Portuguese President António José Seguro has signed into law a measure that broadly restricts people from concealing their faces in public, a move widely seen as targeting Muslim women, AFP reported.
The ban includes several exceptions, the report said, allowing face coverings for health, professional, artistic or weather-related reasons, as well as in places of worship, diplomatic missions and on aircraft.
Violators could face penalties ranging from 150 euros to 3,000 euros, according to the outlet — roughly $175 to $3,500.
Afghan women wearing burqas wait in line to receive food aid from a non-governmental organization at a gymnasium in Kabul on Jan. 17, 2023. (Wakil Kohsar/AFP via Getty Images)
Portugal’s parliament approved the final version of the measure last month, AFP reported. Local media have referred to it as the “burqa law,” a reference to the full-body and face covering worn by some Muslim women.
The legislation bars people from wearing coverings intended to hide the face or prevent identification in public spaces. It also prohibits forcing someone to cover their face on the basis of gender, religion, age or origin, according to the report.
Portuguese President António José Seguro is welcomed by France’s president for a working lunch ahead of their meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris on July 1, 2026. (Amaury Cornu/Hans Lucas/AFP via Getty Images)
“For the president of the republic, the uncovered face constitutes a structuring dimension of social trust, a characteristic of Portuguese society,” said an English translation of a Portuguese-language press release.
“Social integration, non-discrimination based on gender and the security resulting from similar decisions by the European Court of Human Rights underpin this decision. The president of the republic shares this court’s conviction that the face is central to human identity and communication, serving as a minimum element for mutual recognition among fellow citizens.
“And to admit that women, and only women, must hide their entire faces implies an asymmetry incompatible with the values of parity and equal dignity between men and women, values that shape European democracies,” the release added.
