Everyday life in Portugal: emergencies, holidays, shopping, public services and transport

This guide brings together what official pages say about practical everyday situations.

Emergencies and health

• 112. INEM describes it as the European Emergency Number: the call is free and available from anywhere in the country at any time, and it also covers fires, assaults or robberies as well as health. Calls are answered by the PSP and the GNR, which pass health-related calls to INEM’s Urgent Patient Guidance Centres (Centros de Orientação de Doentes Urgentes, CODU). ANACOM says you can call 112 even without a working Portuguese SIM card or without coverage.
• What to say. INEM asks you to state the type of situation (illness, accident, childbirth, etc.), the telephone number you are calling from, the exact location (with landmarks if possible), the number, sex and apparent age of the people needing help, the main complaints and any situation requiring other resources. The call should only end when the operator says so.
• Ambulances. According to INEM, INEM ambulances should only be used where there is an imminent risk to life, and false alarms and unnecessary calls overload the system.
• SNS 24 (808 24 24 24). gov.pt, which calls it the Saúde 24 line, gives it as a clinical contact available 24 hours a day, every day, for triage, advice and referral in cases of illness, at the cost of a call to a landline. The guide to the SNS and the user number explains how to register at a health centre.

Public holidays

According to the Labour Code (article 234), the mandatory holidays are: 1 January, Good Friday, Easter Sunday, 25 April, 1 May, Corpus Christi (Corpo de Deus), 10 June, 15 August, 5 October, 1 November, and 1, 8 and 25 December. Good Friday, Easter Sunday and Corpus Christi do not have fixed dates in the text of the law. Good Friday may be observed on another day with local significance during the Easter period.

• Optional holidays (article 235): Shrove Tuesday (terça-feira de Carnaval) and the municipal holiday of the locality only count as holidays if provided for in a collective labour agreement or in the employment contract, and can be replaced by another day agreed between employer and employee.
• Businesses (article 236): on mandatory holidays, all activities that are not permitted on Sundays must close or suspend work.

For holidays, working hours and bonuses, see the guide to working in Portugal.

Invoices with a NIF and e-Fatura

Article 78-B of the Personal Income Tax Code provides a deduction for general family expenses based on invoices reported to the Tax Authority (Autoridade Tributária, AT). According to the article:

• anyone who wants the deduction must ask the issuer to include the NIF on the invoice, although invoices without a NIF can still be reported to the AT using the QR code or the unique document code;
• the deduction is calculated by the AT from the invoices reported to it electronically by the end of February of the year after issue;
• the AT makes the deduction amount available on the Portal das Finanças by 15 March, and the buyer may challenge the calculation by 31 March.

The income tax guide explains the amounts and limits for each year, and the NIF guide explains how to get the number.

Warranty and shopping

The sale of consumer goods is governed by Decree-Law 84/2021 (in force since 1 January 2022). According to the text of the law:

• Movable goods (article 12): the trader is liable for any lack of conformity that appears within three years of delivery. For used movable goods, that period can be reduced to 18 months by agreement between the parties, unless the item is advertised as refurbished (which must be stated on the invoice).
• Burden of proof (article 13): a lack of conformity appearing within two years of delivery is presumed to have existed at delivery, unless that is incompatible with the nature of the goods or of the defect. Where the period for a used item was reduced by agreement, the presumption lasts one year. After that, it is for the consumer to prove the defect existed at delivery.
• Notifying (article 12(5)): by letter, e-mail or any other means capable of proof. The law does not set a two-month deadline here.
• Rights (article 15): first, restoring conformity by repair or replacement, at the consumer’s choice, unless impossible or disproportionately costly. A price reduction or termination of the contract are available in the cases the law sets out, for example where the trader has not restored conformity, the defect has reappeared, a new defect has arisen or its seriousness justifies it.
• Repair or replacement (article 18): free of charge and within a reasonable time, which should not exceed 30 days unless the nature and complexity of the goods, the seriousness of the defect and the effort needed justify longer. A repaired item gets six months of additional warranty per repair, up to four repairs. If the item is replaced, the trader is liable for defects in the replacement under article 12.
• Lapse of rights (article 17): the rights in article 15 lapse two years after the lack of conformity is notified, with suspensions provided for (for example during a repair or an out-of-court settlement attempt).
• Immovable property (articles 23 and 25): the trader is liable for defects that appear within 10 years for structural elements and five years for the rest. Rights lapse three years after notification.

The gov.pt page on product warranties (updated 7 May 2026) still sets out older rules, for example a two-month deadline to report a lack of conformity in movable goods. If you compare the two sources, follow the text of the decree-law.

From the same gov.pt guide:

• Distance purchases or purchases away from business premises: a right of withdrawal for 14 days, without giving a reason, with a refund of the amounts paid.
• Disputes: before going to court, gov.pt points to consumer dispute arbitration centres, which are generally quicker and cheaper. The Consumer Directorate-General (Direção-Geral do Consumidor) can be reached by telephone (213 564 600, working days 10am to 1pm), by e-mail (dgc@dg.consumidor.pt) and through online forms.

The complaints book (Livro de Reclamações)

According to ASAE, the regime in Decree-Law 156/2005 was revised by Decree-Law 74/2017 (in force since 1 July 2017):

• besides the paper book, it is compulsory to provide the electronic complaints book, with the same validity, which consumers can fill in at livroreclamacoes.pt. It became compulsory for essential public services from 1 July 2017 and for other sectors from 1 July 2018;
• businesses must display, in a clearly visible place, the information that they have a complaints book and the authority competent to assess complaints;
• the supplier or service provider sends the original complaint sheet to the competent authority within 15 working days. If the consumer refuses to take the duplicate, the supplier files it noting the refusal.

For a supporting text, see the templates.

Digital identity and public service counters

• Chave Móvel Digital. gov.pt says it lets you access public and private portals and sign digital documents with the same PIN, and that it is free and can be activated by Portuguese and foreign nationals. Foreign nationals can activate it with a passport, a Citizen Card under the Treaty of Porto Seguro (Brazilian nationals) or a residence permit, among other documents, and with a residence permit you need a Portuguese NIF. With a Citizen Card, the request can be made online, by video call or at a counter. Without a Citizen Card, or with a Bilhete de Identidade, it must be done at a counter. You need your own mobile number.
• Lojas de Cidadão. According to gov.pt, they bring together counters of public and private bodies, such as Social Security, the Tax Authority, the registries, EDP, Galp or CTT. Service can be with or without an appointment. Without one, you take a ticket on site or a digital ticket before you go (each person needs their own ticket). Appointments are made on the SIGA portal or the SigaApp. To find the shops and other service points, see the list of in-person service points.

Public transport

Prices of tickets and passes change, so they should be confirmed with the operator. According to the official sources:

• Lisbon Metropolitan Area. According to TML, there are two navegante passes, the municipal one (valid within the municipality of purchase and its border zones) and the metropolitan one, priced at €30 and €40 in the fare system description, and TML announced that the navegante pass price stays unchanged in 2026. The same page mentions the navegante 12 pass, free for children under 13, and the navegante +65.
• Porto Metropolitan Area. AMP announced that, from 1 January 2026, the 2.28% fare update does not apply to Andante passes, which keep their price, and covers only occasional tickets and on-board tickets.