I walked the Caminho do Tejo and Camino Portugues this year, starting in late Apr. How similar to the CF these routes were is difficult to tell, but many of the issues already discussed here were evident along the way.
My challenge was to limit my daily distances to around 20 km. This is almost impossible if one were to rely completely on albergues on these routes even without the issue that many of the albergues that allowed reservations had no spaces available for anyone who arrived without one. Further, there were albergues that had closed, not necessarily for COVID related reasons, which had not re-opened.
So I already knew that there would be a different mix of accommodation to manage, and had factored that into my budget. Noting that pilgrims coming from the antipodes face a significant cost in airfares, equivalent for me to a hurdle cost around 30 euro/day for a month in Europe, my view was small increases in accommodation costs could be managed. As it was, the general costs were slightly higher than I anticipated, and many of the places that I needed to use to keep my distances manageable were much more expensive. I haven't done a detailed accounting for this year's pilgrimage, but it was more expensive than I had anticipated.
Staying more frequently in B&Bs, hostels and the occasional hotel had other, unanticipated, effects. First, it can be a rather lonely experience. I perhaps should have known this, having previously walked in Norway, where other pilgrims are fewer, and I had mentally prepared myself prior to those to walk alone as a matter of course. And on my previous CF, where I had used more private accommodation, I had the company of my wife, so this issue didn't arise.
Second, I lost touch with other pilgrims that I did meet along the way when I had managed to stay in albergues. Some of this would have happened anyway as I was doing shorter days than many others, and one doesn't expect that everyone will use the same accommodation night after night. Perhaps that might have changed if I had been more willing to walk with a 'camino family' but that isn't generally something I consider.
My general pattern of checking available accommodation changed completely this year. I had already booked places to stay in Lisbon and Santiago before I left Australia, anticipating that after the first few days I would be able to find a place to stay each day. This might have been possible later, but I quickly learnt that I would have difficulties doing this, particularly between Lisbon and Porto. As a result, I only considered using traditional albergues where I knew I could arrive by mid-afternoon. For longer stages and where albergues allowed bookings, I would start arranging accommodation a couple of days beforehand, and firm it up by the previous evening.
I didn't see much evidence of there being a bed-race before Porto, but there was afterwards. That said, some of the early starting may well have been motivated by the high daytime temperatures being experienced in central Portugal. Maxima in the mid 20s C were the norm between Lisbon and Porto. Those who started a little later and then caught up with me had walked in over 30 deg C temperatures getting away from Lisbon. I don't thing that was much different to my previous experience on the CF, it just hasn't gone away.
As
@pepi has already suggested, the basic and familiar patterns of the day were little different.
I must admit that this year I more often found a laundromat, often of necessity if I was staying in a hotel, but also just for the convenience.
Overall, these were changes that I had anticipated, even if I hadn't understood how much difference they would make all taken together.
Have things changed? Yes, clearly. But underlying that, this pilgrimage still offered the same opportunities for quiet contemplation, contact with like minded people, spiritual reflection, and physical, mental and emotional challenges that I have come to expect from a good pilgrimage.