You might have had to pay a donation fee to enter? Maybe there was no volunteers at that time to take it. Honestly though, very odd, there must have been a valid reason. Pity we don't speak Spanish. Buen Camino
I brought 2 ATM cards incase I lost or broke one. I only carried maximum 70 cash per day incase I lost or got robbed (35 euro spend per day). Towns will have ATMs but villages might not. You always need to have cash as lots of places (cafés...
Absolutely need to walk on the side facing the traffic. The Camino Frances route is mostly off road but there is a few areas where you share the road with cars and trucks. Very important to walk on the side where you are facing oncoming traffic...
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