In order to limit traffic on the days before Easter weekend, the government had decided to go back on its initial plan and begin the travel ban between municipalities at midnight tonight (Thursday, March 25, to Friday, March 26). Initially, the restrictions were to go into effect on Friday the 26 at 8 pm, so many are finding themselves either furiously packing or canceling plans altogether.
The news came in on Wednesday, March 24, in a statement published in Diário da República entitled Declaração de Retificação n.º 9-B/2021, in which the Assistant Secretary-General Catarina Romão Gonçalves rectifies the earlier statement by saying, “It should read: It is forbidden to move outside one’s home municipality…between 8 pm on Friday and 5 am on Monday and daily from 00:00 March 26….” What she forgot to say was “Oopsie! Our bad!”
RELATED POST: Portugal to Emerge from Confinement, Somewhat: Creches, Hair Dressers, Book Stores, Libraries to Reopen March 15, Restaurants on April 5
If you had an exit strategy in place for the weekend, we hope it’s somehow salvageable. If not, there’s always tequila.
At this point, confinement measures should be second nature, but if you have any doubts as to what rules are in effect this weekend and into Easter, see the related post above.