Is Alcohol legal in Portugal?
Also known as: booze
- Legal status
- Legal, alcohol (ethanol) is an age-regulated retail beverage, not a controlled drug; minimum age raised to 18 for all alcoholic drinks in 2015.
- Consequences if caught
- No penalty for adult consumption; fines for sale/supply to minors and for drink-driving.
- If prescribed or medical
- n/a, a beverage, not a medicine.
- Documentation
- Openly sold on proof of age; no traveller permit required.
- who.int
- The tables of Decreto-Lei n.º 15/93 are what this cell reads against, and the sibling cells of this table establish their version from the Infarmed compilation, whose own footnotes carry amendments up to Lei n.º 77/2014, de 11 de novembro. As those tables stand after Lei n.º 77/2014, no later amending instrument was available to those cells, and the new psychoactive substances list is separately established there as at 8 September 2022, the date the republished annex to Portaria n.º 232/2022 took effect. That does not rule out a later amendment made or commenced since.
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Court records
We have not yet assessed whether court records are publicly available for this jurisdiction.
Alcohol in related jurisdictions
Other substances confirmed in Portugal
Same substance, other countries
Drug laws and enforcement change and vary within a country. This is not legal advice. Always confirm with Portugal’s embassy or official drug authority before traveling; penalties can be severe, including imprisonment.
Before you travel
Verify current rules with the destination country’s official drug authority and your own country’s embassy before traveling. Find the destination’s U.S. embassy & official country guidance →
Non-U.S. travelers: check your own government’s travel advisory and embassy.
If you’re detained or arrested abroad
Contact your own country’s embassy or consulate in the destination immediately, not the destination’s authorities. U.S. citizens: contact the nearest U.S. embassy/consulate and the U.S. State Department at +1-202-501-4444 (from abroad). If a U.S. citizen is arrested or detained abroad →