Photography & Drones — Portugal
What travelers need to know about photography & drones in Portugal. What is legal at home can be a serious crime here — each rule links to its official source.
Photography & Drones in Portugal: restricted — there are real limits travelers must follow.
Photographing or filming an identifiable person against their will is a crime in Portugal - even in a public place, and even at an event that person took part in. Criminal Code (Codigo Penal) art. 199(2)(a) punishes whoever, against the will of another, photographs or films them, "mesmo em eventos em que tenha legitimamente participado" (even at events in which they legitimately took part); art. 199(2)(b) covers using or allowing the use of such images, even if lawfully obtained. Art. 199(1) does the same for audio-recording words not intended for the public, even words spoken to you. Scenery, buildings and general crowd shots are not restricted - the offence is about an identifiable person who does not want to be filmed, so ask first before photographing people, street performers or staff. Prosecution requires the victim to file a complaint (queixa, art. 198 applied through art. 199(3)), so it is enforced on complaint rather than on sight. This is national criminal law applying to visitors and residents alike, not a local rule.
Up to 1 year in prison or a fine of up to 240 days (Codigo Penal art. 199(1), applied to photography by art. 199(2)). Through art. 199(3) the aggravation in art. 197 applies correspondingly: the penalty limits are raised by one third where the act was done to obtain reward or enrichment or to cause harm, and art. 197(2) covers dissemination through mass media or the Internet. Criminal proceedings depend on a complaint by the victim (art. 198).
§ Procuradoria-Geral Distrital de Lisboa (Ministerio Publico) - Codigo Penal, DL n.o 48/95, consolidated version, arts. 197, 198 and 199 read verbatim this run. The host publishes a per-article amendment register ("Contem as alteracoes introduzidas pelos seguintes diplomas" plus numbered "Versoes anteriores deste artigo"): art. 199 carries NO amendment entry, so the original DL 48/95 wording is the version in force; arts. 197 and 198 each show a register running to Lei n.o 26/2023. The consolidation register for the Code as a whole runs to Lei n.o 53/2026 of 19 August 2026. The document self-numbers at 432 articles. Voidance grep on the fetched consolidated text: inconstitucional 0, declarada a inconstitucionalidade 0, perda de vigencia 0.Verified Oct 2, 2026