Guide
Where is smoking allowed and banned in Lisbon?
Lisbon follows the national smoking-ban rules in Lei n.º 37/2007: enclosed public and work spaces are smoke-free by default, with specific exceptions and an outdoor picture that is more permissive than many visitors expect.
Last checked: September 2026
In short
In Portugal, smoking is banned by default in all enclosed workplaces and public spaces — offices, shops, shopping centres, public transport, cinemas, museums and enclosed areas of bars and restaurants. Outdoors, smoking is generally allowed unless a specific rule applies, such as within school and hospital grounds; open-air terraces of cafés and restaurants remain a permitted exception, while some venues have opted to create fully enclosed, separately ventilated smoking rooms under strict conditions. Signage at the entrance of a venue indicates which regime applies.
Key points
- Smoking is banned by default in enclosed public spaces and workplaces across Portugal.
- Open-air outdoor spaces, including open terraces, are generally allowed unless a specific rule says otherwise.
- The 2023 attempt to ban smoking on covered terraces and at doorways was dropped by Parliament; it never became law.
- Enclosed, separately ventilated smoking rooms remain legal under strict conditions at hospitality venues that chose to build them.
- Signage at the venue's entrance tells you which regime applies.
Enclosed spaces: the default ban
Article 4 of Lei n.º 37/2007 lists the places where smoking is prohibited: workplaces, public buildings, healthcare and educational establishments, cultural and sports venues, public transport, and the enclosed areas of restaurants, cafés and bars. This is the default position for any indoor space open to the public or used as a workplace.
Hospitality venues can create a separate, physically enclosed and independently ventilated smoking room under conditions set in the law, but this is the exception granted to the establishment, not a general right for customers to smoke anywhere indoors.
Outdoors: more room than people assume
Portuguese law does not impose a general ban on smoking outdoors. Open, uncovered spaces such as streets, squares and open-air terraces fall outside the enclosed-space ban and remain permitted for smoking unless another specific rule names that location.
Specific outdoor exceptions do exist: for example, the perimeter of schools and educational establishments is treated more strictly than an ordinary public street. Where such a rule applies, it is usually signposted.
What the 2023 reform changed — and did not
The government's 2023 bill proposed extending the smoking ban to all covered terraces, to doorways and windows of restaurants and bars, and to the open-air grounds of hospitals, universities and sports venues, with a full phase-out of smoking rooms by 2030. Parliament removed the terrace and doorway ban and the smoking-room phase-out before final approval in November 2023.
What actually changed with the final law was narrower: e-cigarettes were brought fully into line with conventional cigarettes for sale, advertising and consumption purposes, and heated-tobacco packaging rules were tightened. The everyday picture of where you can smoke in Lisbon — banned indoors, generally allowed outdoors, with terraces as a long-standing exception — is largely the same as it was before 2023.
Reading the signage
Venues that allow smoking anywhere on their premises, whether an outdoor terrace or a designated smoking room, are required to display clear signage; the absence of a no-smoking sign at an outdoor table is not proof either way and it is worth checking with staff.
Common questions
- Can I smoke in the street in Lisbon?
- Yes, ordinary streets and open public spaces are not subject to a general smoking ban; specific exceptions apply near places like schools.
- Are smoking rooms in bars and restaurants being banned?
- A 2030 phase-out was proposed in 2023 but removed from the bill before it passed, so enclosed smoking rooms that meet the legal conditions remain permitted for now.
- Is public transport in Lisbon smoke-free?
- Yes, smoking is banned in enclosed public transport vehicles and in enclosed transport infrastructure such as station concourses under the same framework law.
Sources
This page is general information about Portuguese rules and Lisbon practice, not legal advice. Rules change; check the sources for the current text. Tobacco is for adults 18 and over.