Today we started walking from Porto along the coast. Almost the whole way we were walking on boardwalks.
Boardwalks are pleasant to walk on, much nicer than pavement and not as hard as sand. There were some pilgrims but mostly local people. Periodically there are places to stop and rest.
More the benches discourage laying down presumably to prevent sleeping. But often you see these maybe by a different department.
And even this.
I’m not too sure the wire cables would make a comfortable hammock.