Coronavirus (COVID-19) in Portugal: current situation (2024)

Information: if you have already read this article, scroll down to the section “Coronavírus (Covid-19) in Portugal: current situation” to get the latest updates.

I would like not to have to write this article, but instead talk about the wonders of Portugal or give you travel advices, but we are experiencing a dramatic situation (which my generation and my parents’ never knew), which makes it impossible to continue our lives as if nothing is happening…

The virus has taken over Europe with incredible force and our continent has become the epicentre of this war.

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When I wrote this article, we had not yet reached the peak of contamination (expected for April), meaning that the worst is yet to come.

I know that we were told from the beginning that this virus is just a flu, but the consequences will be much worse than the seasonal flu…

Although 80% of the population who contract coronavirus (covid-19) have only mild symptoms (fever, cough) as if it was a flu, it is likely that more severe cases will die from the virus, lack of vacancies in hospitals and equipment (for example, medical ventilators).

To get an idea of the problem, there are on average 2.7 hospital beds per 1000 inhabitants in the USA and 2.5 in the UK (there are 3 hospital beds per 1000 inhabitants in Portugal) and that number decreases a little more when it comes to intensive care.

There will be more and more serious cases and, if we do nothing, doctors will have to choose between those they treat and those who have to die (that’s what happened in Italy…).

The purpose of the measures taken by our governments is to avoid a large number of cases at once, so that the peak of cases is as low as possible and that time is saved until temperatures start to rise (hoping that this virus becomes similar to that of seasonal flu) and that a vaccine for Covid-19 is found.

For the first time, we, Europeans, must be responsible and disciplined so that this crisis lasts as little as possible.

According to some scientists, the peak of the pandemic will occur between mid and late April (at least in Portugal), but these predictions are only valid if we follow the instructions!

At best, this situation will last until May and may continue if we don’t change our habits. Even if you are not afraid of this virus, think of fragile people like your parents, grandparents, uncles and aunts.

In addition to this health crisis, if you hesitate to follow the instructions and think about your work or your company, because this will be prolonged, then we will face a crisis never seen before!

To track coronavirus statistics by country, click here.

Coronavirus (Covid-19) in Portugal: current situation

Sommaire

Coronavirus (Covid-19) in Portugal: current situation

I will put the instructions of the Portuguese government below and, whenever they change, I’ll update them.

Add this article to your favourites so that you get the latest information about the progress of this pandemic in Portugal.

Information: updates since October 19, 2020 have been translated using Google Translate or Deepl.com

Monday 4 July 2022: end of the digital certificate

Since 1 July, to enter Portugal (by air, sea or land), there is no longer any need for a digital certificate or for antigenic or PCR tests.

The only restriction still in place is that masks must be worn when entering hospitals and other health facilities. (Updated on 26 August).

Information: even though the digital certificate or PCR/antigenic tests are no longer required to enter Portugal, check the restrictions that your country imposes when you return home.

I wish you a great summer and a wonderful holiday!

Monday 25 April 2022: end of the mask requirement

Since last Friday, it is no longer compulsory to wear a mask in indoor spaces (shops, restaurants, bars, etc.).

It is still compulsory to wear a mask in public transport, taxis and similar transport (Uber), as well as in access to retirement homes, hospitals and other health facilities.

Apart from wearing a mask in the places mentioned in the paragraph above, there are no restrictions in Portugal (no need for a certificate to enter restaurants, etc.). We are back to normal life.

To enter Portugal by air, land or sea, all you need is a digital certificate with full vaccination (with booster dose) or a negative PCR test less than 72 hours old or a negative antigen test less than 24 hours old.

Important information: these rules are only valid in mainland Portugal. If you are going to visit the Portuguese islands (Madeira and the Azores), there may be restrictions such as wearing a mask.

Are you going to visit mainland Portugal, Madeira or the Azores in the next few days?

I invite you to consult this page (official Portuguese tourism website) to have access to all the rules to respect (type of test, documents to fill in, etc.) before and during your stay.

Monday 21 February 2022: lifting of restrictions (return to “normal” life)

After the last meeting with specialists, the Portuguese government decided to relax the restrictions that were in force.

From now on, the only restriction in everyday life is to wear a mask in indoor spaces (shops, restaurants, bars, public transport, etc.).

The digital certificate (3 doses or negative test) is only required if you want to visit someone in a nursing home or hospital.

Are you going to visit mainland Portugal, Madeira or the Azores in the next few days?

I invite you to consult this page (official Portuguese tourism website) to have access to all the rules to respect (type of test, documents to fill in, etc.) before and during your stay.

Here are the latest covid-19 figures for Portugal

In the last 7 days, there have been an average of 14 590 new cases of covid-19 per day and 43 deaths.

Source: https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/portugal/

There are currently 1788 people hospitalised with covid-19, of which 115 are in intensive care.

Source: https://coronavirus.rr.sapo.pt

Monday 10 January 2022: lifting of certain restrictions (+ rules in force updated on 8 February)

After the end of the year celebrations, the Portuguese government has, as expected, relaxed a little the restrictions decided just before Christmas.

Here are the rules to respect from 10 January (on 8 February I updated the rules for entering and visiting Portugal):

Occupancy limits for commercial premises remain – one person per five square metres;

Digital certificate required (full vaccination or negative test) for access to :

Restaurants (except open-air terraces) ;
Tourist establishments and local accommodation;
Cultural performances;
Events with numbered seats;
Sports halls.

Presentation of a negative covid-19 test result or certificate of recovery is mandatory (except for those who have already been vaccinated with a booster dose of vaccine for at least 14 days) for :

Visits to nursing homes;
Visits to in-patients in health care facilities;
Large events and events without numbered seats or in improvised venues
Sports venues
Bars and nightclubs

Prohibition of the consumption of alcoholic beverages on the public highway, with the exception of esplanades / terraces.

To enter Portugal by air, land or sea, all you need (since 7 February) is a digital certificate with full vaccination or a negative PCR test less than 72 hours old or a negative antigen test less than 24 hours old.

Although not specified by the government, wearing a mask remains mandatory indoors (shops, hotels, restaurants, etc.).

Are you going to visit mainland Portugal, Madeira or the Azores in the next few days?

I invite you to consult this page (official Portuguese tourism website) to have access to all the rules to respect (type of test, documents to fill in, etc.) before and during your stay.

Here are the latest covid-19 figures for Portugal

In the last 7 days, there was an average of 30,833 new cases of covid-19 per day and 17 deaths.

This is the highest average number of new cases since the beginning of the pandemic (with the high number of tests, we are finally close to the real number of people with the virus), but the number of deaths is still very low (a year ago, there were on average 93 deaths per day).

Source: https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/portugal/

There are currently 1588 people hospitalised with covid-19, 161 of whom are in intensive care.

The number of new cases and hospitalisations has been increasing since Christmas (the number of hospitalisations has doubled in 14 days). In contrast, the number of people in intensive care (very serious cases) has hardly increased (10 more people than at Christmas).

Source: https://coronavirus.rr.sapo.pt

Even if the situation is not yet as we would like it to be, I wish you a very good year 2022 and that it will be better than the year that has just ended.

Wednesday 22 December 2021: new last-minute restrictions…

The Portuguese government announced last night new restrictions just 3 days before Christmas…

Before giving you my opinion on the situation, I put below the new rules to be respected from December 24th until January 9th :

Reduced occupancy in all commercial spaces: 1 person / 5 m² ;
Teleworking becomes compulsory;
Closing of discos and bars;
Closing of day care centres and nurseries;

Negative test (PCR or antigenic test in pharmacy or laboratory) mandatory for access to :

Tourist establishments (hotels) and local accommodation (flats, houses);
Weddings and christenings;
Corporate events;
Cultural performances;
Sports grounds (football stadiums, etc.)

For the Christmas and New Year period (24th and 25th, 30th, 31st December and 1st January):

Mandatory negative test (PCR or antigenic) for access to restaurants, casinos and Christmas parties;
Gatherings of more than 10 people on the public highway on New Year’s Eve are prohibited;
Consumption of alcoholic beverages on the public highway prohibited;

Are you going to visit Portugal in the next few days?

I invite you to consult this page (official Portuguese tourism website) to have access to all the rules to respect (type of test, documents to fill in, etc.) before and during your stay.

Where can PCR or antigenic tests be performed?

In theory, a rapid test (antigenic) valid for 48 hours can be done in pharmacies or laboratories such as https://unilabs.pt/ or https://www.germanodesousa.com/ and in private hospitals such as Trofa Saúde.

The problem is that you have to make an appointment and there are almost no slots available (especially for the 24th and 31st of December).

If you are or will be in Portugal in the next few days, ask your hotel (especially if you don’t speak Portuguese) for help in finding a place to take a test.

Personal opinion:

I’m not totally against these measures which can reduce the number of infections, but taking them 3 days before Christmas is crazy!

If the government wanted to take these measures, they should have done so at the beginning of the month, the day they announced the measures for the end of the year.

It was better to announce very restrictive measures and if the situation improved, they could ease them a few days before the end of the year.

Businesses have organised everything according to the rules in force since 1 December, the population has made reservations for restaurants and hotels and now everyone risks losing a lot of money because of decisions taken on the spur of the moment…

Businesses (restaurants, hotels, etc.) are suffering from numerous cancellations and customers who can no longer cancel, risk not being able to enter the establishments because of the lack of tests or full agendas…

Well, that’s the way the world goes…

Even if the situation is not easy, I still wish you to have a great holiday season!

Saturday 27 November 2021: here we go again …

It had been two months since Portugal had been living with almost no restrictions, two months since the pandemic had been forgotten.

Unfortunately, as everywhere in Europe, Portugal has seen an increase in the number of cases (3 times more cases than a month ago – 2500 instead of 750).

As 87% of the Portuguese population is vaccinated, the number of hospitalizations has not increased much. The number of hospitalizations has increased from 334 at the end of September to 605 (x1.81) today and from 76 people in intensive care to 100 (x1.31). Deaths have risen from a daily average of 6 to 13 (x2.2).

To avoid a dramatic start to 2022 (in January 2021, there were almost 300 deaths per day), the Portuguese government decided to apply new measures from 1 December.

Personal opinion: the government has taken these measures to avoid a situation similar to the one in January 2021, but also because of the delay in the vaccination of the 3rd dose for the most fragile people (+65 years old) and because on January 30th there are legislative elections…

Here are the rules in force from December 1st :

Mask mandatory indoors (shops, hotels, restaurants, etc.)
Digital certificate required to enter restaurants, tourist accommodation (hotels, flats, etc.), events with “numbered” seats (cinemas, concerts, etc.) and sports halls.
Negative test required (even for vaccinated persons) for access to old people’s homes, visiting patients in health facilities, large events without numbered seats, sports facilities (football stadiums, etc.), discotheques and bars.
Arrival in Portugal by air, land or sea: negative test required, even if fully vaccinated (2 or for some 3 doses).

All those who enter Portugal without a negative test risk a fine of 300 to 800 euros.

Week of 2-9 January:

Mandatory teleworking
Schools are closed
Discos and bars closed

The measures for the first week of January are a little more restrictive to avoid the virus spreading quickly, after the family gatherings at Christmas and New Year’s Day.

Are you going to visit Portugal in the next few weeks?

I invite you to consult this page (official Portuguese tourism website) a few days before your departure to have access to the rules to respect (type of test, documents to fill in, etc.).

Saturday, September 25, 2021: the day of liberation has arrived!

I have been dreaming of this moment for 18 months, a year and a half of restrictions and confinements that end on October 1st.

As more than 80% of the Portuguese population is vaccinated, as the number of new cases, deaths and hospitalizations is constantly decreasing, the Portuguese government has decided to lift 99% of the restrictions.

As of October 1, we are back to our pre-pandemic way of life with some small differences:

The digital certificate remains mandatory to enter bars and discos (which open on October 1), visit retirement homes, health facilities and major cultural, sports or corporate events.

The mask is still required for public transportation, retirement homes, hospitals, theaters and department stores (e.g. shopping malls).

To visit Portugal by air or sea, a digital certificate or a PCR or antigenic test is required for people over 11 years old. You will also need to fill out a small form with your personal information: https://portugalcleanandsafe.pt/en/passenger-locator-card

By land (border with Spain), there are no restrictions (you do not need a certificate or test) for EU citizens.

Information : before coming to Portugal by land, check if there are any restrictions (need of certificate) at the French-Spanish border : https://travelsafe.spain.info/en/

I also advise you to visit this page of the official Portuguese tourism website to know the restrictions in force if you come from other countries outside the EU or if you want to visit the archipelago of Madeira and the Azores.

Here are the latest covid-19 figures in Portugal

In the last 7 days, there has been an average of 743 new cases of covid-19 per day and 8 deaths.

Source: https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/portugal/

There are now only 334 people hospitalized with covid-19, of which 76 are in intensive care.

Source: https://coronavirus.rr.sapo.pt

The number of new cases and hospitalizations has been steadily decreasing since the end of July. The number of deaths has been stable since March 2021 (less than 15 deaths per day).

Monday 5 July 2021: the situation becomes more complicated, but vaccination allows the economy to reopen (+ rules in force updated on 13 September)

When I last updated this article (4 June), I thought it would be the last time I would do so until the end of the summer.

The government had planned measures until the end of August and last year’s experience led me to believe that the pandemic would be quiet this summer…

In one month, things have changed a lot and unfortunately for the worse. The situation started to deteriorate at the end of May in Lisbon with the celebration of the Portuguese football champion, then with the arrival of English tourists for the Champions League final, as well as parties and groups of people without any protection.

Little by little, the Delta variant spread and is now predominant in Portugal.

On 4 June, Portugal had a daily average of 551 new cases of covid-19 in the last 7 days. One month later (4 July), the new cases have increased fourfold! Today we have an average of 2077 new cases (you have to go back to 18 February 2021 to have a similar average).

There are currently 439 people hospitalised, including 128 in intensive care, double the number from a month ago (4 June: 254 people hospitalised and 52 in intensive care).

The average number of deaths per day (over the last 7 days) is currently 4 compared to 1 death on 4 June.

If we compare today’s figures with those of 18 February 2021 (when we had the same number of new covid-19 cases), we can see that the situation is much better now.

At that time, there were 3819 people hospitalised, of which 688 were in intensive care, and the average number of deaths was 125 people per day, compared to 4 today.

Even if we go forward 3 weeks from 18 February (average time between new cases and hospital admissions), on 11 March, 1102 people were hospitalised, including 273 in intensive care, and the average number of deaths was 25 per day, compared to 4 today.

Compared to last year (4 July 2020), the number of hospitalizations is similar and the number of deaths is even lower (6 compared to 4 today). The big difference is in the new cases (341 vs. 2077 currently).

All these figures show us that vaccination of the most vulnerable has reduced the number of hospitalizations by at least 50% and the number of deaths by 84%.

Sources : https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/portugal/ and https://coronavirus.rr.sapo.pt/

With the progress of vaccination, the Portuguese government has decided to relax the measures that were in force until 31 July.

Here are the rules in force from 1 August (more than 50% of the population fully vaccinated)

Rules for the whole country (archipelagos have specific rules)

Curfew ends at 11pm;
Teleworking is no longer compulsory, but recommended;
Everything is open again, except discos, party halls, and popular parties are still prohibited;
All shops, restaurants, bars, shows, concert halls, etc., may be open until 2am (customers must enter at most until 1am);
Restaurants, cafés, bars and pastry/bakeries can accommodate a maximum of 6 people per table inside or 10 people per table on the terrace;
Sports ‘shows’ (football matches, etc.) can again welcome the public;

Digital certificate (full vaccination + 14 days old) or negative test required for access to all accommodation (hotels, apartments/houses, etc.), casinos, spas and gyms (group sessions).

Restaurants and bars: to eat/drink indoors, a digital certificate or negative test is required on Fridays after 7pm, weekends and holidays.

Here are the tests you can present:

Negative PCR test performed within 72 hours prior to your arrival in the facility;
Antigenic test with laboratory report, performed within 48 hours before your arrival in the establishment;
Rapid antigen test (self-test) performed within 24 hours prior to your arrival in the facility in the presence of a health or pharmacy professional who certifies that the test has been performed and the results;
Rapid antigen test (self-test), carried out on the spot, at the door of the establishment, under the supervision of the people in charge of these areas (you can buy these tests in pharmacies or supermarkets).

Once 70% of the population is fully vaccinated (expected in September), masks will no longer be required and the limit of people per table in restaurants and similar places will be reduced to 8 indoors and 15 outdoors.

Once 85% of the population is fully vaccinated (expected in October), all limitations will be lifted, bars and discos will reopen, but the digital certificate or a negative test will be required.

Important information: since 13 September, it is no longer compulsory to wear a mask in the street (please respect the social distance). It is still compulsory in enclosed areas (shopping centres, restaurants, shops, etc.).

For all information on the Madeira archipelago, click here: http://www.visitmadeira.pt/en-gb/useful-info/corona-virus-(covid-19)/information-covid-19

For information on the Azores archipelago, click here: https://www.visitazores.com/en/trip-info

Tips for visiting Portugal (important)

To know in detail the conditions to visit Portugal, I invite you to visit this page on the official Portuguese tourism website (it is updated as soon as the rules change).

Important information for those arriving in Portugal by road: as you have to cross Spain, I invite you to read the rules to respect when crossing the Spanish borders here: https://travelsafe.spain.info/en/

As the rules can change almost every week, I invite you to book your accommodation with free cancellation until a few days before your arrival or with full refund in case of cancellation.

Reservations

Flights: choose an airline that offers rescheduling without change fees.

Accommodations: make your reservations on Booking.com with free cancellation and no prepayment required (you pay on the day of arrival), so if the flight is postponed, you can cancel your reservation free of charge up to 48 hours before your arrival.

Car rental: unlike hotels, you will have to pay for your car rental in advance , but if necessary you can request a refund up to 24 hours before your arrival.

Once you have chosen your car rental company, don’t hesitate to click on “Important information” and then “Supplier” to know the cancellation conditions (they can vary from one company to another).

I also invite you to read my article “How to rent a car in Portugal and avoid the sneaky extra fees”: https://gotoportugal.eu/en/car-hire-in-portugal/

Activities: as prices do not change according to demand, I invite you to book your activities only a few days in advance.

Friday 4 June 2021: new rules from 14 June (valid until end of August)

After opening up to tourism on 17 May, Portugal is further easing restrictions from 14 June.

The new rules will be implemented in two phases (14 and 28 June) and will be valid until the end of August.

Here are the measures valid from 14 June:

Teleworking recommended in activities that allow it (before it was an obligation);
Restaurants, cafés and bakeries (maximum of 6 people per table inside or 10 people on the terrace) can welcome customers until midnight and must close at 1am;
Shops return to their pre-pandemic hours;
Public transport can accommodate up to two thirds of its usual capacity or 100% for transport that only offers seating;
Cultural performances (theatres, concert halls) until midnight;
Performing arts venues limited to 50% capacity;
Open-air events (festivals, concerts, etc.) must have reserved seats for each person (the aim is to allow social distancing);
Football (and other) stadiums can again accommodate the public (33% of capacity)

The following measures are valid from 28 June:

Lojas de Cidadão (place where Portuguese people do their administrative procedures such as ID) open without prior reservation;
Public transport without capacity restrictions.

Information for those visiting Portugal before 14 June:

Until 13 June, restaurants close at 22:30 and commerce closes at 21:00 on weekdays and 19:00 on weekends.

The above measures are valid for municipalities that have an incidence of less than 120 cases per 100,000 inhabitants in the last 14 days.

Municipalities that have two consecutive assessments (2 weeks) between 120 and 240 cases per 100,000 inhabitants (or between 240 and 480 cases for municipalities with low population density) in the last 14 days will have specific rules:

Restaurants, cafes and bakeries and cultural events close at 22:30;
Shops close at 9pm

Municipalities that have two consecutive assessments (2 weeks) with more than 240 cases per 100,000 inhabitants (or 480 cases for municipalities with low population density) in the last 14 days will have specific rules:

Restaurants, cafés and pastry/bakeries close at 22:30 on weekdays and 15:30 on weekends and public holidays;
Cultural events close at 22:30
Weddings and christenings with 25% of the usual capacity

Municipalities in green are those with low population density

To find out which municipalities have time restrictions, click here (valid only from 14 June): https://covid19estamoson.gov.pt/estado-epidemiologico-covid19-portugal/

The following activities or places are still closed: bars, discos, popular festivals such as Midsummer’s Day and weddings with a capacity of over 50%.

Source : https://covid19estamoson.gov.pt/novas-fases-de-desconfinamento/

Conditions to visit Portugal:

For detailed information on the conditions for visiting Portugal, I invite you to read the update of 17 May or to visit this site. Here is a summary:

If you arrive in mainland Portugal by air, you need a negative PCR test within 72 hours.

For the return to your country, check with the airline if a PCR test is required in Portugal. If this is the case, do not hesitate to ask the reception of your hotel where the nearest laboratories are or those with which they have partnerships (possibility of doing the test in the hotel).

If you arrive in Portugal by road, you do not need to do a PCR test.

Important information of 7 June: from today onwards, to enter Spain by road (French or Portuguese border when leaving Portugal), people over 6 years of age need a certificate or document proving that they have been vaccinated or a test (PCR or rapid test) that is negative for less than 48 hours or a certificate of immunity after recovery from covid-19.

At the time of writing, Portugal does not carry out any checks at its land borders and does not require any documents from people entering by road. The above-mentioned documents are necessary to cross the French-Spanish border and to leave Portugal for Spain (there are mobile controls on the Spanish side).

To visit the Azores and Madeira archipelago, click here.

While in Portugal, it is compulsory to wear a mask in enclosed areas (shops, restaurants, etc.) and in the street when social distancing (more than 2 metres) is not possible.

On the beach, masks must be worn when going to the toilets, bars/restaurants.

Tips for preparing your trip to Portugal

Flights: choose an airline that offers rescheduling without change fees.

Car rental: unlike hotels, you will have to pay for your car rental in advance , but if necessary you can request a refund up to 24 hours before your arrival.

I also invite you to read my article “How to rent a car in Portugal and avoid the sneaky extra fees”: https://gotoportugal.eu/en/car-hire-in-portugal/

Activities: as prices do not change according to demand, I invite you to book your activities only a few days in advance.

Here are the latest covid-19 figures for Portugal

In the last 7 days, there has been an average of 575 new cases of covid-19 per day (372 when this article was last updated) and 1 death.

Source: https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/portugal/

There are now only 254 people hospitalised with covid-19 (246 when this article was last updated), of which 52 are in intensive care (72 when this article was last updated).

Thanks to vaccinations (more than 38% of the population has received at least one vaccine), hospitalizations have stabilized and most restrictions have been lifted.

Source : https://coronavirus.rr.sapo.pt

Monday 17 May 2021: Portugal opens up to tourism again

After a very difficult beginning of the year, Portugal managed to control the pandemic (thanks to a strict 2-month containment) and is now one of the European countries with the lowest number of coronavirus cases per 100,000 inhabitants.

Thanks to these good results, from today, 17 May, Portugal opens its borders to tourism. Since the announcement was made by the Portuguese government, bookings have exploded.

Such is the popularity that today there are more than 25 flights arriving from the UK and EU countries to the Algarve (Portugal’s sunniest region) with over 7,000 passengers.

Conditions to visit mainland Portugal

In order to visit Portugal, your country must have less than 500 cases per 100,000 inhabitants in the last 14 days.

Of all the countries in the European Union and the Schengen Area (Liechtenstein, Norway, Finland and Switzerland), only the inhabitants of 5 countries are not allowed to visit Portugal: Croatia, Cyprus, Lithuania, Netherlands and Sweden.

Source: https://www.tsf.pt/portugal/sociedade/apenas-turistas-de-cinco-paises-europeus-nao-podem-vir-a-portugal-a-partir-de-segunda-feira-13724069.html

Information: you can see the number of cases per 100K inhabitants during the last 14 days per country here (middle of the article): https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/cases-2019-ncov-eueea

If you enter Portugal by air, you need to have a negative PCR test within 72 hours.

If you come by car, there is no PCR test requirement (there is no permanent control at land borders), but I still advise you to do a PCR test before your departure, because the last time I checked, Spain requires a negative PCR test of less than 72 hours to let you cross the French-Spanish border.

While in Portugal, it is compulsory to wear a mask in enclosed areas (shops, restaurants, etc.) and in the street when social distancing (more than 2 metres) is not possible.

On beaches, masks must be worn when going to toilets, bars/restaurants.

All shops, bars and restaurants close at 10.30pm (from June onwards, the hours will probably be extended).

Requirements to visit Madeira Archipelago

In order to visit the Madeira archipelago, one of the following conditions must be met:

A negative PCR test within 72 hours
A medical document issued within the last 3 months, certifying that you are cured of covid-19
A certificate of vaccination against covid-19 (respecting the time necessary for the immune system to produce antibodies)
Perform a PCR test on arrival at Madeira airport (mandatory isolation pending results)
Do a 14 day quarantine

For all information on Madeira, click here: http://www.visitmadeira.pt/en-gb/useful-info/corona-virus-(covid-19)/information-covid-19

Conditions to visit the Azores archipelago

To visit the Azores archipelago, you need :

A negative PCR test for less than 72 hours.

If your stay is 7 days or more, you will have to do a new PCR test (free tests) on the spot on the 6th and 12th day from the date of the first PCR test in your country.

Before your arrival in the Azores, you should fill in this questionnaire: https://mysafeazores.com/

Tips for preparing your trip to Portugal

Flights: choose an airline that offers rescheduling without change fees.

Car rental: unlike hotels, you will have to pay for your car rental in advance , but if necessary you can request a refund up to 24 hours before your arrival.

I also invite you to read my article “How to rent a car in Portugal and avoid the sneaky extra fees”: https://gotoportugal.eu/en/car-hire-in-portugal/

Activities: as prices do not change according to demand, I invite you to book your activities only a few days in advance.

Here are the latest covid-19 figures for Portugal

In the last 7 days, there has been an average of 372 new cases of covid-19 per day (405 when this article was last updated) and 2 deaths.

Source: https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/portugal/

There are now only 246 people hospitalised with covid-19 (322 when this article was last updated), of which 72 are in intensive care (90 when this article was last updated).

For information, Portugal has just passed 17,000 deaths since the start of the pandemic in March 2020.

Source : https://coronavirus.rr.sapo.pt

Monday 3 May 2021: Last phase of deconfinement for the vast majority of the country

The President of the Portuguese Republic has decided not to renew the state of emergency that was in force until 30 April.

As a result of this decision, the Portuguese government has decided to declare the country in a state of calamity so that certain restrictions can continue to be legally applied.

The last phase of decontamination scheduled for 3 May has been brought forward to 1 May for a large part of the country (more information on the municipalities with more severe restrictions below).

Since Saturday (1 May) restaurants, cafes and bakeries can accommodate up to 6 people per table inside the establishment and 10 on the terrace. They can be open every day (7/7) until 22:30.

Shops (shopping centres, etc.) can be open until 9pm on weekdays and 7pm at weekends.

All sports activities are allowed and gyms can again offer group classes.

Theatres, cinemas, concert halls can be open until 22:30 (7/7).

Large outdoor events and indoor events with reduced capacity (e.g. weddings and christenings with 50% capacity) are allowed.

Bars and discos continue to be closed to the public.

Of the 278 Portuguese municipalities (mainland Portugal), 8 are not allowed to advance to the fourth phase of decontamination.

The municipality of Portimão (Algarve) and part of the municipality of Odemira in Alentejo (parishes of São Teotónio and Longueira/Almograve) remain stuck in the first phase of decontamination (15 March).

The municipalities of Aljezur (Algarve), Resende (Northern Portugal) and Carregal do Sal (Central Portugal) remain blocked in the second phase of decontamination (5 April).

The municipalities of Paredes, Miranda do Douro and Valongo (all 3, located in the Northern region of Portugal), remain blocked in the third phase of decontamination (19 April).

To access the full decontamination plan, read the 15 March update of this article here.

From 1 May, the government will provide a weekly update to decide which municipalities are moving forward or backwards in the decontamination plan.

Information: the Portuguese Prime Minister has announced that there will be a new plan (probably with fewer restrictions) from the beginning of June, when the country will have the entire population over 60 vaccinated (if there are no delays).

Travel to Portugal

The restrictions that were valid until 30 April (PCR test and quarantine) have been extended until 16 May.

Land borders with Spain reopened on 1 May, but there will be mobile controls to inform travellers of the requirement for a 14-day quarantine if they come from a high-risk country (more than 500 cases per 100,000 inhabitants in the last 14 days).

Until 16 May, only essential travel is allowed. People living in these countries (Cyprus, Croatia, France, the Netherlands, Sweden, India, Brazil, Lithuania and South Africa) who enter Portugal by land must undergo a 14-day quarantine in their Portuguese residence, hotel or a place chosen by the Portuguese authorities.

All those wishing to enter mainland Portugal by air must have a negative PCR test for less than 72 hours and must undergo a 14-day quarantine if their country has an incidence rate equal to or greater than 500 cases per 100,000 inhabitants during the last 14 days (Cyprus, Croatia, France, Netherlands, Sweden, India, Brazil, Lithuania and South Africa).

Source: https://dre.pt/home/-/dre/162570907/details/maximized?serie=II&dreId=162570905

Compare the number of cases per 100,000 inhabitants in the last 14 days by country here (middle of the article): https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/cases-2019-ncov-eueea

Prior to travel, people from these countries should register at https://travel.sef.pt (Foreigners and Borders Service) to indicate their address of containment.

Important information: Quarantine does not apply to passengers travelling for essential reasons and whose stay, as evidenced by their return ticket, does not exceed 48 hours.

If you are coming from one of these countries, you do not need to quarantine (just have a negative PCR test for less than 72 hours): Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Slovakia, Slovenia, Estonia, Spain, Greece, Italy, Hungary, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Poland, Romania, Switzerland.

If you come to Portugal in the next few days, I invite you to read this very detailed article from the official Portuguese tourism website: https://www.visitportugal.com/en/content/covid-19-measures-implemented-portugal

Here are the latest covid-19 figures for Portugal

In the last 7 days, there has been an average of 405 new cases of covid-19 per day (501 when this article was last updated) and 2 deaths (4 when this article was last updated).

Source: https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/portugal/

There are now only 322 people hospitalised with covid-19 (428 when this article was last updated), of whom 90 are in intensive care (109 when this article was last updated).

Source: https://coronavirus.rr.sapo.pt/

Monday 19 April 2021: Decontamination continues in most of the country

Before I tell you about the continuation of decontamination, I will give you the measures to apply for those who wish to visit Portugal.

Land borders with Spain continue to be controlled until 30 April (minimum).

Currently, only essential travel is allowed (until 30 April minimum). People living in these countries (Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Cyprus, Croatia, Slovenia, Estonia, France, Hungary, the Netherlands, Poland, Sweden, Brazil and South Africa) who enter Portugal by land must undergo a 14-day quarantine in their Portuguese residence, hotel or a place chosen by the Portuguese authorities.

All those wishing to enter mainland Portugal by air must have a negative PCR test for less than 72 hours and must undergo a 14-day quarantine if their country has an incidence rate equal to or greater than 500 cases per 100,000 inhabitants in the last 14 days (Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Cyprus, Croatia, Slovenia, Estonia, France, Hungary, Netherlands, Poland and Sweden).

Compare the number of cases per 100,000 inhabitants in the last 14 days by country here (middle of the article): https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/cases-2019-ncov-eueea

Prior to travel, people from these countries should register at https://travel.sef.pt (Foreigners and Borders Service) to indicate their address of confinement.

Important information: Quarantine does not apply to passengers travelling for essential reasons and whose stay, as evidenced by their return ticket, does not exceed 48 hours.

If you are coming from one of these countries, you do not need to quarantine (just have a negative PCR test for less than 72 hours): Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Slovakia, Spain, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Norway, Romania and Switzerland

Advice for those who wish to visit Portugal: as the measures are taken every 15 days, I advise you to book your stay in Portugal a few days before your arrival or to make reservations that offer free cancellation.

Portugal is entering the third phase of decontamination (with some exceptions indicated below)

From 19 April, the following opens in the majority of municipalities:

Secondary education (last years of high school) and higher education (universities, etc.). Opening for the whole country
Cinemas, theatres and auditoriums
Lojas de Cidadão by appointment (place where Portuguese people can solve administrative problems such as identity cards)
All shops and shopping centres
Restaurants, cafes and bakeries/pastry shops (maximum of 4 people per group inside or 6 on the terrace) until 10pm or 1pm on weekends and public holidays
Sports activities with a medium risk
Outdoor physical activity for up to six people
Outdoor events with limited number of people (e.g. weddings and baptisms limited to 25% of capacity)

To access the full decontamination plan, read the 15 March update of this article here.

As the number of cases per 100,000 inhabitants over the last 14 days is above 120 and the Rt is above 1, the following 6 municipalities remain blocked for 15 days in the second phase of decontainment: Alandroal (Alentejo), Albufeira (Algarve), Carregal do Sal (Central Portugal), Figueira da Foz (Central Portugal), Marinha Grande (Central Portugal) and Penela (Central Portugal).

The following 4 municipalities are returning to the first phase of decontamination, as the number of cases per 100,000 inhabitants over the last 14 days is higher than 240: Moura (Alentejo), Odemira (Alentejo), Portimão (Algarve) and Rio Maior (Central Portugal).

Currently, there are 13 municipalities that are on surveillance, which means that if their situation does not improve within 15 days, they will be blocked in the third phase of decontamination or downgraded to the previous phases.

Here are the latest covid-19 figures for Portugal:

In the last 7 days, there has been an average of 501 new cases of covid-19 per day (419 when this article was last updated) and 4 deaths (6 when this article was last updated).

Source: https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/portugal/

There are now only 428 people hospitalised with covid-19 (517 when this article was last updated), of which 109 are in intensive care (117 when this article was last updated). These numbers are very important (in addition to the number of cases and the Rt) for the country to continue to decontaminate.

Source: https://coronavirus.rr.sapo.pt/

Monday April 5, 2021: Deconfinement continues + new passenger restrictions

As Portugal has a number of cases less than 120 per 100,000 inhabitants over the last 14 days and an Rt less than 1, the government has validated the second phase of the deconfinement plan.

Here is what opens in this second phase:

• Colleges and high schools
• Social facilities with disabilities
• Museums, monuments, palaces, art galleries and others
• Stores up to 200 m2 with door to the street
• Non-food fairs and markets (municipal decision)
• Terraces of restaurants, cafes, etc. (max. 4 people per table)
• Low-risk sports activities
• Outdoor physical activity for up to 4 people and gyms without group lessons.

For access to the full deconfinement plan, read this article’s update from March 15 here.

The third phase is scheduled for April 19, but there are chances that some regions / cities will remain stuck in the second phase if the number of cases per 100K inhabitants exceeds 120 and the Rt is greater than 1.

Travel Information: The land borders with Spain continue to be controlled until April 15 (minimum).

Currently, only essential travel is permitted. People entering Portugal by land must do a 14-day quarantine.

Anyone wishing to enter Portugal by air must have a negative PCR test of less than 72 hours and must undergo a 14-day quarantine if their country has an incidence rate equal to or greater than 500 cases per 100,000 inhabitants during the last 14 days (Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Cyprus, Estonia, France, Hungary, Italy, Malta, Poland, Slovenia and Sweden).

Compare the number of cases per 100K inhabitants in the last 14 days by country here (middle of article): https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/cases-2019-ncov-eueea

Before traveling, people from these countries must register on the site https://travel.sef.pt (Foreigners and Borders Service) to indicate their containment address.

Important information: The quarantine does not apply to passengers who travel for essential reasons and whose duration of stay, evidenced by their return ticket, does not exceed 48 hours.

Here are the latest figures for covid-19 in Portugal:

Over the past 7 days, there have been an average of 419 new cases of covid-19 per day (the lowest average since September 9) and 6 deaths (lowest average since October 1).

Source: https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/portugal/

There are only 517 people hospitalized with covid-19, including 117 in intensive care (the lowest figures since September 2020). These figures are very important (in addition to the number of cases and the Rt) for the country to continue to deconfin.

Source: https://coronavirus.rr.sapo.pt/

Let’s hope that the massive displacement (over a million people) at Easter doesn’t destroy the efforts of the vast majority of Portuguese during 2.5 months of confinement …

To all of you who live in a country that is entering or has recently entered confinement, I wish you courage!

Friday 12 March 2021: Portugal begins to deconfine

Two months after a strict containment of the country, the Portuguese finally see a light at the end of the tunnel.

Yesterday, 11 March, the Portuguese government presented the country with a decontamination plan that will be implemented in stages so that the mistakes of the past are not repeated!

Before I present the details of the plan, I will give you the latest figures from covid-19:

In the last 7 days, there have been an average of 731 new cases of covid-19 per day (the lowest average since 30 September) and 25 deaths (the lowest average since 29 October).

Source: https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/portugal/

There are now only 1102 people hospitalised with covid-19, of which 273 are in intensive care (the lowest figures since the end of October 2020). These numbers are very important for the country to decontaminate.

Source: https://coronavirus.rr.sapo.pt/

Another important figure for decontamination is the number of cases per 100,000 population over the last 14 days. The government announced yesterday that there are currently 105 cases per 100K inhabitants.

Information: For a comparison of the number of cases per 100,000 inhabitants over the last 14 days in Europe, visit this page: https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/cases-2019-ncov-eueea or this one to access the figures for all countries: https://covid19-country-overviews.ecdc.europa.eu/

Deconfinement plan valid from 15 March :

General rules

Closing times for all shops: weekdays 9pm – weekends and public holidays 1pm or 7pm for food shops
No movement between municipalities on 20-21/03 and from 26/03 to 5 April (Easter)

15 March

Opening :

Nurseries and primary schools
Trade at the counter
Hairdressers, manicurists and the like
Bookshops, car trade and real estate mediation
Libraries and archives

5 April

Opening :

Secondary schools and colleges
Social facilities for the disabled
Museums, monuments, palaces, art galleries and others
Shops up to 200 m2 with a door to the street
Fairs and non-food markets (municipal decision)
Terraces of restaurants, cafés, etc. (max. 4 people)
Low-risk sports activities
Outdoor physical activity for up to 4 people and gyms without group classes.

19 April

Opening :

Secondary education (last years of high school) and higher education (universities, etc.)
Cinemas, theatres and concert halls
Lojas de Cidadão by appointment (place where Portuguese people can solve administrative problems such as identity cards)
All shops and shopping centres
Restaurants, cafes and bakeries/pastry shops (maximum of 4 people inside or 6 on the terrace) until 22:00 or 13:00 on weekends and public holidays
Sports activities with a medium risk
Outdoor physical activity for up to six people
Outdoor events with limited number of people (e.g. weddings and baptisms limited to 25% of capacity)

3 May

Opening :

Restaurants, cafes and bakeries/pastry shops (maximum 6 people indoors or 10 on terrace) with no time limits
All sports activities
Outdoor physical activity and gyms (no limit)
Large outdoor events and indoor events with reduced capacity (e.g. weddings and christenings with 50% capacity)

Source: https://sicnoticias.pt/pais/2021-03-11-Plano-de-desconfinamento-conheca-todas-as-medidas

Very important information:

This plan is only valid if Portugal continues to have a number of cases below 120 per 100K inhabitants over 14 days and if the Rt is below 1.

If one of these 2 measures exceeds this threshold, we enter level 2 or 3. If the number of cases per 100,000 inhabitants exceeds 240 and the Rt is greater than 1, we enter level 4 (maximum level).

If the risk level is 2 or 3, the Portuguese government plans to slow down the plan mentioned above.

If level 4 is reached, there will probably be a containment in the municipalities (and those surrounding it) where the number of cases per 100 K inhabitants is higher than 240 and with a Rt higher than 1.

The measures of this plan will be reviewed every 15 days.

Travelling to Portugal: land borders with Spain continue to be closed until Easter and for those wishing to arrive by air, please note that you need to have a negative PCR test for less than 72 hours (as soon as there is any news, I will update this part of the article).

If you want to visit Portugal, I advise you to do so from 19 April and ideally from 3 May.

Only make reservations (car, accommodation, air tickets, etc.) that allow cancellation without charge up to a few days before your arrival in Portugal.

Information: The decontamination plan is only valid for mainland Portugal. For Madeira Archipelago, visit this page: http://www.visitmadeira.pt/en-gb/useful-info/corona-virus-(covid-19)/information-covid-19

For the Azores archipelago, click here: https://covid19.azores.gov.pt/?page_id=5509

Monday 1 March 2021 : Portugal defeated the third wave

After a month and a half of confinement, the situation in Portugal is much better than a few weeks ago, when there were up to 15,000 cases a day and more than 300 deaths every 24 hours

On 1 March, the figures are 10 times lower than at the worst moment of the third wave (end of January, beginning of February).

Currently, there are on average 1000 new cases per day and less than 50 deaths every 24 hours. We haven’t had such low figures since October.

Source: https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/portugal/

Even though the situation is improving day by day, the Portuguese government has informed us that it is still too early to deconfirm (they want to avoid the mistakes made in 2020).

On 11 March, we will know the deconfinement measures that will probably be put in place at the beginning of April (after Easter).

Until 16 March, Portugal is in a state of emergency and all the measures taken from 15 January onwards are in force. These measures will probably be extended until Easter to avoid the population gathering as they did at Christmas.

If you wish to visit Portugal, I advise you not to book anything until we know the measures that will be in place on 11 March.

If you have to come to Portugal for personal reasons, you should know that you have to do a PCR test with a date less than 72 hours before your arrival (measure valid at least until March 16th).

Monday January 25, 2021: Portugal is experiencing the worst moment since the start of the pandemic! (+ addition of information on 29/01)

After a first wave that was incredibly well managed by the government and the Portuguese (we even talked about the Portuguese miracle), we had a second wave that was much less successful.

Since December 28, 2020, Portugal has been experiencing a catastrophic third wave!

After the first lockdown, the Portuguese government warned that the country could not afford to shut everything down again.

During the second wave, to avoid closing everything, we had the right to a curfew in the evening during the week and from 1 p.m. on weekends, as well as bans on traffic between the municipalities most at risk.

The measures were bearing fruit and for the holiday season the government and the Portuguese forgot that the virus was not taking a break …

The Portuguese lost their fear of the virus and the government took a long time to make difficult decisions (it is not easy to ask its people to stay at home, not to work when many families have less in less money to eat).

In pain, the government decreed a second lockdown on January 15, but the Portuguese appeared anesthetized and many continued to live as if all was well.

The result ?

We have exceeded 15,000 new cases on certain days (average of the last 7 days: 12,342), we have more than 170,000 people with covid-19 at the same time and we are approaching 300 deaths per day (average of the last 7 days: 229).

Here are two images that illustrate my point:

Source: https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/portugal/

The worst part is that we approach the situation in Italy or Spain in the first wave. Hospitals have no room to take in new patients (covid or non-covid) and in some places doctors have to let dozens of people die to try to save others …

In addition to the nearly 300 deaths each day from this virus (more than 3,000 since the start of the month out of a total of 10,469 since the start of the pandemic), there are almost as many people dying every day from it. other untreated illnesses (operations not performed, cancer, fear of going to the hospital, etc.).

Following this observation, the government has tightened the confinement a little since last Friday (January 22):

• Traffic prohibited on weekends between municipalities
• Those who travel to work must have a certificate from the employer
• Stores that remain open (see January 14 update to this article) must close at 8:00 p.m. on weekdays and 1:00 p.m. on weekends (those selling groceries must close at 5:00 p.m. on weekends)
• Restaurants or bakeries that sell take away can no longer sell drinks (measure taken because of gatherings in front of these establishments)
• Restaurants in shopping centers are no longer allowed to do take-out
• It is forbidden to sit on public benches, gardens (we are only allowed to move around)
• Schools and universities close for at least 15 days

Information: These measures are in addition to the prohibition measures in force since January 15.

Source: https://covid19estamoson.gov.pt/reforco-das-medidas-de-confinamento/

Information of 29/01/21: Following the renewal of the state of emergency, Portugal closes its borders from 1 February. From this date, all those who have their main residence in Portugal cannot leave the country, except to go to work (goods lorries, etc.).

If you are currently in Portugal and usually live in another country, you will be able to leave the country without any problem (Portuguese citizens must prove that their main residence is abroad).

From 1 February and for at least 15 days, in order to enter Portugal, you must have Portuguese nationality or be resident in Portugal.

The President of the Republic has specified that the confinement is likely to last until March inclusive. If you wish to visit Portugal, do not plan to visit before April!

Source: https://www.publico.pt/2021/01/28/politica/noticia/escolas-fronteiras-confinamento-medidas-covid19-1948353

Information concerning the islands: I invite you to read the update of January 14 of this article for information on the archipelago of Madeira and the Azores

Thursday January 14, 2021: Portugal is again in containment

Since December 30, 2020, Portugal has seen a sharp increase in the number of new cases of covid-19 and deaths.

This sharp increase is due to the negative temperatures that the country has suffered for several weeks (viruses love the cold), but mainly because of the relaxation of measures for Christmas “offered” by the government.

Christmas is one of the most important times of the year in Portugal, where families come together to celebrate this special time (especially after a very difficult year).

The Portuguese are now paying for the lack of social distancing …

Here are some pictures that illustrate my point:

In the first image, we see that the last peak was on November 19, 2020 with an average of 5,817 new cases (average of new cases per day during the last 7 days), then these numbers started to go down until December 28, 2020 , before exploding upwards.

Today, the average for the last 7 days is 8,643 cases per day (we have exceeded 10,000 cases on some days).

Active cases have also exploded and today we have more than 116,328 people with covid-19 at one time.

In the second image below, we also see the average number of deaths increase considerably (we have exceeded the last 2 days the 150 deaths per day). The death toll since the start of the pandemic is 8,236.

Source: https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/portugal/

As hospitals are overloaded and have no more room (doctors are starting to have to choose between those who can continue to live … not to mention all the other diseases that are no longer treated because of the coronavirus), the government has decided to ” impose a new general containment similar to that of March 2020.

Here are the new rules for living in Portugal (for the islands, see below) from Friday, January 15 (valid for 15 days, but it is very likely that they will be extended for another 15 days):

Obligation to stay at home (except for authorized travel – see below)
Mandatory telework
Trade closes, with the exception of essential products (establishments that “sell food, personal or household hygiene products, animal feed, veterinarians and hardware stores”, for example)
Restaurants, bars and cafes are closing (can only operate for take-out or home delivery)
Cultural establishments closed
Gyms, pavilions and other sports venues closed
Hairdressers and barbers closed
We cannot use our personal car to take a walk or take our pet out (it must be done on foot around our residence)
Grocery stores and open supermarkets (limited to 5 people per 100 m2)
Nurseries, schools and universities remain open
Public services remain open, by appointment
Doctors, dentists and pharmacies’ offices remain open
Religious ceremonies are allowed
The electoral campaign is authorized (we have presidential elections on January 24, the day when everyone can vote)
Outdoor exercise allowed on condition of doing it alone
Professional football is allowed to continue the season without an audience
Open courts
We can move to go to the post office, bank, insurance.
Authorization to enter and leave Portugal (open borders)
Home meal delivery services with commissions charged to restaurants limited to 20% and delivery charges cannot increase
Bottled gas (LPG) subject to maximum prices
The fines for those who do not respect the measures double (wearing a mask is mandatory in public spaces when social distancing cannot be respected

As with the first confinement, we do not need to have a certificate for authorized trips.

Source: https://tvi24.iol.pt/politica/confinamento-geral/as-medidas-que-vao-entrar-em-vigor-a-meia-noite-de-sexta-feira?qrCode=1

https://www.tsf.pt/portugal/sociedade/as-24-excepcoes-ao-dever-de-ficar-em-casa-13228797.html

As you can see, the situation in Portugal is not rosy… Even if the borders are not closed, I do not advise you to come to Portugal (for the Portuguese islands, read on) until the situation is not improve.

As the confinement is likely to last 1 month, do not plan anything before March.

Situation in the archipelago of Madeira and the Azores

The situation in these 2 archipelagos is much less dramatic than in mainland Portugal.

There are currently 1,332 active cases in the Madeira archipelago and 879 active cases in the Azores.

If you decide to visit one of the islands of these 2 archipelagos, know that it is possible, but you will have to take a test before your departure or directly at the airport.

Currently, there is a curfew in Madeira between 7 p.m. and 5 a.m. on weekdays and 6 p.m. to 5 a.m. on weekends.

In the Azores, on the island of São Miguel, the curfew is from 8 p.m. on weekdays and from 3 p.m. on weekends.

For more information on Madeira, click here: http://www.visitmadeira.pt/en-gb/useful-info/corona-virus-(covid-19)/information-covid-19

For the Azores, click here: https://covid19.azores.gov.pt/?page_id=5509

Monday, December 21, 2020: Government changes its mind for New Years Day

The Portuguese government has decided to toughen the measures for New Year’s Eve (measures that had been lightened a few days ago by the same government), because after reaching the peak of the second wave, the pandemic does not weaken.

Here are the new measures for the end of the year:

• Prohibition to travel between municipalities between 12/31 at midnight and 01/04 at 5 a.m.
• Curfew on 12/31 from 11 p.m.
• Curfew on January 1,2,3 from 1pm
• Restaurants must close on 12/31 at 10:30 p.m. and January 1,2,3 at 1 p.m. (except for home deliveries)
• Parties open to the public prohibited
• Prohibition on driving on public roads in groups of more than 6 people

Important information: if between 31/12 and 04/01 you have to go to the airport or return to your country after spending a few days in Portugal, be aware that you will be able to travel between municipalities.

Measurements for Christmas remain the same as when this article updated on December 7:

• Movement between municipalities authorized
• Traffic on public roads authorized for those who are traveling (night from 23 to 24/12)
• On 24 and 25/12 traffic on authorized public roads until 2 a.m. of the following day
• 12/26: traffic on public roads authorized until 11 p.m.
• On 24 and 25/12 restaurants open until 1 a.m. of the following day
• On 12/26 restaurants must close at 3.30 p.m. in municipalities with a very high and extremely high risk
• On 24 and 25/12 closing times do not apply to cultural establishments

Source: https://covid19estamoson.gov.pt/atualizacao-medidas-natal-e-ano-novo/

Important information: outside of Christmas and New Year’s Day, municipalities that have a very high risk (between 480 and 959 cases / 100,000 inhabitants) or extremely high (more than 960 cases / 100,000 inhabitants) must respect a curfew from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. on weekdays and from 1 p.m. to 5 a.m. on weekends

To know the level of risk by municipality, I invite you to click here: https://coronavirus.rr.sapo.pt/ (look for the infographic “Risco por Concelho”).

Information: you can hover the mouse over the map to see the name of the municipality as well as the level of risk (moderate = Moderado, high = Elevado, very high = Muito Elevado, extremely high = Extremo in Portuguese)
If you are looking for a particular municipality, you can visit this website: https://covid19estamoson.gov.pt/lista-de-concelhos-nivel-de-risco/

Let’s come to the numbers:

Between 12/14 and 12/20 (7 days) there were an average of 3,625 new covid-19 cases per day (3,953 at the last update of 12/07) and the average number of deaths per day is 82 (77 in the last update 07/12).

These numbers show us that the number of new cases continues to decline, but the number of deaths is still on the rise.
Currently (12/21), there are 3,027 people hospitalized, including 483 in intensive care (these figures have been stable for several weeks).

There are 70,754 active covid-19 cases (less 4,000 compared to the last update), 297,233 people have recovered and we have just exceeded the six thousand (6,134) people who have died since the start of the pandemic.

Source:

https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/portugal/
https://coronavirus.rr.sapo.pt/

As this is the last update of this article in 2020, I want to wish you a happy New Year and may 2021 be better than the past year.

See you in 2021!

Tiago

Monday December 7, 2020: Reduction of restrictions for Christmas and New Years

As Portugal has already passed the peak of the second wave, the Portuguese government has decided to “give a gift” to the Portuguese population for Christmas and New Years weekends.

Here are the specific measures for Christmas:

Movement between municipalities authorized
Traffic on public roads authorized for those who are traveling (night from 23 to 24/12)
24 and 25/12 traffic on public roads authorized until 2 a.m. of the following day
12/26: traffic on public roads authorized until 11 p.m.
On 24 and 25/12, restaurants open until 1 a.m. of the following day
On 12/26 restaurants must close at 3.30 p.m. in municipalities with a very high and extremely high risk
On 24 and 25/12 closing times do not apply to cultural establishments

Here are the specific measures for New Years Day:

Traffic between municipalities prohibited between 12 a.m. on 12/31 to 5 a.m. on January 4, 2021
12/31: Traffic on public roads permitted until 2 a.m. of the following day
01/01/21: Traffic on public roads permitted until 11 p.m.
On 12/31, restaurants open until 1 a.m. of the following day
On 01/01/21 restaurants must close at 3:30 p.m. in municipalities with a very high and extremely high risk
Public or public holidays prohibited
Gatherings on public roads of more than 6 people are prohibited

Source: https://covid19estamoson.gov.pt/estado-de-emergencia-natal-e-ano-novo/

Important Info: Outside of Christmas and New Years, the measures from the November 23 update (see below) still apply.

To know the level of risk by municipality, I invite you to click here: https://rr.sapo.pt/2020/11/21/pais/saiba-que-medidas-se-aplicam-ao-seu-concelho-consulte-a-lista-completa-de-risco/especial/215719/

If you are looking for a particular municipality, you can search the list 5 paragraphs below on the map or visit this website: https://covid19estamoson.gov.pt/lista-de-concelhos-nivel-de-risco/

Let’s come to the numbers:

Between 30/11 and 06/12 (7 days) there were on average 3,953 new covid-19 cases per day (5,585 during the last update of 23/11) and the average number of deaths per day is 77 (74 in the last update 23/11).

Currently (07/12), there are 3,367 people hospitalized, including 513 in intensive care.

There are 74,187 active covid-19 cases, 245,843 people who have recovered and we have just exceeded five thousand (5,041) people who have died since the start of the pandemic.

As of this writing, the second wave is in a downward phase regarding new cases and active cases, but the number of deaths has remained stable since November 11 (we reached the peak, but the curve is not not yet descending).

Source:

https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/portugal/

https://coronavirus.rr.sapo.pt/

Monday 23 November 2020: state of emergency renovation + new measures by municipality

As expected, the state of emergency has been renewed in Portugal for 15 days (until December 8) because of the pandemic which is worsening day by day.

From November 24, all Portuguese municipalities (except islands) will be divided into 4 risk levels (moderate, high, very high, extremely high).

The risk levels are decided according to the number of cases of covid-19 during the last 14 days per 100,000 inhabitants.

Moderate risk = – 240 cases / 100,000 inhabitants

High risk = between 240 and 479 cases / 100,000 inhabitants

Very high risk = between 480 and 959 cases / 100,000 inhabitants

Extremely high risk = more than 960 cases / 100,000 inhabitants

Here are the new measures according to the level of risk:

Moderate risk:

Travel ban between municipalities from 11 p.m. on November 27 to 5 a.m. on December 2 and from 11 p.m. on December 4 to 5 a.m. on December 9 (measure taken because of the holidays of December 1 and 8)
Schools close on November 30 and December 7 and the government is asking companies not to put their employees to work.
Use of the compulsory mask at work

High Risk: The moderate risk measures apply as well as the following measures:

Curfew between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m.
Mandatory telework
Shops close at 10 p.m.
Restaurants and cultural venues close at 10:30 p.m.

Very high risk + Extremely high risk: The moderate risk measures apply as well as the following measures:

Curfew from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. on weekdays and from 1 p.m. to 5 a.m. on weekends and holidays
Shops close at 3 p.m. on November 30 and December 7 (eve of public holidays)
Mandatory telework
Shops close at 10 p.m. on weekdays (except November 30, December 1, 7, 8)
Restaurants and cultural venues close at 10:30 p.m. (except November 30, December 1, 7, 8 and weekends)

If you are looking for a particular municipality, you can search the list 5 paragraphs below on the map or visit this website: https://covid19estamoson.gov.pt/lista-de-concelhos-nivel-de-risco/

Let’s come to the numbers:

Between 11/16 and 11/22 (7 days) there were an average of 5,583 new covid-19 cases per day (5,425 the previous week) and the average number of deaths per day is 74 (69 the previous week).

Currently (23/11), there are 2,260 people hospitalized, including 491 in intensive care.

There are 83,942 active covid-19 cases, 172,919 people who have recovered and 3,897 people who have died since the start of the pandemic.

Source: https://coronavirus.rr.sapo.pt/

Monday, November 16, 2020: 77 municipalities are added to the list of municipalities under curfew

Since midnight on Monday, Portugal has a total of 278 municipalities, 191 in curfew.

Of the 121 that were on curfew, 7 came out (Moimenta da Beira, Tabuaço, São João da Pesqueira, Mesão Frio, Pinhel, Tondela e Batalha), but 77 new municipalities were added.

As a reminder, the municipalities that are on curfew are those that have more than 240 new cases of covid-19 per 100,000 inhabitants over the last 14 days.

Click here to see the list of 191 high risk municipalities (scroll down to see the map of Portugal): https://rr.sapo.pt/2020/11/12/pais/ha-agora-191-concelhos-de-elevado-risco-veja-a-nova-lista-e-compare-com-a-anterior/noticia/214632/

The 191 municipalities must respect the measures taken at the start of the state of emergency until at least November 23:

Curfew on weekdays from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. and from 1 p.m. to 5 a.m. on weekends
On weekends, businesses can only open from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. (except pharmacies, clinics, doctors’ offices, petrol pumps, and businesses selling foodstuffs with an area of less than 200 m2 and an entrance door leading to public roads)
On weekends, restaurants can remain open from 1 p.m. for home deliveries
The population of these municipalities should stay at home as much as possible
Compared to last week, there have been some small changes such as the closing of hyper and supermarkets from 1 p.m. on weekends. This measure follows the discontent of small traders and especially because of a large group which wanted to “circumvent the law” by opening its supermarkets from 6.30 am.

Let’s come to the numbers:

Between 08/11 and 11/15 (7 days) there were on average 5,425 new covid-19 cases per day (4,998 the previous week), 2,785 people hospitalized (+ 404) and the average number of deaths per day is 69 (50 the week before).

These figures once again make the week that has just ended the worst week since the start of the pandemic!

This week, Portugal has passed 200,000 cases of covid-19 (217,301) since the start of the pandemic as well as 3,000 deaths (3,381).

Some hospitals in northern Portugal (a region where the situation is more serious) have reached their capacity to accommodate covid-19 patients. In the rest of the country occupancy is 84%.

Comparing the figures from last week, one can notice that the new cases have increased more slowly as well as the number of hospitalizations, but the number of deaths per day continues to increase at the same rate (it takes about 15 days to see the results of slowing down new cases).

Source: https://sicnoticias.pt/opiniao/analise/2020-11-15-Covid-19-em-Portugal.-Nao-quero-ser-alarmista-mas-ha-previsoes-para-5-mil-internamentos (minutes 6min14 and 8min25)

To have the figures in real time, I invite you to click here: https://coronavirus.rr.sapo.pt/

Monday, November 9, 2020: curfew + state of emergency

Portugal is entering a new phase in the fight against the pandemic from today.

Since midnight on Monday, the country is once again in a state of emergency for at least 15 days.

The big measure that comes associated with this state of emergency is the curfew from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. on weekdays and from 1 p.m. to 5 a.m. on Saturdays and Sundays (next 2 weekends).

Important information: the curfew is not applied throughout the territory, but only in the 121 municipalities at risk (70% of the Portuguese population).

Click here to see the 121 municipalities concerned: https://rr.sapo.pt/2020/10/31/pais/veja-a-lista-dos-121-concelhos-que-vao-entrar-em-confinamento-parcial/noticia/213159/

During the curfew, people can go out to take a short walk around the house, shop for food, go to the pharmacy, work and take care of vulnerable people.

All shops, bars and restaurants in these 121 municipalities must close before 11 p.m. on weekdays and 1 p.m. on weekends. The super / hypermarkets remain open, which causes the discontent of small traders who have to close, while large areas can sell non-food products …

As of this writing, the government has no plans for fines or criminal prosecution for those who break the rules. This is undoubtedly a way of empowering the population and not “oppressing” us.

Personal opinion: as the situation in Portugal is starting to be dramatic (see the figures below), the Portuguese government has it between two chairs …

On the one hand, they want to control the pandemic to prevent the health system from exploding and ending up with hundreds of coffins lined up in hangars (as in Italy and Spain during the first wave) and on the other hand they are trying to save the increasingly derailed economy.

The big problem with Portugal is that we do not have the means to help businesses or the population like other countries do …

As a result, each new restrictive measure causes businesses to close and many people find themselves unemployed (many of whom will not be entitled to benefits).

As during the Spanish flu (100 years ago), it is probably during this second wave that things will go off the rails … Let’s just hope that the population understands the seriousness of the situation and that we continue, or start to some, to respect social distancing, to avoid family reunions, parties …

Let’s come to the numbers:

Between 02/11 and 07/11 (7 days) there were an average of 4,998 new covid-19 cases per day (3,665 the previous week), 2,716 people hospitalized (+ 582) and the average number of deaths per day day is 50 (33 the previous week).

These figures once again make the week that has just ended the worst week since the start of the pandemic!

Currently, 51% of new cases are tested on people between 20 and 49 years old and the deceased are in 88% of cases over 70 years old.

Reading this last sentence, if you are under 70, you can think that you are safe from this pandemic and that you do not need to respect social distancing and the wearing of a mask. The problem is that hospitals can no longer function properly, many surgeries are delayed, patients are no longer treated on time, which causes many deaths indirectly caused by the pandemic.

Source: https://sicnoticias.pt/opiniao/analise/2020-11-08-As-medidas-quando-sao-tomadas-a-tempo-e-horas-nao-precisam-de-ser-tao-duras ( minute 5 and 9min25)

Although the virus is unlikely to reach you, don’t forget about people who have other illnesses and will not be treated because of the pandemic.

Monday November 2, 2020: records are broken + restrictive measures

The week which has just ended was the week of all records!

Between 10/26 and 11/1 (7 days) there were an average of 3,665 new covid-19 cases per day, 2,134 people hospitalized and the average number of deaths per day is 33.

These figures make the week that has just ended the worst week since the start of the pandemic!

Source: https://sicnoticias.pt/opiniao/analise/2020-11-01-Finalmente-o-Governo-acordou-para-a-gravidade-da-situacao-pandemica (minute 1 and 2min37)

Hospitals have reached their maximum number of beds for covid-19 patients. New beds are being added to treat this disease and in some cases patients are transferred to private hospitals.

To try to control the situation and prevent a breakdown in the health care system, the government has taken more restrictive measures.

Of the 278 Portuguese municipalities (not counting the island municipalities), 121 municipalities are considered at high risk (more than 240 cases of covid-19 per 100,000 inhabitants in the last 14 days).

These municipalities, which represent 70% of the Portuguese population, will have restrictions close to confinement from November 4:

The duty to stay at home (residents can leave their homes, but should avoid it as much as possible)
All retail and service establishments, as well as commercial establishments, must close until 10 p.m. (restaurants until 10:30 p.m.)
Parties and other events with more than five people are prohibited, unless the people belong to the same household
Prohibition to hold fairs and markets (it’s up to each municipality to ban or allow)
Religious ceremonies are allowed provided that the rules of the Directorate General of Health (DGS) are respected
Mandatory teleworking (except for trades where this is not possible such as construction)
Restaurants cannot accommodate groups of more than 6 people (unless they belong to the same household)

Information: these measures will be reassessed every two weeks.

Source: https://tvi24.iol.pt/sociedade/31-10-2020/covid-19-conheca-a-lista-dos-121-concelhos-de-alto-risco?qrCode=1 – Click on “Continuar a ler ”to see the 121 municipalities concerned.

Important information: I know that the situation in Portugal is not as dramatic as in some European countries like Belgium, France and Spain, but it is still a situation that Portugal has never known since the beginning of the pandemic. My goal is to show you what’s really going on in Portugal.

Monday October 26, 2020: New restrictive measures

As the situation is deteriorating day by day (increase in the number of cases, deaths and number of people hospitalized) the Portuguese government has decided to ban all travel between municipalities (except for work, emergencies, etc.) between the 30 October and November 3.

Information: If you live abroad and visit Portugal during these dates, you can move from one municipality to another to get to your hotel. Once at the hotel, you will not be able to leave the municipality until November 3. Source.

The aim is to prevent the population from gathering for All Saints’ Day.

In addition to this national “confinement”, since last Friday and until October 29 (this can be extended), the inhabitants of the municipalities of Felgueiras, Lousada and Paços de Ferreira (northern Portugal) have the duty to stay at home following the many cases of covid-19.

The other measure which has an impact on everyday life and the wearing of a compulsory mask for at least 3 months in public spaces (street, etc.).

Even though we must have a mask on us at all times, we are obligated to wear it only when we pass someone and social distancing is not possible.

This means that if you are on a deserted street, you don’t have to wear a mask.

As soon as you take a shopping street, you pass someone, wearing a mask becomes compulsory and failure to comply with this rule can cost up to 500 euros in fines.

Information: I invite you to read the last update of October 19 below to know the other rules of life in Portugal.

Monday, October 19, 2020: The situation is getting more complicated …

Portugal has seen a significant increase in new covid-19 cases for a few days and the number of beds available in hospitals is starting to become scarce.

Before talking to you about the new rules of life, let’s see the numbers in detail:

Since this article was last updated (September 21), there have been 269 deaths (2,181 since the start of the pandemic), which is an average of 9.6 deaths per day (4.1 as of September 21).

There are 1,086 people hospitalized (+ 575 compared to September 21), including 155 people in intensive care (+ 92 people compared to September 21).

The number of new cases per day is on average 1,119 people (it was 453 on September 21). Total number of cases since the start of the pandemic: 99,911

Information: if we take only the last 5 days, the average of new cases is 2,158.

The number of active cases is 38,730 (it was 21,069 as of September 21), meaning that there are 17,661 more people with covid-19 at the same time.

All these figures show that the situation is worsening day by day since the beginning of September and that we have beaten (as I had expected during the last update) the record for the number of active cases of the May 15 (24,065).

The good news is that the number of deaths is not as high as in April (around 10 deaths per day compared to 30 back then).

This good news is likely to evaporate in the coming days, as more and more hospitalizations (they have more than doubled since the last update of this article).

If the numbers continue to grow at the same rate as today, the number of deaths per day is likely to double in the coming days.

Since the beginning of September, the number of people hospitalized has only increased. As of September 1, there were only 350 people hospitalized with the coronavirus compared to 1,086 today. We are fast approaching the record of hospitalizations in the first wave (1,302 to April 16).

The problem is, today we are far from the peak of this second wave and we do not have the containment to help lower the numbers.

The Portuguese government has already warned on several occasions that Portugal does not have the means to carry out such strict containment as between the months of March and April.

If the number of hospitalizations continues to increase, in a few weeks hospitals will no longer have beds available to accommodate other patients, which will cause many deaths due to covid-19 and especially due to other untreated diseases. …

For information, in Portugal, between March 2 and October 4, there were 7,474 more deaths compared to the average of the last 5 years during the same period, which proves that what kills the most in Portugal, it is not the coronavirus, but the other diseases that are no longer treated in time.

Reading this, one may tend to devalue the coronavirus, but indirectly, it is because of this virus that the number of deaths has risen sharply.

Remember, to save lives we only have 2 weapons at our disposal: wearing a mask and social distancing!

To try to slow the evolution of the pandemic, the Portuguese government has put in place new rules, valid since October 15:

The country (except the islands) goes into a state of calamity, which will allow the government to apply more restrictive measures
Gatherings limited to 5 people on public roads as well as in shops and restaurants
Limitation to 50 participants in family celebrations (weddings, baptisms, etc.) and wearing a mask and social distancing is mandatory
All academic celebrations are prohibited
Strengthening the security forces to ensure compliance with the rules in public spaces and businesses
Fines for non-compliance with the rules increase to 10,000 euros for commercial businesses (restaurants, etc.)
Wearing a mask is strongly recommended (but not yet compulsory) for people traveling on public roads (streets, etc.)
Installing and using the Stayaway Covid app on your smartphone is highly recommended

In addition to these new rules, the majority of the rules of September 15 remain in force:

Establishments cannot open before 10 a.m. Exceptions: hairdressers, barbers, beauty salons, restaurants and the like, cafes, tea rooms and the like, driving schools, vehicle inspection centers, as well as sports halls
Closure of establishments between 8 p.m. and 11 p.m. (each municipality decides on the closing time in this time slot. There are establishments that can close later such as restaurants, establishments offering take-away meals, but without selling alcoholic drinks, educational, cultural and sporting establishments, pharmacies and outlets for non-prescription drugs, medical offices and clinics, namely dental clinics and emergency veterinary medical centers, funeral activities, vehicle rental establishments and establishments located inside airports
Prohibition on the sale of alcoholic beverages after 8 p.m. in all establishments, except restaurants
Private vehicles with a capacity of more than five seats can only travel with two thirds of their capacity and all occupants must wear a mask or visor. There is one exception: if all the occupants live together
Telework compulsory, whenever functions allow

Sources:

https://coronavirus.rr.sapo.pt/

https://www.ine.pt/xportal/xmain?xpid=INE&xpgid=ine_destaques&DESTAQUESdest_boui=456506482&DESTAQUESmodo=2

https://www.portugal.gov.pt/pt/gc22/comunicacao/noticia?i=governo-aprova-oito-medidas-para-prevenir-expansao-da-pandemia

Can we still visit Portugal?

Even though the situation has deteriorated, Portugal remains one of the safest countries to visit (as of this writing).

Currently, Portugal has 174 cases per million inhabitants, which ranks it 10th out of 27 countries in the European Union. The country with the most cases per million inhabitants is the Czech Republic (731), Belgium comes second with 630 cases, France is fourth with 324 cases, Luxembourg has 253 cases, Switzerland 231 cases and the Spain 230 cases.

If you live in one of these countries, you are less likely to have covid in Portugal than in your country of residence.

Source: https://www.jornaldenegocios.pt/economia/coronavirus/detalhe/evolucao-da-pandemia-em-portugal-menos-negra-do-que-noutros-paises-europeus

If you come to visit mainland Portugal (for islands, read on below), follow the rules above (wearing a mask, social distancing, etc.).

Madeira Archipelago and Azores:

At the time of this writing (October 19), there are only 64 active cases in the Azores and 97 active cases in Madeira, making these 2 archipelagos almost “Free Covid” places.

Do you want to visit one of these 2 archipelagos? I invite you to consult the rules of life and the rules of access for each archipelago.

Madeira: click here

Azores: click here

Friday, August 21, 2020: Update on the situation in Portugal

Since the last update of this article (July 21), there have been 91 deaths (1788 since the beginning of the pandemic), which represents an average of 2.94 deaths per day (5.8 on July 21).

There are 334 people hospitalised (-105 compared to July 21) and 39 people in intensive care (-23 people compared to July 21).

The number of new cases per day is, on average, 201 people (320 on July 21).

These numbers are very good news, because during the 31 days many Portuguese were on holidays all over the country and many came from abroad to discover the wonders of Portugal.

With so many people moving around the country, it was expected that the pandemic would worsen in Portugal, but the opposite happened.

With this good news, the United Kingdom decided to take Portugal out of the list of countries at risk and as of this Saturday, August 22, whoever leaves Portugal will not need to quarantine on arrival in this country.

Information about Lisbon: in the aftermath of the good news from last month, the City Council of the Portuguese capital decided to extend the opening hours of the stores. As of this Friday, businesses (shopping centres, street stores, etc.) can reopen and stay open the same hours before the pandemic.

Restaurants or similar can welcome customers until midnight and must close at 1 am. Bars / cafes or similar must close at 9 pm.

If you plan to visit Portugal in the coming days / weeks, I suggest you read the updates of July 21 and June 30 (section “Rules one must follow when visiting Portugal” of this article to know the rules in Portugal).

Tuesday, July 21, 2020: Situation in Portugal

Since the last update of this article (June 30, 2020, that is, 3 weeks ago), there have been 121 deaths (1697 in total), which represents an average of 5.8 deaths per day.

There are 439 people hospitalised (-50 compared to June 30) and 62 people in intensive care (-9 people compared to June 30).

The number of new cases per day is, on average, 320 people (311 on June 30), the majority located in the Lisbon region (+ 70%).

According to the Portuguese National Statistics Institute, the 19 parishes in the Lisbon region most affected by the coronavirus have a population density 7 times higher than that of the rest of the Lisbon metropolitan region, which explains, in part, the number of very high cases in this Portuguese region.

The figures above show that the pandemic in Portugal is under control (at the time I made this update) and that Portugal is one of the safest countries in the world, even if some media want to portray us in another way…

Warning: this does not mean that there is no risk of being infected during a visit to Portugal, but the risk is minimal if we respect social distancing and the use of masks in closed places.

For those who want to visit Portugal, but who are afraid, I suggest you compare the numbers between Portugal and your country. If the numbers are better in Portugal or similar to the country you live in, by visiting Portugal you will be taking the same risks as in your country.

If the numbers for your country are much better, then I suggest you stay at home.

To compare, visit worldometers.info and check the total number of cases per million inhabitants and the number of tests per million inhabitants. If you look at just the number of cases, you will get distorted results, because if there are few tests, there will inevitably be few new cases!

Also note the number of active cases and the number of people in intensive care (Serious, Critical). To compare these 2 numbers, you must make a simple rule of 3 to obtain the numbers per million inhabitants.

Example with active cases in the USA at the time of writing this update:

Active cases: 1 982 558 – Population: 331 108 144 – How many cases per 1,000,000 inhabitants

(1 982 558 X 1 000 000) / 331 108 144 = 5987,6 active cases per 1 million inhabitants.

In Portugal, there are 13 432 active cases, which represents 1317 active cases per 1 million inhabitants.

For me, the most important numbers are: the number of people hospitalised, people in intensive care and the average number of deaths per day.

To have real figures on the number of active cases, you would have to test the entire population, or at least all of them with symptoms, which no country in the world is doing.

The other fear of those who want to visit Portugal is whether the borders will be closed again in the event of a second wave. If that happens, everyone who visited Portugal will be able to return home, as long as they have their main residence in their country of origin. To avoid problems, do not hesitate to bring proof of address with you.

The only real risk is if you become infected with COVID-19 while in Portugal. If this happens, you will need to stay in quarantine until you have 2 consecutive negative tests.

If you need to be hospitalised, all costs will be covered by social security in your country of origin (if you are from an EU country). Don’t forget to bring your European Health Insurance Card.

I also suggest you read the update of this article of June 30 (below) to know the rules to be respected during your visit to mainland Portugal or to the islands.

Tuesday, June 30, 2020: New rules starting Wednesday, July 1

Portugal will enter, as of July 1, a new phase that will divide the country into three different situations.

The state of alert (the lowest since the beginning of the pandemic) will be applied across mainland Portugal (I will speak of the islands below), except in the metropolitan region of Lisbon.

As approximately 80% of the new positive cases of covid-19 are in the metropolitan area of Lisbon, this region was placed in a state of contingency (slightly more serious than the state of alert).

In this region, 19 parishes in the municipalities of Amadora, Odivelas, Sintra, Loures and Lisbon went into a state of calamity (just below the state of emergency).

Here are the rules one must follow in mainland Portugal (Lisbon region further below): State of alert

• Mandatory confinement for anyone with covid-19

• Obligation to respect social distance (minimum 1.5 metres), wearing a mask in closed spaces, such as shops (these are the same rules since the beginning of June)

• Prohibition of meetings with more than 20 people

• Prohibition of drinking alcohol on public roads (streets, gardens, etc.). You can do this on the terraces, restaurants.

• Whoever fails to comply with these rules will be punished with fines ranging from 100 to 500 euros (people) or from 1000 to 5000 euros (companies).

Rules in the metropolitan area of Lisbon:

• Closing of shops at 20:00, with the exception of restaurants, supermarkets (22:00), gas stations, clinics, doctors’ offices, veterinarians, pharmacies, funeral homes and sports facilities

• Prohibition of meetings with more than 10 people

• Prohibition of drinking alcohol on public roads (streets, gardens, etc.). You can do this on the terraces, restaurants.

• Whoever fails to comply with these rules will be punished with fines ranging from 100 to 500 euros (people) or from 1000 to 5000 euros (companies).

Rules in the 19 parishes of the 5 municipalities mentioned above:

• Civic duty to stay at home (exceptions: going out to work, shopping, etc.)

• Fairs and markets are prohibited

• Prohibition of meetings with more than 5 people

• People with coronavirus will be monitored to ensure that they comply with the mandatory quarantine

• Prohibition of drinking alcohol on public roads

• Whoever fails to comply with these rules will be punished with fines ranging from 100 to 500 euros (people) or from 1000 to 5000 euros (companies).

Information: the 19 parishes are located on the outskirts of Lisbon (see map below)

Source

Every 15 days, the Portuguese government analyses the previous 15 days and decides the new rules for the following 15 days (the rules can be the same, softer or harder).

Rules to follow for those visiting Portugal:

For everyone who comes to visit Portugal (these rules are also valid for those who live in Portugal), know that it is mandatory to wear a mask in all closed places (restaurants, shopping centres, shops, museums, etc.) and we must respect the social distance between people who are not part of our group of friends or family.

The use of a mask is not mandatory on the streets nor public gardens, but don’t forget to respect social distancing.

In restaurants, the tables are spaced from each other and you can remove your mask only when sitting at the table.

To access the beaches this summer, social distance must be respected. To comply with this rule, at the entrance of each beach, there will be traffic lights or flags to inform whether the beach can accommodate people (green or yellow) or if the maximum capacity has already been reached (red).

If the light or flag is red, you will need to look for another beach to relax a little.

For live information, I suggest you download the “Info Praia” app on your Android or IOS smartphone (application in Portuguese or English).

Information: the touristy places (museums, monuments, etc.), rent-a-car companies, hotels and restaurants are open now.

From July 1, Portuguese borders will be opened again with Spain, which means that if you don’t live in Portugal, you can visit the country by car (in addition to the plane) from another country.

When you come to Portugal, you don’t need to be quarantined. If you are flying, you will be asked to fill in a form with your contact details to be contacted in case a passenger is infected with covid-19.

Special cases of the archipelagos of Madeira and Azores: it’s the same rules as the ones when this article was updated on July 15.

I’ll put here the same text so that you can easily access all the information:

All those who wish to discover this little Portuguese paradise must:

Complete and send an epidemiological questionnaire between 48 and 12 hours before departure.

Undergo a thermal check once you reach the archipelago.

Take a test with a negative result carried out up to 72 hours before the arrival time or take a free test on arrival at the airport (time required: 1 hour). The result will be delivered in 12 hours. During this period, the traveller does not need to be confined, but must respect social distancing and the use of a mask (rules valid after 12 o’clock).

All passengers will be monitored using a mobile app (voluntarily) or by telephone.

In the case of a positive test result for covid-19, the traveller will be taken to a hotel and his direct contacts will be subject to mandatory confinement. The government of Madeira covers the costs of treatment, accommodation and meals.

To avoid any problems, the traveller is advised to have travel insurance that covers repatriation, if necessary.

Know that you can travel between the islands of Madeira and Porto Santo without having to repeat the covid-19 test.

This information comes from Madeira Tourism. If you want, you can read the full article here.

Azores archipelago:

To enter this beautiful archipelago, you will need to:

Take a test with a negative result 72 hours before your arrival time or take a free test on arrival at the airport. The result will be delivered in 12 hours. During this period, the traveller is required to stay in quarantine at home or in a hotel.

Six days after the first test (carried out in your country or after your arrival at Azores), you will have to do a new test with the covid-19 (free trial).

As in the rest of Portugal, it is mandatory to wear a mask and social distance.

In the case of a test with a positive result, a mandatory quarantine must be performed until 2 consecutive tests have been negative.

If you have a final destination, for example, Terceira Island, and arrive at São Miguel Island, you will have to wait for the test result before you can go to your final destination.

If you test negative in your country, you can fly between islands without any problems.

All of these rules also apply to travellers arriving at Azores by boat (sailboat, cruise ships, etc.).

If you plan to visit the Azores, read this article on the official website of the government of the Azores for all the details.

Important information for travellers living outside the European Union who wish to visit Portugal:

As of July 1, Portugal will follow the new security standards of the European Union. This means that if you come from a country like Brazil or USA, you will need to have a test proving negative for covid-19.

Here are the 15 countries from which travellers can visit the European Union, including Portugal without taking the covid-19 test:

Canada, Algeria, Australia, South Korea, Japan, Georgia, Morocco, Montenegro, New Zealand, Rwanda, Serbia, Thailand, Tunisia and Uruguay. Source.

Figures:

Since the last update (June 23), there have been 28 deaths of people infected with the coronavirus, which represents an average of 4 deaths per day during the last 7 days.

There are 489 hospitalised people (+48 compared to June 23) and 71 people in intensive care (-1 person compared to June 23).

The number of new cases per day is, on average, 311 people (it was 385 on June 23), the majority located in the Lisbon region, as mentioned above.

Personal opinion: Portugal, the Portuguese government and the Portuguese people took a punch in the stomach…

In mid-April, many foreign newspapers praised the treatment of the crisis in Portugal. They even talked about a Portuguese miracle!

As I said at the time (see the update of this article on April 17 below), there was never a Portuguese miracle, the country simply took measures to contain it very early, as the pandemic progressed.

At the time I wrote these lines, Portugal is presented by some foreign newspapers as one of the worst European examples, just behind Sweden, which never had a strict confinement.

These articles are based on the number of new daily cases of covid-19 that some countries are trying to manipulate…

As I said in the previous update, Portugal is the 8th country in the world with the most tests per thousand inhabitants, which naturally increases the number of cases.

Some European countries do very few tests, which reduces the number of official cases and others do not hesitate to hide more than 1200 dead (like Spain) for several days to try to attract competitions such as the Football Champions League that will take place in Lisbon in this summer.

With the pandemic, with the crisis in several countries (including Portugal), the competition between countries to attract investment and tourists is enormous and some people do not hesitate to use any type of strategy …

If you want to visit Portugal, but are afraid of the coronavirus, I invite you to compare several parameters, such as the number of deaths per million inhabitants, the number of deaths per day and the number of people hospitalised. To compare, you can use the Worldometers.info website.

As you know, I am in love with my country, I have an unconditional love for Portugal, but I am not ready yet to convince you to come and visit Portugal!

The methods that some newspapers and countries are using revolt me, because I know that the goal is not to tell the truth to their fellow citizens, but to manipulate the numbers to obey certain economic interests.

And so goes the world!

Tuesday, June 23, 2020: the Portuguese government hardens the tone!

As I mentioned in the last update of this article, more than 80% of new cases of people infected with coronavirus are concentrated in the Lisbon region.

For several weeks, tests on covid-19 multiplied to detect all those infected.

Information: Portugal is currently the 8th country in the world that performs the most tests (110.27 tests per 1000 inhabitants – source).

Unfortunately, the number of cases in that region has not decreased for several days, largely due to non-compliance with safety regulations.

There were people who continued to work knowing that they were infected, others attended private parties, public meetings of dozens and sometimes hundreds of people.

To prevent the efforts of a large majority of the population from being in vain, the government decided to adopt new measures that are in effect as of today in the Lisbon region (municipalities of Lisbon, Sintra, Amadora, Odivelas and Loures):

Prohibit meetings of more than 10 people in public spaces, with fines of up to 350 euros and imprisonment of 1 year. Know that, so far, the police has only dispersed the population.
All shops must close at 20:00, except restaurants
Prohibition of selling (service areas) and consuming alcoholic beverages in public places
Shopping centres must respect the maximum number of authorised persons per m2.
Infected persons will be monitored and punished if they fail to comply with mandatory confinement.
All other rules mentioned in the June 15 update of this article are in effect in the rest of the country.

Since June 15, there have been 23 deaths of people infected with coronavirus, which represents an average of 3.28 deaths per day for the past 7 days.

There are 441 people hospitalised (+22 compared to June 15) and 72 people in intensive care (-1 person compared to June 15).

The number of new cases per day is, on average, 385 people (it was 300 on June 15), most of them located in the Lisbon region, as mentioned above.

I know that the pandemic has been going on for several months and that many people are getting tired of this situation or mistakenly thinking that the hardest part has already been done, but if we don’t respect the safety rules, like wearing a mask and respecting social distance, we’ll go back 3 months with the risk of a new confinement that nobody wants…

For more information on your visit to Portugal this summer, you can read the June 15 update below.

Monday, June 15, 2020: current situation in Portugal

Since the last update of this article (May 29, 2020), there have been 148 deaths (1517 in total), which represents an average of 8.7 deaths per day (that average was 14.48 on May 29).

The number of hospitalised people went from 512 to 419 and from 65 to 73 in intensive care.

These numbers show that the pandemic is under control and, above all, that the deconfinement has not caused a sharp increase in the number of patients who need hospitalisation.

Currently, there are an average of 300 new cases of people infected by the virus (this average was 249.8 on May 29), 90% of which are located in the region of Lisbon and Tagus Valley.

To contain the spread in this region, the government has postponed the opening of stores with more than 400 m2, such as shopping centers (which may open starting today) and increased the number of tests to isolate people infected with the coronavirus.

Many of these new cases are due to the population’s failure to comply with health regulations (private parties, etc.).

This shows that we must not forget that this virus has not disappeared and that we must respect the new rules of life in order not to go back to where we were three months ago!

For everyone who comes to visit Portugal (these rules are also valid for those who live in Portugal), know that it is mandatory to wear a mask in all closed places (restaurants, shopping centers, shops, museums, etc.) and we must respect the social distance between people who are not part of our group of friends or family.

In restaurants, the tables are spaced from each other and you can remove your mask only when sitting at the table.

If the light or flag is red, you will need to look for another beach to relax a little.

For live information, I suggest you download the “Info Praia” app on your Android or IOS smartphone (application in Portuguese or English).

As you probably know, many European Union countries have now reopened their borders.

Portugal and Spain will continue with their land borders closed until June 30.

Until the end of June, the only way to reach Portugal is by plane or boat.

It will not be necessary to be quarantined (see below, the exceptions for the archipelagos of Madeira and Azores) and know that you can move freely throughout the country.

From July 1, the land borders will be opened again, which means that you can come to Portugal by car, motorhome, etc.

Special case of the archipelagos of Madeira and the Azores:

The archipelago of Madeira (Madeira and Porto Santo) opens its doors to tourism on July 1.

All those who wish to discover this little Portuguese paradise must:

Complete and send an epidemiological questionnaire between 48 and 12 hours before departure.
Undergo a thermal check once you reach the archipelago.
Take a test with a negative result carried out up to 72 hours before the arrival time or take a free test on arrival at the airport (time required: 1 hour). The result will be delivered in 12 hours. During this period, the traveller does not need to be confined, but must respect social distancing and the use of a mask (rules valid after 12 o’clock).
All passengers will be monitored using a mobile app (voluntarily) or by telephone.
In the case of a positive test result for covid-19, the traveller will be taken to a hotel and his direct contacts will be subject to mandatory confinement. The government of Madeira covers the costs of treatment, accommodation and meals.

To avoid any problems, the traveller is advised to have travel insurance that covers repatriation, if necessary.

Know that you can travel between the islands of Madeira and Porto Santo without having to repeat the covid-19 test.

This information comes from Madeira Tourism. If you want, you can read the full article here.

Azores archipelago:

To enter this beautiful archipelago, you will need to:

Six days after the first test (carried out in your country or after your arrival at Azores), you will have to do a new test with the covid-19 (free trial).

As in the rest of Portugal, it is mandatory to wear a mask and social distance.

In the case of a test with a positive result, a mandatory quarantine must be performed until 2 consecutive tests have been negative.

If you have a final destination, for example, Terceira Island, and arrive at São Miguel Island, you will have to wait for the test result before you can go to your final destination.

If you test negative in your country, you can fly between islands without any problems.

All of these rules also apply to travellers arriving at Azores by boat (sailboat, cruise ships, etc.).

Information: these rules are valid from 15 to 30 June. As of July 1, the rules can be adjusted depending on the situation. Source.

Clean & Safe Guarantee: as I mentioned in this article, the tourism office Turismo de Portugal created the “Clean & Safe” seal that is given to all tourism related companies (restaurants, hotels, etc.) that comply with all safety standards recommended by Portuguese public health specialists.

Turismo de Portugal created a website with all the companies that have the seal. After visiting a company (hotel, restaurant, museum, etc.), typing its name in the search bar, you can give your opinion on compliance with health guidelines and consult all the rules that the establishment must respect.

Friday, May 29, 2020: balance of 1 month of deconfinement + summer holidays

A month ago, when the deflation was announced, I never thought to write the following!

After almost a month (25 days) of deconfinement, the situation in Portugal has improved significantly, exactly the opposite of what I expected.

On May 1, when I published in this article the new rules of life from May 4 (beginning of deconfinement), there were 1007 deaths from coronavirus in Portugal, 892 hospitalised people and 154 in intensive care in Portugal.

Up until May 28, 2020, there were 1369 deaths and only 512 people were hospitalised and 65 people were in intensive care.

In 25 days, there were 362 deaths, an average of 14.48 deaths per day, an average twice as low as in April.

It’s true that there are 362 more deaths than we’d wanted, but with the deconfinement, a much larger number would be expected.

The most interesting figures concern patients in the hospital. There was a decrease of 380 people hospitalised and 89 people in intensive care.

Regarding confirmed cases, there are currently (May 28, 2020) 31 596 infected people, an increase of 6245 people (249.8 confirmed cases per day). Source.

The good news is that the population respects (in its vast majority) social distance and wears a mask in closed spaces (shops, work, etc.).

The virus has not disappeared from Portugal, but the pandemic is under control at this stage. The Portuguese are gradually beginning to live a normal life (with new safety rules) and with this good news, we will be able to enter the last phase of deconfinement (as of June 1) with the opening of stores bigger than 400 m2 (shopping centres), as well as cinemas, theatres and concert halls (with a limited number of seats).

Let us hope that this good news continues and that the population continues to respect safety rules.

Summer holidays

European countries are working on bilateral agreements so that, between July and August, citizens of the European Union will already be able to travel and go on holiday to neighbouring countries.

The Portuguese government is in conversations with the British government for an exception to what was announced: that everyone arriving to the United Kingdom after June 8 will have to be quarantined for 14 days. This is very important since there is a strong presence of the Portuguese community and thousands of British residents travel to Portugal every year and with this announcement they may change their plans. Source.

Currently, Portugal does not impose a mandatory quarantine on people arriving from abroad (except in the archipelagos of Madeira and Azores, which have different rules), the only risk is when returning to the country of origin.

If you intend to visit Portugal by car, know that you can do so from July 1 onwards, when Spain opens its borders.

Should we start booking our holidays for the months of July or August?

When I last updated this article, I recommended that people make the reservation just a few days before their departure.

This week, after analysing flight prices for the months of July and August, I noticed that they were twice as cheap as in the same period last year. So I booked two tickets for my parents during the month of August from Paris to Porto with the Portuguese airline TAP for just 160 euros per person.

Is there a risk that flights will be cancelled? Yes, but with all the good news and agreements between European countries, I think the risk is minimal, because, in the worst case scenario, there will be a voucher for new flights and, above all, some risks are worth taking because those flights are cheap.

Regarding other reservations, here’s what I recommend:

Accommodation: make your reservation at Booking.com with free cancellation and without prepayment (paid on the day of arrival); therefore, if the flight is cancelled, you can cancel your reservation free of charge up to 48 hours before your arrival.

Car hire: prices for hiring a car are a little cheaper than normal, but the difference is not big. You can start the reservation, but unlike the accommodation, you will have to pay immediately and ask for a refund 48 hours before your arrival.

As the amount for hiring a car is big (if you hire a car for more than 7 days), I suggest you wait a little longer and hire a car a few days before your departure (one to two weeks before). Chances are that prices will go up a bit, the closer you are to the holiday period, but that way you won’t have that money blocked.

It is true that you will be 100% refunded up to 48 hours before your departure, but on the last returns, refunds can take several days, especially if there are a large number of requests.

Activities: as prices do not change according to demand, I suggest you book your activities only 2-3 days in advance.

Special cases of the archipelagos of Madeira and Azores:

To be able to enter Madeira archipelago, it is necessary until June 30 that a test for covid-19 (with a negative result) be carried out at most 72 hours before your arrival, otherwise, you must be quarantined until the result of the test carried out on your arrival is known.

From July 1 onwards, when you get out of the plane, you’ll have to do a COVID-19 test and wait for the results for around 1 hour. If the result is negative, you’ll be able to enter the archipelago of Madeira and visit this paradise with no restrictions (respecting the new security standards). Source.

For your information, the archipelago of Madeira had only 90 infected people by coronavirus and zero deaths!

In order to enter the Azores, you have 4 options:

1. Have tested covid-19 with a negative result up to 72 hours before arriving in the Azores.

2. Test covid-19 when you arrive in the Azores. In that case, it will be necessary to stay in quarantine for 1 or 2 days, as long as necessary to ascertain the results.

3. Carry out a voluntary quarantine of 14 days in a hotel in the Azores (paid by local authorities).

4. If you refuse the 3 options, you will have to return to your country of origin. Source.

For your information, the archipelago of the Azores had only 146 infected people by coronavirus and 16 deaths!

Thursday May 14, 2020: ban on entering Portugal by road…

Portugal has extended the period in which the borders will be closed with Spain (until June 15), but they continue to be open (on the Portuguese side) for the transport of goods, transborder workers and all those who have their main residence in Portugal or those with Portuguese nationality.

The only problem is that Spain has just passed a decree which requires anyone crossing the Spanish border (coming from France or Portugal) to make a mandatory quarantine of 14 days, even if you are just passing through to enter Portugal or leaving towards your country.

This means that as of tomorrow, May 15, and as long as the state of emergency is in effect, no one can enter Portugal by road without making a quarantine of 14 days in Spain (except the transborder workers, road workers, health workers and air transport workers).

The state of emergency is in effect until May 24 in Spain, but will no doubt be extended. Some say (Portuguese press) that this measure will be maintained until early July.

Important information (update): anyone who has their main residence in Portugal or in an EU country, can go through Spain to reach their home provided they have documents that demonstrate this. I suggest you consult the website of your embassy in Portugal or the Portuguese embassy in your country.

Portuguese who are abroad and who have their main residence in Portugal can also go through Spain, but before doing so, I suggest you contact the Portuguese consulate or Portuguese embassy in the country you live in.

For those who wish to come to Portugal in the coming days, it will have to be done by plane.

Currently, there are very few flights serving Portuguese airports, but in the coming days, the airlines will expand their offer.

When I wrote these lines, travellers arriving in Portugal do not need to undergo mandatory quarantine (except those wishing to go to the Madeira or Azores archipelagos).

If you do not have an urgent reason, I do not recommend visiting Portugal in the coming days.

In one of my last messages, I advised you not to visit Portugal before June 15. This time, I’m going a little further, and I will advise you to come on holidays to Portugal only from July onwards.

The European countries are preparing themselves to welcome tourists for the months of July and August, so you should wait until then so that the European Union countries come to a compromise and give people clear rules to follow.

With the current situation, I advise you not to book your holidays, even for the months of July and August. For once, I will advise you to make your reservations only a few days before your departure.

As things change quickly and until there are clear rules, chances are you should reschedule your holidays.

Even if the European Union clarified yesterday that travellers have the right to be reimbursed in the event of cancellation of their reservations, truth be told, what is being offered to you is a voucher to use until the end of 2021.

To be safe, don’t book anything until there is more information.

The good news is that the situation is improving day by day in Portugal. There are only 692 people hospitalised due to covid-19, 103 people in intensive care and the number of deaths per day are on average 15 people with a total of 1175 deaths since the start of the pandemic.

Portugal is getting ready so that you can come and visit its wonders safely. From May 18 onwards, many tourist places will reopen with new safety standards (you can read my message from May 1 below), such as wearing a mask and limiting people inside each establishment.

The Portuguese tourist office has created a label “Clean & Safe” which will be given to all tourism-related companies (restaurants, hotels, etc.) that comply with all the safety standards recommended by Portuguese public health experts.

As you can see, the Portuguese are looking forward to welcoming you again and for you to discover our beautiful country in complete safety.

We must all be patient and wait a few more weeks, but it’s for everyone’s good!

Information: if you have already booked your stay in Portugal and if it is planned from July onwards, you do not need to cancel, because there are strong chances (I would say 90%) that you can come and discover Portugal.

If your stay is planned for the end of May or the month of June, make sure your flight wasn’t cancelled (contact the airline directly) and that your accommodation is open during your stay. If so, you can come and visit Portugal.

Friday, May 1, 2020: end of confinement + opening of the economy

Yesterday, April 30, the Portuguese Prime Minister presented new rules of life that will start on May 4.

As expected, on May 2, the state of emergency will not be renewed and we are taking a step forward with the declaration of the state of public calamity. The government will still have “superpowers”, but the population will no longer have such strict restrictions.

A plan to gradually open the economy was presented for 15-day intervals (May 4 and 18, and June 1).

Flexibility will occur every 15 days, if public health conditions permit. Hospitals have 4000 beds (the limit beyond which the health system is saturated) to accommodate patients with covid-19.

Currently, there are less than 1000 people with coronavirus in Portuguese hospitals. With the end of the confinement, there is a good possibility that this number will increase, but as long as the Portuguese health system can take patients, the ease will continue so that the economy can resume.

If the number of sick people admitted to hospitals approaches the limit of 4000 places, the Prime Minister will not hesitate to go back and put the country back in confinement.

To prevent this from happening, the government has established a 15-day phased opening plan and new rules for people. Here they are:

May 4:

Opening of all stores with an area of less than 200 m2
Hairdressers, beauticians and the like with appointments
Car dealers
Public services (taxes, etc.) with appointments
Possibility to practice individual outdoor sports (tennis, golf) without the possibility of using swimming pools and changing rooms
The places available on public transportation will be limited to 2/3 of the total capacity
Telework should continue in all companies, whenever possible

May 18:

In addition to the openings on May 4, starting on May 18, other businesses will open:

Shops with an area of less than 400 m2 (or only 400 m2 of the total area, if the shop has a larger area)
Restaurants, cafes, pastry shops and terraces, but cannot accommodate more than 50% of regular customers (number of places divided by 2)
Libraries and archives
Museums, monuments, palaces, art galleries and the like (with a limited number of visitors at the same time)
High schools for 11th and 12th grades (the others continue their studies at home)
Nurseries
Religious ceremonies (Mass, etc. ) with a limited number of people to maintain social distance
May 30-31: matches of the Portuguese Football League and the Portuguese Cup without an audience in the stadiums

June 1:

All the shops in the shopping centres
Cinemas, theatres, concert halls with a reduced number of people
Lojas do Cidadão (place where the Portuguese solve administrative problems, renewal of the identity card)

General rules:

Mandatory confinement for all people with covid-19
Civic duty not to leave home without reason (it is not an obligation, but the government wants the Portuguese to leave home only when necessary)
Prohibition for meetings of more than 10 people (even with social distance)
Possibility to attend the funeral of a family member
In stores, there are a limit of 5 customers per 100 m2 of surface
Social distance of 2 metres
Obligation to wear masks in public transportation, schools, shops and other closed places (fines of 120 to 350 euros will be applied for non-compliance with the use of the mask in public transportation – for the time being without fines foreseen for other situations)
The population will be able to buy masks in stores such as supermarkets or pharmacies
Companies must follow strict hygiene rules for their employees and customers

Important information: so far there is no date for the opening of bars, clubs, sports halls and beaches (authorisation only for those who carry out nautical activities such as surfers).

Can we start booking our holidays for this summer?

If things continue in the right direction, it will be possible to visit Portugal again (with the rules mentioned above, such as wearing masks and respecting social distance).

The accommodations (hotels, apartments / pensions) will start to open some in May, others in June and others in July, with rules yet to be defined.

I do not advise anyone to visit Portugal before the 15th of June. It is better to see how things will go in the first days after confinement and how the new rules will be applied.

You can start booking your holidays from mid-June onwards, but pay special attention for the cancellation policy for each reservation.

Always choose companies (accommodation, car rental, activities) that offer free cancellation up to a few days before your arrival.

This way, if things get worse, you can easily get your money back. Otherwise, the company will offer you a voucher to use until December 31, 2021.

Information: At the moment, we have just exceeded 1000 coronavirus deaths (1007) and over 1647 people recovered, out of a total of 25 351 confirmed cases.

There are 892 people hospitalised, including 154 in intensive care.

I hope that this good news will continue, so that we get closer and closer to a “normal” life.

Monday, April 27, 2020: ban on leaving your municipality of residence + personal message

In order to avoid a rush of the population to the countryside, to their second home or to the coast, the Portuguese government decided to limit trips between the municipalities during the long weekend of the holiday of May 1 (Friday 1 to Sunday 3 May). Therefore, it will be prohibited to leave the municipality of residence, except to go to work or for health reasons. During these three days, to leave your municipality of residence, you will need a declaration that justifies the movement between the municipalities.

The government made this decision, because in the last few days there has been an increasingly visible relaxation, after the good news and information about stopping the confinement, scheduled for May.

In early May, I will update this article again, with the new rules of life (opening of certain stores, end of the state of emergency, etc.).

Small personal message: last Saturday, April 25, a perfectly normal date for many, but for Portugal and the Portuguese that date reminds us that the fight for freedom is made everyday.

It was only 46 years ago (1974) that a coup d’état organised by the Portuguese army overthrew the dictatorship that has lasted since the 1930s.

This year we were unable to celebrate this important date on the street, but the spirit of April 25 was present among all the Portuguese who went to the window to sing “Grândola Vila Morena”, the song that started the revolution.

https://youtu.be/-8DSpdT0XHE

A "Grândola" foi à janela e até Marcelo se juntou (https://youtu.be/-8DSpdT0XHE)

Being “just” 32 years old, I’m lucky that I didn’t go through this dark period, but when I hear “Grândola Vila Morena”, I can’t help but be moved. The tears form little by little, until they run down my face…

https://youtu.be/gaLWqy4e7ls

Zeca Afonso – Grândola, Vila Morena (https://youtu.be/gaLWqy4e7ls)

At this difficult time, we have a small idea of what it is like to live in a dictatorship.

We think wrongly that everything that has been acquired will never be lost…

Never forget: freedom is not a given, it is a daily battle!

Long live freedom!

Friday, April 17, 2020: extension of the state of emergency + summer holidays

The President of the Portuguese Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, yesterday announced to the country, in a televised message, the extension of the state of emergency until May 2 (probably the last extension).

When I wrote these lines, the decree defining the new rules for the next 15 days had not yet been published, but I can tell you that measures will be a little more flexible.

The ban on leaving the municipality of residence has already been lifted (it was only in effect during the Easter period) and the municipality of Ovar will be freed from compulsory confinement in the coming days.

This loosening of the rules is due to the good behavior of the Portuguese people (few people were arrested for the crime of disobedience), to the “low” number of hospitalised and dead people and also to economic reasons.

Even though, in general, things are better than expected, there are still some mishaps and people who forget that this good news can change quickly if we do not comply with the safety rules established since the beginning of the pandemic.

Let me tell you about an example of bad behaviour that was news in Portugal during Easter: as you probably know, Portugal is a country with religious (Catholic) traditions deeply rooted in society, especially in Northern Portugal and, during Easter, one of the traditions is to gather family, friends and neighbours at home to welcome the priest who carries Christ on the cross. This cross passes from person to person to be kissed.

Some people, including priests, had the “great idea” of maintaining the tradition, some on the street, others in nursing homes, forgetting safety rules like social isolation.

Here is a video published by the Portuguese newspaper JN.pt that shows a little about what happened: https://www.jn.pt/local/videos/fieis-filmandos-a-beijar -the-cross-during-the-easter-in-barcelos-12062334.html

Even though 95% of the population followed the rules, I still want to talk about these few cases, to show that everything is not okay in Portugal and that there is no Portuguese miracle, as some foreign newspapers suggest.

In fact, the real miracle was the Portuguese politicians (government and president) who had the courage to take restrictive measures when there were still few people infected with covid-19 and all the political parties that approved the measures, forgetting their personal interests for the first time.

The population also understood very well that, if we did not respect the rules, the consequences would be dramatic, largely because of the fragility of our health system, which has been underfunded since the 2008 financial crisis.

Thanks to these measures, at the time of writing these lines there were “only” 657 deaths from coronavirus, an average of 64 deaths per 1 million inhabitants.

If things continue in the right path, starting in May, Portugal will start opening many local services and shops to get the economy going.

These openings will be made with strict security measures, so that the virus continues to spread slowly. I will make an update as soon as we know the new rules.

Here is a question my readers have already asked many times: can we start booking our holidays in Portugal for this summer?

Currently, Portuguese land borders are closed until May 14 and flights to Portugal are allowed only from the Schengen Area or from countries with a strong presence of the Portuguese community.

Even if the borders are opened after May 14, I do not advise you to book your holidays or come to Portugal until we have precise dates for the reopening of tourist sites, restaurants and hotels.

The Portuguese state will create new security rules in the coming weeks so that tourist establishments can reopen.

In my opinion, in addition to limiting the number of people present in each location (restaurants, hotels, etc.) and new hygiene standards, there is a good possibility that the use of a mask will be mandatory.

As soon as there is something new, I will tell you (in this article and by email) so you can schedule your holidays.

Even if this advice goes against my financial interests, above all, I don’t want you to lose your money, but rather to have a wonderful holiday in Portugal!

Until you can book your stay in Portugal, don’t hesitate to read my articles to choose the places to visit and start planning your itineraries.

Once things get better, all you need to do is book your airline tickets, hotels, car rental and activities.

Be brave in this unprecedented situation! We are starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel!

Saturday, April 4, 2020: extension of the state of emergency + more stringent measures

Last Thursday, the President of the Portuguese Republic extended the state of emergency in Portugal for the next 15 days (3 to 17 April) and gave the government even more important powers, such as price regulation, to fight speculation.

Next, discover the new rules of life in Portugal until April 17th:

Mandatory confinement at home or in a health facility of any person infected by covid-19 or SARS-Cov2, as well as by suspicious persons. Failure to comply with this confinement will be considered a crime of disobedience.

People over 70 should stay at home as long as possible and leave only when absolutely necessary (buying food, solving health problems, going to the bank, post office, insurance company or taking the pet to the street). This rule does not apply to people working in the health sector, security forces, politicians and magistrates.

Everyone else can leave their homes, but they must have a valid justification. Tourism, going to the beach, obviously, are not things we can do.

Easter period: between April 9th and 13th, across the country, it is forbidden to leave your municipality of residence, except to go to work or for health reasons. During those 5 days, to leave your municipality of residence, you will need a statement from your employer. Portuguese airports will be closed for commercial flights.

All companies open to the public must comply with strict rules in order to receive customers (limiting the number of customers within the establishment, a minimum distance of 2 metres between each person and disinfecting everything that is affected by customers, such as cash registers, payment terminals etc.).

Personal testimony: even if this rule was already present in the other decrees, it was only as of yesterday (Friday, April 3) that companies began to apply these rules to the letter. When I went shopping, I saw that change.

One must wait outside the establishment at a distance of at least 1 metre and enter only when a person leaves; the cash registers are cleaned frequently, the payment terminals are cleaned between each customer, there are markings on the floor to maintain the mandatory distance between each person and the teller operators have, finally, protection equipment.

I think it is unfortunate that it took 15 days to apply these rules, which were already recommended when the state of emergency was declared in March. This proves that a minority of people / companies act only if they are forced to do so by law…

In addition to the Easter period, the municipality of Ovar, near Aveiro, and all municipalities of São Miguel in the Azores are in mandatory confinement, which means that people can only enter or leave only in cases of absolute need (work, health reasons, etc.).

To complete this update, I would like to inform you that there are currently (Saturday, April 4th) 10.524 people affected by the coronavirus (confirmed cases), 266 people have died, 75 people have recovered and more than 80.000 people are suspected of being infected with the virus.

Monday, March 30, 2020: Portugal surpasses the symbolic number of 100 deaths due to coronavirus

This weekend, Portugal crossed the symbolic barrier of 100 deaths (140 when I wrote these lines) as a result of an infection by covid-19. This number may seem insignificant, especially when compared to our neighbouring country, but we must not forget that there are only 10 million inhabitants in Portugal.

If Portugal had the same number of inhabitants as France, for example, the number of deaths would be around 840. Looking at the number of deaths in France (2606 – at the time I wrote these lines), we can say that the situation in Portugal is much better, except that the health crisis started much earlier in France (first case of covid-19 on January 23) than in Portugal (first case on March 1).

All this to say that the situation will worsen in the coming days and that the peak of the pandemic in Portugal will not arrive until May (the Portuguese government even predicts the peak towards the end of May).

The seriousness of the situation was understood by the vast majority of the Portuguese population, but some still do not want to understand the danger of their actions…

Even though the whole population seems to be staying at home, the reality is different. Many people still have family meals (I mean with the family that doesn’t live with us), there is even a kind of exodus from part of the population towards the interior of the country (the best thing to do to spread viruses to an elderly population) to be supposedly “safe” or simply to use secondary housing, larger than the city apartments.

To limit this phenomenon, the police carried out routine checks last Saturday on all vehicles that wanted to leave Lisbon towards the south of the country, crossing the 25 de Abril bridge, as well as on the main road (A1) that connects Lisbon to Porto.

The police forced many drivers to turn around and only allowed to proceed those who had valid justifications.

For now, Portugal relies on the goodwill of the population to follow the government’s advice, but if this phenomenon continues, there is a good chance that we will have to adopt much stricter rules as in other European countries (Spain, France, Italy).

Personal opinion: with the pandemic peaking late (which is perfect for not overwhelming hospitals), the health crisis can last for many months. After getting the latest update, I don’t think the situation will improve until June 15 (I sincerely hope I’m wrong…).

When the pandemic peak is reached and states start to soften the rules of life, we will have to control the virus so that a second wave doesn’t come a few weeks later and we have to be in social distancing again (which would be disastrous in terms of health but also for the economy of each country).

In my opinion, after this first social distancing, we will have to get used to new rules of community life. Everyone will have to wear masks (yes, masks are useful to contain the virus, as long as the entire population is equipped), and tests should be carried out on all suspected cases to isolate positive cases from the rest of the population.

I only see these two solutions to avoid a new generalised isolation and for life to return to “normal”.

The situation is and will be difficult in the coming weeks, but let us not be overcome by this morbid atmosphere. Take advantage of this time to talk a lot with people you love (via internet or phone), read, exercise, prepare for the post-crisis and limit negative information (once a day is enough to make you aware of what is happening around you).

Let’s do our best to limit the spread of this virus. Let us do this for ourselves and for others!

Remember, our actions can kill or save lives. It is up to us to know what we want!

Wednesday, March 25, 2020: urgent message to motorhome owners

After the announcement of the measures to be applied during the state of emergency (see below what I wrote on Friday March, 20) the Portuguese government published a decree this Sunday with all the new rules of life in Portugal.

One of the measures taken is the closure of all campsites and motorhome parks. Since Monday 23, campsites and motorhome parks have been prohibited from welcoming new people and all those who are there must leave until Friday March 27, the latest.

The only exception are people who have a permanent residence (declared before the state of emergency) in one of these campsites and who have no other place to live.

Motorhome owners have 3 options:

Leave with their motorhome to their country of origin (Spain, France, United Kingdom, etc.). If choose this option, before leaving, fill up, buy essential goods in a supermarket near where you are and drive safe while respecting social distancing. The British government wrote this article that you should read for further information.

Leave their motorhome in Portugal and return by plane. If you choose this option, I suggest you contact the local authorities (Town Hall or the police – GNR or PSP) where you are located to find out where you can leave your motorhome. Also, contact the embassy of your country located in Portugal so they can help you.

Stay in Portugal. There are many people who have decided to stay in Portugal, because the situation is better (when I wrote these lines) than in other countries, or because they do not wish to drive for many hours (often more than 16 hours driving) to reach their home country, to cross Spain in the current situation, or even to leave their motorhome in Portugal.

For all those who stay in Portugal, I suggest you rent a house (you can do your research on Booking.com or on Airbnb) or a private property (see below) where you can park your motorhome for the next 2 months.

Above all, do not go wild camping (don’t park your motorhome in unauthorised places), because the authorities will start to act (as in neighbouring countries) as soon as the situation gets worse.

In this delicate situation, and so that the situation does not become even more complicated, I suggest you remain calm, choose the best solution for your situation and above all, follow the instructions of the Portuguese authorities.

To help motorhome owners who have nowhere to go in this difficult situation, the YouTube channel Voyage à Plein Temps has decided to create a solidarity map where those who have available land can offer it to people in difficulty.

Currently, the majority of aid offers are in France, but I sincerely hope that there will be people in Portugal who can help motorhome owners who have nowhere to go.

To help, or ask for help, click here.

Friday, March 20, 2020: upholding the state of emergency

After the declaration of the state of emergency, on Wednesday, by the President of the Republic, yesterday at the end of the day, the Prime Minister defined the new rules of life in Portugal for the next days:

Anyone who has tested positive for covid-19 or is under surveillance is now in mandatory quarantine (at home or in the hospital). Failure to comply with the quarantine is considered a crime of disobedience.
All people who do not show symptoms are not required to be quarantined, but should stay as long as possible at home and leave only when necessary (to work, to go shopping, going to the pharmacy, taking the pet to the street), respecting social distancing (minimum distance of 1 metre between each person). In this first phase, the government did not want to force the population to enter mandatory quarantine, because the Portuguese were voluntarily quarantined (words of the Prime Minister).
All public service companies will be closed (restaurants, bars, hairdressers, etc.), except bakeries, grocery stores, supermarkets, gas stations, pharmacies, kiosks and all companies that sell products and offer essential services to the population, such as banks or post office.
Restaurants can continue to operate but only to deliver food at home or take away.
Shopping centres will close, but the supermarkets that are there will remain open. All non-public service companies must continue their activities normally (improving sanitary conditions to protect their employees), except in the municipalities where the state of public calamity has been decreed (this is the case of the municipality of Ovar, close to Aveiro, where several cases of covid-19 have been reported).
All public services will be closed to the public (civil servants will work by telecommuting). These services can be contacted by phone or the internet and, if necessary, you can make an appointment.
In public transportation, the number of seats will be reduced in order to respect social distancing.

In this first phase, the police will have a pedagogical role, but if the population does not follow instructions, there will be a tightening of the rules and fines!

Last minute information: starting next week, all people who arrive in Portugal will be in mandatory quarantine for 14 days.

In addition to the new rules of life mentioned above, here are the others that are still valid:

Closed land borders between Portugal and Spain (except for goods and border services) – if you live abroad, you can leave Portugal and return home.
No flights between Portuguese, Italian and Chinese airports.
Forbidden to disembark passengers from cruise ships.
Ban on alcohol consumption on the streets.
Closure of all schools, universities, museums.
All stores, supermarkets, shopping centres and pharmacies must limit the number of customers simultaneously. It will be necessary to wait at the entrance of each establishment until the number of customers decreases in order to enter.
While waiting to enter a company, bank, etc., a minimum space of one metre must be left between each person.
Public services (taxes, renewal of identity card, passport, etc.) remain open, but they only answer in case of emergency (you must make an appointment at https://eportugal.gov.pt/ or call 300 003 990 (for people) or 300 003 980 (for companies)).
If you have a passport, identity card, Portuguese driving license or certificate of residence in Portugal with an expiration date ending on March 9, 2020, do not renew them. They remain valid until June 30th.
Azores and Madeira: anyone who arrives to one of these archipelagos will be quarantined for 14 days to reduce the risk of contamination of the local population.

Important message: I still see many people facing this pandemic lightly (in Portugal and other countries), but if we are not confined at home and do not respect social distancing, we may face a possible humanitarian disaster…

After Italy, Spain is letting many patients die due to lack of hospital space and equipment. Currently, war medicine is being practised!

Let’s do everything we can to save lives, stay at home as long as possible, avoid social contact and let the authorities help us!

Do not wait until there are thousands of dead to realise the problem.

Positive message from Turismo Centro de Portugal (tourism promotion entity for Central Portugal region):

https://youtu.be/3ur9_SDvGDE

Haverá Tempo! (https://youtu.be/3ur9_SDvGDE)

As a nurse said: applauding hospital staff every night is good, but following instructions is better!

If you have symptoms (fever, cough) that may indicate that you have covid-19, call (if you are in Portugal) 808 24 24 24.

If you have Portuguese nationality and are experiencing difficulties in returning to Portugal, send an email to explain your situation to this email address: covid19@mne.pt or call 00351 217 929 755.

If you are in Portugal and are having difficulties to return home (to your country), I suggest you contact your country’s consulate or embassy in Portugal.

Let’s do everything we can to make this event a distant memory!

Wednesday, March 18, 2020: Portugal is on state of emergency for at least 2 weeks

By the end of the day, the Portuguese President has declared the state of emergency until April 2 (can be prolonged). Today, we took another step in this war against the virus. The objective is to delay the dissemination, as far as possible, so that the Portuguese hospitals don’t get overcrowded but, above anything else, to save lives.

In the next hours, the Portuguese government will inform the Portuguese people about the new limitations in living in Portugal.

In the meantime, here are the main directives for the state of emergency:

The Portuguese President admits compulsive care in houses or health establishments
Circulation in public places is restricted
Possibility for civil requisition of properties, commercial and industrial facilities as well as other companies
Possibility for civil requisition of private and social health facilities
Possibility for civil requisition of public and private employees from the health sector as well civil protection, security and defence
the right to strike is suspended
the freedom of cult may be restricted

Source: SIC Noticias

Apart from these measures, the Portuguese government created a site: https://covid19estamoson.gov.pt/ to answer all the questions the Portuguese may have.

For non-Portuguese speakers, the government translated this document into 19 different languages: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1QeKaeGbajcbRHdsPvQADSIjE7VuSbHFA

Monday, March 16, 2020: Portugal is on state of alert until April 9

Closed land borders between Portugal and Spain (except for goods and border services) – if you live abroad, you can leave Portugal and return home.
No flights between Portuguese, Italian and Chinese airports.
Forbidden to disembark passengers from cruise ships.
Ban on alcohol consumption on the streets (outside bars / terraces).
Closure of all schools, universities, museums, bars (after 9 pm) and nightclubs.
Mandatory reduction of one third of customers in restaurants and terraces so that there is a social distance between customers.
All stores, supermarkets, shopping centres and pharmacies must limit the number of customers simultaneously. It will be necessary to wait at the entrance of each establishment until the number of customers decreases in order to enter.
While waiting to enter a company, bank, etc., a minimum space of one metre must be left between each person.
Public services (taxes, renewal of identity card, passport, etc.) remain open, but they only answer in case of emergency (you must make an appointment at https://eportugal.gov.pt/ or call 300 003 990 (for people) or 300 003 980 (for companies)).
If you have a passport, identity card, Portuguese driving license or certificate of residence in Portugal with an expiration date ending on March 9, 2020, do not renew them. They remain valid until June 30th.
Azores and Madeira: anyone who arrives to one of these archipelagos will be quarantined for 14 days to reduce the risk of contamination of the local population.

Source: Portuguese Government: https://www.portugal.gov.pt/

If you have symptoms (fever, cough) that may indicate that you have covid-19, call (if you are in Portugal) 808 24 24 24.

If you have Portuguese nationality and are experiencing difficulties in returning to Portugal, send an email to explain your situation to this email address: covid19@mne.pt or call 00351 217 929 755.

If you are in Portugal and are having difficulties to return home (to your country), I suggest you contact your country’s consulate or embassy in Portugal.

We will do everything possible to make this event a distant memory!

Be strong and be safe!

Tiago

Coronavirus (Covid-19) in Portugal: current situation

Monday 4 July 2022: end of the digital certificate

Monday 25 April 2022: end of the mask requirement

Monday 21 February 2022: lifting of restrictions (return to “normal” life)

Monday 10 January 2022: lifting of certain restrictions (+ rules in force updated on 8 February)

Wednesday 22 December 2021: new last-minute restrictions…

Saturday 27 November 2021: here we go again …

Saturday, September 25, 2021: the day of liberation has arrived!

Monday 5 July 2021: the situation becomes more complicated, but vaccination allows the economy to reopen (+ rules in force updated on 13 September)

Here are the rules in force from 1 August (more than 50% of the population fully vaccinated)

Rules for the whole country (archipelagos have specific rules)

Tips for visiting Portugal (important)

Friday 4 June 2021: new rules from 14 June (valid until end of August)

Conditions to visit Portugal:

Tips for preparing your trip to Portugal

Here are the latest covid-19 figures for Portugal

Monday 17 May 2021: Portugal opens up to tourism again

Conditions to visit mainland Portugal

Requirements to visit Madeira Archipelago

Conditions to visit the Azores archipelago

Tips for preparing your trip to Portugal

Here are the latest covid-19 figures for Portugal

Monday 3 May 2021: Last phase of deconfinement for the vast majority of the country

Travel to Portugal

Here are the latest covid-19 figures for Portugal

Monday 19 April 2021: Decontamination continues in most of the country

Portugal is entering the third phase of decontamination (with some exceptions indicated below)

Monday April 5, 2021: Deconfinement continues + new passenger restrictions

Friday 12 March 2021: Portugal begins to deconfine

Deconfinement plan valid from 15 March :

Monday 1 March 2021 : Portugal defeated the third wave

Monday January 25, 2021: Portugal is experiencing the worst moment since the start of the pandemic! (+ addition of information on 29/01)

Thursday January 14, 2021: Portugal is again in containment

Situation in the archipelago of Madeira and the Azores

Monday, December 21, 2020: Government changes its mind for New Years Day

Monday December 7, 2020: Reduction of restrictions for Christmas and New Years

Monday 23 November 2020: state of emergency renovation + new measures by municipality

Monday, November 16, 2020: 77 municipalities are added to the list of municipalities under curfew

Monday, November 9, 2020: curfew + state of emergency

Monday November 2, 2020: records are broken + restrictive measures

Monday October 26, 2020: New restrictive measures

Monday, October 19, 2020: The situation is getting more complicated …

Can we still visit Portugal?

Madeira Archipelago and Azores:

Friday, August 21, 2020: Update on the situation in Portugal

Tuesday, July 21, 2020: Situation in Portugal

Tuesday, June 30, 2020: New rules starting Wednesday, July 1

Tuesday, June 23, 2020: the Portuguese government hardens the tone!

Monday, June 15, 2020: current situation in Portugal

Friday, May 29, 2020: balance of 1 month of deconfinement + summer holidays

Summer holidays

Thursday May 14, 2020: ban on entering Portugal by road…

Friday, May 1, 2020: end of confinement + opening of the economy

Can we start booking our holidays for this summer?

Monday, April 27, 2020: ban on leaving your municipality of residence + personal message

Friday, April 17, 2020: extension of the state of emergency + summer holidays

Saturday, April 4, 2020: extension of the state of emergency + more stringent measures

Monday, March 30, 2020: Portugal surpasses the symbolic number of 100 deaths due to coronavirus

Wednesday, March 25, 2020: urgent message to motorhome owners

Friday, March 20, 2020: upholding the state of emergency

Wednesday, March 18, 2020: Portugal is on state of emergency for at least 2 weeks

Monday, March 16, 2020: Portugal is on state of alert until April 9

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About The Author

Tiago