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Portugal·Destination guide · Southern Europe

Portugal

38.7223° N · Southern Europe · Schengen

Portugal still asks for a personally signed boletim — before SIBA takes over.

Foreign guests (including other EU nationals) must fill in and personally sign a boletim de alojamento, which the provider then reports through SIBA within 3 business days. AIMA replaced SEF in 2023; the boletim and SIBA clock did not change. RNAL registration is the separate gate to legally advertise an Alojamento Local unit.

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NextStay relevance · Portugal

5 / 5

Essential

Lei 23/2007 requires a personally signed boletim de alojamento reported via SIBA within 3 business days — on top of RNAL registration for every AL unit.

At a glance · Portugal

  • Boletim

    Signed personally

  • Report

    SIBA ≤ 3 days

  • Licence

    RNAL number

  • Lisbon tax

    €4 / night

Who this is for

What hosts and hotels actually need to know

Portugal runs two tracks that hosts often blur together: guest identification under Lei 23/2007 (boletim de alojamento + SIBA reporting) and Alojamento Local licensing under Decreto-Lei 128/2014 (RNAL registration via Balcão Único). Decreto-Lei 76/2024 reversed the Mais Habitação suspension and 5-year renewal cycle, so AL registration is again indefinite outside municipal áreas de contenção. Self check-in works when the guest personally signs the boletim before or at arrival — the signature is the compliance gate; SIBA transmission is a separate reporting duty that runs afterward.

Front desk or digital, the duty is unchanged: every foreign guest personally signs a boletim de alojamento, and the establishment communicates it through SIBA on time.

  • 01Collect a personally signed boletim de alojamento from foreign guests, including other EU nationals
  • 02Transmit boletim data via SIBA within 3 business days of arrival — and again at departure
  • 03Maintain AIMA-recognised credentials for SIBA access
  • 04Keep guest records available for inspection alongside classification requirements

Chapter · Identity

The boletim de alojamento

Lei 23/2007 (arts. 15–16) requires accommodation providers to have foreign guests — including nationals of other EU member states — fill in and personally sign a boletim de alojamento.

Statute

“Os estabelecimentos hoteleiros e equiparados são obrigados a preencher os boletins de alojamento relativamente aos cidadãos estrangeiros e a comunicar essa informação ao SEF/AIMA.”
Lei n.º 23/2007, arts. 15–16 (as implemented via SIBA guidance) [01]
  1. 01

    Who must sign

    Every foreign guest — including citizens of other EU member states, not only non-EU travellers — must complete and personally sign the boletim de alojamento. Portuguese nationals are outside this specific duty, but hosts commonly capture equivalent identity data for operational consistency.

    [01][02]
  2. 02

    Personal signature, not a document upload

    The statute calls for the guest to fill in and personally sign the boletim. A qualifying e-signature captured in a self check-in flow before access is released is the digital equivalent of that duty — a passport photo alone, without the signed boletim, is not.

    [01]
  3. 03

    AIMA replaced SEF — the duty did not change

    In October 2023, the Agência para a Integração, Migrações e Asilo (AIMA) took over the immigration and borders functions previously held by SEF. The boletim de alojamento requirement and the SIBA reporting channel continued under the new agency without a change to the underlying deadline.

    [03][02]

Chapter · SIBA

SIBA & the 3-business-day clock

SIBA (siba.ssi.gov.pt) is the electronic channel for transmitting boletim de alojamento data. The reporting clock is separate from — and runs after — the personal signature.

  1. 01

    Deadline

    Communicate boletim data via SIBA within 3 business days of the guest's arrival, and again within 3 business days of departure. Weekends and public holidays are excluded from the count, so plan submission timing accordingly around long weekends.

    [02][01]
  2. 02

    Register for SIBA access

    Accommodation providers register with SIBA (siba.ssi.gov.pt) to obtain the credentials needed to submit guest data electronically. Without an active SIBA account, compliant electronic filing is not available.

    [02]
  3. 03

    Two separate duties, one guest

    The personally signed boletim is the identification duty at check-in. SIBA transmission is the reporting duty that follows within 3 business days. Hosts sometimes conflate the two — a signed boletim that never reaches SIBA on time is still a compliance gap.

    [01][02]

Chapter · Licence

Alojamento Local & RNAL

Decreto-Lei 128/2014 governs Alojamento Local. Registering via Balcão Único and obtaining an RNAL number is the gate to advertising a unit — separate from, and in addition to, boletim/SIBA duties.

  1. 01

    Register via Balcão Único

    AL operators register the unit through the Balcão Único do Empreendedor to obtain a Registo Nacional de Alojamento Local (RNAL) number. Listings and advertising typically require that number to be shown.

    [04][06]
  2. 02

    DL 76/2024 reversed the Mais Habitação suspension

    Lei 56/2023 (Mais Habitação) had suspended new AL registrations in many areas and introduced a 5-year renewal cycle with periodic CEAL (Certificado de Exploração de Alojamento Local) review. Decreto-Lei 76/2024 reversed that suspension and the 5-year cycle — AL registrations are again indefinite in duration, subject to municipal rules.

    [05][06]
  3. 03

    Municipal áreas de contenção still apply

    Lisbon and Porto (and some other municipalities) maintain their own contenção zones and rules limiting or conditioning new AL registrations in specific parishes or streets. Indefinite registration nationally does not override a município's local containment area — confirm the property's zone before assuming a registration will be accepted.

    [06][05]

Chapter · EU layer

EU law that sits underneath

Portugal's boletim, SIBA and RNAL rules sit inside the same European stack hosts meet elsewhere — Schengen lodging purposes, GDPR, and the 2024 short-term rental data framework.

  1. 01

    Schengen Convention — Article 45(1)(b)

    Lodging providers across Schengen states are expected to account for who stayed where. Portugal's boletim de alojamento and SIBA reporting are a national implementation of that public-security logic — including for EU nationals, unlike some neighbouring regimes.

    [13][01]
  2. 02

    GDPR (Regulation (EU) 2016/679)

    Boletim data and signatures are personal data. Collect what the legal basis requires, inform guests, secure transmission to SIBA, and respect retention limits on your own systems.

    [14]
  3. 03

    Short-term rental data — Regulation (EU) 2024/1028

    From 20 May 2026, where Member States operate STR registration/data systems, platforms work through harmonised registration numbers and activity reporting. Portugal's RNAL number sits in that same transparency direction.

    [15][16]

Remote arrival · Still the law

Self check-in under Portuguese rules

Remote arrival is common in Lisbon, Porto and the Algarve. The compliance gate is the guest's personal signature on the boletim de alojamento before access is released — SIBA transmission is the separate reporting clock that follows.

01

Document

02

E.turistas

03

Keys

  • Personal e-signature before access

    Build the personal signature into the check-in flow itself — the guest fills in and signs the boletim before door codes or lockbox instructions are released, mirroring the in-person duty under Lei 23/2007.

    [01]

  • SIBA runs on its own clock

    Once signed, the boletim still needs to reach SIBA within 3 business days of arrival — and again at departure. Signature and transmission are sequential duties, not the same step.

    [02][01]

  • EU nationals are in scope too

    Unlike some registration regimes that focus on non-EU travellers, Portugal's boletim duty explicitly covers other EU member-state nationals. Do not skip the signature step for EU guests.

    [01]

  • RNAL is a separate prerequisite

    A signed boletim and timely SIBA filing do not substitute for RNAL registration. Confirm the unit's RNAL number and área de contenção status before automating remote arrival at scale.

    [04][06]

Municipal & tax layers

RNAL and SIBA are national. Cities still set their own tourist tax rates and containment rules — Lisbon, Porto and Faro each publish distinct figures.

  • Lisbon Praça do Comércio — municipal tourist-tax territory

    Lisbon — taxa turística de dormida

    01

    Lisbon's Taxa Turística de Dormida is €4 per guest per night (guests aged 13+), capped at 7 nights per stay, in force since 1 September 2024 under Aviso n.º 18684/2024/2 amending the municipal rates regulation. Collect and remit per the município's current schedule — rates are set locally and can change.

    [08]
  • Porto Ribeira waterfront — municipal tourist-tax territory

    Porto — taxa municipal turística

    02

    Porto's municipal tourist tax is €3 per person per night from 1 December 2024, capped at seven consecutive nights (€21), for guests over 13. Exemptions (medical stays, disability ≥60%, etc.) need supporting evidence. Register collections on taxaturistica.cm-porto.pt and confirm the live regulation before quoting guests.

    [09][10]
  • Algarve coastline near Faro — confirm tourist tax with the local município

    Faro — Algarve seasonal table

    03

    Faro's Regulamento n.º 1207/2024 (in force from 1 November 2024) sets €2 per person per night from 1 March–31 October and €1 from 1 November–end of February, capped at 7 consecutive nights (guests 16+). Other Algarve municípios may differ — do not assume Faro's AMAL-aligned table applies outside the concelho.

    [11][12]

This is the law · Here is the reference

Sources & references

Primary statutes, EU instruments and competent authorities. Open the link when your property is at stake.

  1. [01]Local law
    Lei n.º 23/2007 — arts. 15–16 (boletim de alojamento)

    Primary statute requiring foreign guests, including other EU nationals, to fill in and personally sign a boletim de alojamento.

  2. [02]Authority
    SIBA — Sistema de Informação de Boletins de Alojamento

    Official electronic channel for boletim de alojamento transmission and the 3-business-day deadline.

  3. [03]Authority
    AIMA — Agência para a Integração, Migrações e Asilo

    Confirms AIMA replaced SEF's immigration and borders functions from October 2023 without changing the boletim/SIBA duty.

  4. [04]Local law
    Decreto-Lei n.º 128/2014 — regime jurídico do Alojamento Local

    Statutory basis for Alojamento Local registration and the RNAL number.

  5. [05]Local law
    Decreto-Lei n.º 76/2024

    Reversed Lei 56/2023 (Mais Habitação) suspension, CEAL requirement and 5-year AL renewal cycle — registrations again indefinite subject to municipal áreas de contenção.

  6. [06]Authority
    ePortugal — Registar um Alojamento Local

    Citizen-facing AL registration path via Balcão Único / RNAL (replaces dead Turismo de Portugal business URL).

  7. [07]Authority
    Justiça — Balcão Único do Empreendedor

    Official Balcão Único channel used for AL / RNAL communications.

  8. [08]Local law
    Município de Lisboa — Aviso n.º 18684/2024/2 (taxa turística)

    €4 per guest per night Taxa Turística de Dormida, capped at 7 nights (from 1 Sep 2024).

  9. [09]Authority
    Câmara Municipal do Porto — taxa municipal turística notice

    €3 per person per night from 1 December 2024.

  10. [10]Agency
    Porto — Municipal Tourist Tax flyer (EN)

    €3 / night up to €21 (7 nights); age and exemption summary for hosts.

  11. [11]Local law
    Município de Faro — Regulamento n.º 1207/2024

    €2 (Mar–Oct) / €1 (Nov–Feb) per person per night; 7-night cap.

  12. [12]Agency
    CM Faro — Taxa Municipal Turística rule change

    Confirms year-round collection and AMAL-aligned seasonal amounts from 1 Nov 2024.

  13. [13]EU law
    Convention Implementing the Schengen Agreement — Art. 45

    EU-layer lodging / guest-record purpose.

  14. [14]EU law
    GDPR — Regulation (EU) 2016/679

    Personal-data rules for identity, signature and document processing.

  15. [15]EU law
    Regulation (EU) 2024/1028 — short-term rental data

    EU framework for STR registration data and platform sharing (from 20 May 2026).

  16. [16]Agency
    European Commission — STR transparency rules

    Plain-language explanation of the May 2026 framework.

After the law · The product

Where NextStay fits

After the law is clear: we build the personal signature into the check-in gate — so Portuguese hosts can run remote-friendly arrivals without skipping the boletim or missing the SIBA clock.

  • 01

    Signature before the key

    Online check-in collects and personally signs the boletim de alojamento before door instructions unlock — matching Lei 23/2007's requirement for foreign guests, including EU nationals.

  • 02

    SIBA-ready records, on the clock

    Structured guest data is ready to transmit within the 3-business-day SIBA window for arrival and departure, without a last-minute scramble.

  • 03

    Host visibility without desk chaos

    Hotels and individual hosts see who has signed, who is blocked, and when access can release — including late Lisbon and Porto arrivals.

  • 04

    Destination guidance in the workspace

    This Portugal dossier stays attached to the market — boletim, SIBA, RNAL and área de contenção — not a generic EU footnote.

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NextStay provides operational tools and general regulatory information, not legal advice. Hosts remain responsible for confirming the rules that apply to their accommodation in Portugal. Research last verified .