging the involvement of local communities and stakeholders.
In this context, the president of Paradores stressed that “this collaboration stems from a simple but very powerful idea: to recover the essence of travel as it was traditionally understood, connecting history, territory and hospitality.” For his part, the president of the Cooperation Network of the Historic Pilgrimage Ways to Guadalupe highlighted the timeliness of signing this agreement “on the eve of a new Guadalupe Holy Year, when a huge influx of pilgrims is expected along these historic routes.”
Martín also stressed the need to publicise and promote this network, “which is little known, but has important natural, cultural and gastronomic assets that accompany and complement the religious feeling. The final destination, Guadalupe, has a World Heritage monument, is one of the Most Beautiful Villages in Spain, is a UN Tourism Best Tourism Village and is part of the Villuercas Ibores Jara UNESCO Global Geopark,” he said.
A network of 16 ways with Paradores along the route
The Network of Historic Pilgrimage Ways to Guadalupe works on identifying, restoring, waymarking and promoting a network of routes of great cultural, historical, scenic and spiritual value that run through large areas of Extremadura, Castilla-La Mancha, Andalusia, Castilla y León and the Community of Madrid.
There are currently 16 historic pilgrimage ways converging on La Puebla de Guadalupe from different points. Several Paradores are located within this area, which reinforces the coherence and potential of this collaboration: Cáceres, Trujillo, Plasencia, Mérida, Guadalupe, Oropesa and Toledo.
The Parador de Jarandilla de la Vera is a short distance away, and those of Segovia, Córdoba and Zafra have potential to join in the future. This initiative is part of Paradores’ corporate strategy and its Sustainability Plan.
Boost for the Parador de Guadalupe and the Extremadura network
The Parador de Guadalupe is a particularly symbolic example of this initiative, as it is housed in a former pilgrims’ hospital, which strengthens its value along these routes and restores its historic role of hospitality.
In 2025 the hotel reached 78% occupancy, an increase of 8 percentage points compared with 2024, placing it among the fastest-growing Paradores in the network. That year more than 11,000 guests stayed at the Parador.
This growth is part of the investment effort Paradores is making in Extremadura. Together with Turespaña, more than 20 million euros are being allocated to modernising, improving the sustainability and enhancing the seven Paradores in the region.
In the specific case of Guadalupe, Paradores is investing more than one million euros in improvements focused on energy efficiency, accessibility and the guest experience, reinforcing its role as a tourism and cultural landmark in the area. 2026, Jubilee Year To boost these routes, the Guadalupe Pilgrim’s Credential was created in 2021, certifying that the route has been completed on foot, by bicycle or on horseback.
In addition, Guadalupe will celebrate a Jubilee Year from 30 August 2026, coinciding with the start of the novena to the patron saint of the Hispanic world, which will run until 8 September 2027.
The network of historic pilgrimage ways to Guadalupe is already included in the Nature, Culture and Leisure viewer of the National Geographic Institute (IGN) and the National Centre for Geographic Information (CNIG), increasing its visibility and accessibility. 24
