The BRILAT Artillery Group, the fastest of the Camino

The three winning patrols on the podium (Picture: BRILAT)

Participant in the grenade launching competition (Picture: BRILAT)

The General with the American patrol (Picture: BRILAT)

The Artillery Group of the 7th Light Infantry Brigade “Galicia” (BRILAT in its Spanish acronym) has won the 14th edition of the Tui-Santiago patrol competition, which took place from 6th to 8th May on a 120-kilometre stretch of the Camino de Santiago (from Tui, on the bank of the river Miño in Pontevedra, to the city that gives its name to the pilgrimage route).

The Gunners were also the fastest (once allowances were made for lost time), arriving first to the Obradoiro Square next to the Cathedral.

The second place went to the “San Quintín” Battalion of the BRILAT; the third, to the Sappers Battalion of the Brigade. General Luis Cebrián, chief of the Brigade, and Agustín Hernández, mayor of Santiago, handed out the trophies and an institutional award from the town hall.

The guests this year included a patrol from the US Army, which came all the way from Italy to take part in the competition. Like all the others, they received “la Compostelá”, which shows that they have completed this demanding stretch of the Portuguese Camino.

The Tui-Santiago competition

The Tui-Santiago patrol competition aims at promoting BRILAT and at fostering a spirit of cohesion among its members as well as relationships with other units and armies and with the civilian population.

The competition involves completing an itinerary of around 120 kilometres along the Portuguese Camino and seven events that test the toughness, skill and endurance of the six members of each patrol: a topographical tour, precision rifle shooting, an obstacle course, abseiling, river crossing, grenade launching and a timed run.