But pants around his ankles, and you carrying a pole, I would be very tempted to whack him where it hurts.
As someone who has participated in many years of Wing Chun Kung Fu, I would like to add the following.
I don't mean to offend you Carole as I'm sure you are saying what you would like to do!! rather than what you would actually do
But can I say?
It doesn't matter how well-trained or experienced you are, attacking or whacking someone where it hurts carries a lot of risk.
Even the most experienced competent martial artist knows that the opponent can get lucky in a fight and that's why most martial artists will do anything to de-escalate or avoid confrontation including running away.
Certainly, if you are attacked then throw the rule book out and fight dirty, without mercy and whack him or her where it hurts, gouge eyes, punch nose, bite, stomp on toes, ankles ect, anything to enable you to get away quickly. Yeah - I know, not nice but if I'm walking innocently along and if someone attacks me, I'm not going to respond nicely or according to the 'rules'. My aim would be to get away as fast as possible and go to Police.
However if they have a weapon... See next sentence.
Better still, try to attend a self defence class before you Camino. You will learn a lot in a very short space of time not only about physical self defence but also about situational awareness, what to avoid etc, how to respond to various scenarios and so on. In larger centres there are usually womens and mens courses.
So, if you are planning a Camino, put a self defence course on your preparation list - not just for the Camino but for anywhere, car parks, shopping centres ect that you go to as part of daily life.
If you are interested you could call into your local cop shop and talk to them - they might be able to put you in touch with the right people who have information that could help you.
And if you witness some idiot exposing his willie, be like Mary and report the fool to police at the earliest opportunity or use the Alert Cops app. Well done Mary!
And finally, if you are fearful, don't be - do something about it, like I did at 59 years of age after a scary pickpocket experience in China, by joining a Wing Chun Club and then you too can enjoy the outside world with confidence.
Buen Camino!