Portugal Enacts Public Face-Covering Ban, Joining Growing List of European Nations

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Portugal has become the latest European country to outlaw face coverings in public, after President António José Seguro signed the measure into law on August 18, 2026.

The legislation, which the Portuguese press has dubbed the “burqa law,” prohibits clothing or garments designed to conceal or obstruct the face in public spaces. Violators face fines ranging from €150 to €3,000, depending on the severity of the offense. The law also includes a provision protecting individuals from being coerced into covering their faces because of their gender, religion, age, or origin.

Exemptions are built into the statute for health, professional, artistic, or weather-related reasons, as well as for face coverings worn in places of worship, diplomatic premises, and aboard aircraft.

Origins in the Right-Wing Chega Party

The bill was originally introduced by Chega, Portugal’s “hard-right” party led by André Ventura, whom Seguro defeated in February’s presidential run-off election. Despite that political rivalry, Seguro, a Socialist and the country’s left-leaning head of state, ultimately signed the bill into law, framing it as a matter of national identity rather than partisan politics.

“The face must be considered a central element of human identity and communication,” Seguro said in a statement announcing the law.

The Portuguese parliament passed the final version of the bill on July 17, 2026, with support from the governing center-right coalition, made up of the Social Democratic Party and the CDS-People’s Party, along with the Liberal Initiative and Chega itself. Left-wing parties, including the Socialist Party, Livre, and the Communist Party, voted against the measure.

Criticism from Human Rights Groups

The law has drawn criticism from civil liberties and legal organizations. Amnesty International Portugal called the measure discriminatory, arguing it would disproportionately affect Muslim women who choose to wear the niqab or burqa, and warned it could threaten freedom of religion and expression while pushing affected women further from public life.

The Portuguese Bar Association and the High Council of the Public Prosecutor’s Office also raised objections during the legislative process, and the Portuguese Association of Women Lawyers questioned the bill’s constitutionality.

Supporters of the law reject the discrimination charge, noting that the final text does not name Islam or any religion directly, and instead applies broadly to any garment that conceals identity in public.

Part of a Wider European Trend

Portugal now joins a growing list of European nations that have restricted face coverings in public. France was the first to do so, banning full-face veils in 2011, followed by Belgium later that year. Bulgaria followed in 2016, and Austria in 2017. Luxembourg and Denmark introduced similar bans in 2018, and the Netherlands restricted face coverings in select public settings, including schools, hospitals, and public transport, in 2019.

Supporters of these laws, including many on the political right across the continent, argue they protect social cohesion, public security, and the ability of citizens to be identified in shared spaces. Critics counter that such measures disproportionately target Muslim women and risk fueling broader anti-Islamic sentiment.

Portugal’s Interior Ministry has not yet detailed how enforcement will be carried out, though officials indicate police will have discretion in applying the fines under the new law’s graduated penalty structure.