As of December 1, even if you have a certificate of vaccination, you will still need to show proof of a negative test in Portugal to enter night clubs and football matches, as well as to visit someone at a hospital or nursing home. That’s because we are again in a state of calamity, thanks to Delta and Omicron and the rest of the coronavirus family.
Hundreds of pharmacies and many mobile testing sites are offering the rapid antigen test (TRAg) for free. You have two options: schedule a test, or show up and wait in line.
Be prepared to be frustrated either way: the Portuguese Pharmacies network has an online portal to schedule a test in your concelho (municipality) online, but as of December 4, for example, the only slots available in the entire city of Lisbon were starting December 9, and only in the afternoon.
Lisbon authorities, meanwhile, offer an updated list of mobile labs offering free tests, with their hours of operation. For those, you just come and wait your turn.
But the Cais do Sodré testing station, for example, had a line with hundreds of people on Friday, December 3.
You can try calling around for an appointment as well. Infarmed (Portugal’s National Authority for Medicines and Health) keeps an updated list of pharmacies as well as laboratories, searchable by location, or using a map.
To get into restaurants, events with assigned seating such as concerts and lectures, tourist venues, local accommodations, and gyms, you will need to show a certificate of vaccination, but not a test. More information is at https://covid19estamoson.gov.pt/medidas-de-controlo-da-pandemia-1-de-dezembro-de-2021/.
To dine outside at a restaurant still doesn’t require anything other than a smile — and a mask if you go inside to reapply your mascara or whatever.
