I also had 2 debits cards on my first Camino, from 2 different banks. Now I will be doing the Portuguese Camino in September and I wonder first if it is safe from Lisbon to Porto, because it is less busy and I will be alone, and also are there many ATMs along the way?? Thanks for providing info regarding this??
We walked from Lisbon last summer. Things I remember: there are a larger number of 20 mile days (30km) than on the Frances.
Almost all of the water fountains are labeled as non-potable. The few potable ones we noticed were not usable to refill our water bottles.
ATM withdrawals appeared to be capped at E200 until we crossed the border into Spain--then it was possible to withdraw E300.
You need to keep your wits about you so you won't miss your chances to get food--if you follow the trail blindly it doesn't go by nearly the number of food places that the Frances does. Keep an eye open for turn-offs that lead into town, one day I didn't have anything to eat but one hard boiled egg for most of the day. And the folks don't open their bars until at least the same time as Spain and sometimes later. We saw a McDonalds along the coastal route north of Porto that wasn't going to be open AT ALL until 1100. The big meal of the day is lunch, around 14oo. Prato do dia is a good solid working man's meal and they serve it in the lunch time zone. The Francicena (spelling?) sandwich is a huge amount of food, you can walk a long time on it. I couldn't even finish mine: multiple meat layers, multiple bread layers, cheese, gravy, egg on top and it was garnished with an olive to boot. Yum.
Tomato juice can be hard to come by. (We love having a cold glass of tomato juice when we're hot and sweaty from exercise or yard work. The salt in it is wonderful.)
Iced tea is a completely unheard-of concept, except at those bars that have canned Nestea.
Mineral water has both salt and calcium in it--and the default water in water bottles is almost always mineral water. It seems to fend off cramps.
I never had the feeling that we were in creepy neighborhoods--you do need to remember your city behavior rules when in cities of course--but there was a fair amount of the two of us walking alone.
Some scary dogs--take your hiking poles.
The Portuguese people are some of the friendliest people you could ever hope to meet. Just sing out "bom dia" as you pass them in villages.
And men say thank you with a different word than women do. The guide books only have the male form. Female form is obrigada. I suspect a third-person grammar thing is going on here like "this man/woman is obliged to you."
HTH. Bom caminho.