01Водичи
Када је за фотосесију у Лисабону, у месту Cascais или Sintra потребна дозвола, ко је издаје, рокови и таксе, као и плаже, споменици и дронови.
Checked 3 October 2026
A commercial photo shoot in Portugal usually needs permission from whoever manages the place: the city council for streets and squares, the maritime authority for the coast, the park or monument for heritage sites, and the aviation authorities for drones. This guide sets out who, how far ahead and roughly what it costs, for the places productions ask us about most.
Rules and fees change. Confirm with the authority before you book anything; this is a production guide, not legal advice.
The short version
Lisbon streets and squares: every commercial shoot in public space needs the city's approval, whatever the crew size. Small crews can use the simplified prior notice (€199.90); allow at least 3 working days.
Cascais: authorisation from the council at least 5 working days ahead, plus the Capitania for beaches and the seafront.
Sintra's parks and palaces: Parques de Sintra authorises commercial photography with at least 15 days' notice, charged by the hour. Quinta da Regaleira has its own rules.
Monuments and museums (Jerónimos, Belém Tower and others): at least 15 days' notice to Museus e Monumentos de Portugal.
Drones: registration with ANAC and a free authorisation from the AAN for any aerial photography; request it 10 days ahead.
People: in Portugal a person's image needs their consent. Use written releases, and a CPCJ authorisation for children.
Lisbon city
The Câmara Municipal de Lisboa, through the Lisboa Film Commission, approves every commercial shoot in public space, whatever the size of the crew or the equipment. News coverage without installations, private non-commercial photography and places the city does not manage are outside the rule. Private interiors need no city approval unless the production also parks on the street.
Prior notice (comunicação prévia), €199.90. The simplified route for small shoots, when all of these apply:
at most 7 days, between 08:00 and 20:00;
at most 10 people;
only camera, tripod, reflector and sound equipment, within 10 m²;
no noise licence, parking reservation or reserved public space.
It cannot be used in the city's structural green spaces or in the historic squares: Campo das Cebolas, Rossio, Praça da Figueira, Praça do Comércio, Praça do Município, Restauradores, Saldanha, Praça Luís de Camões and Marquês de Pombal.
Full licence, €459.75 per request, plus the occupation of public space: €65.20 a day up to 10 m², €4.65 per m² a day from 10 to 100 m², €2.30 per m² a day above 100 m². A noise licence adds €200.10.
How and when. Send the "Filmagens / Sessões Fotográficas" form to the Balcão Iniciativa Lisboa or [email protected] at least 3 working days ahead, not counting the day you submit it. Parking for more than five cars needs 10 working days; municipal venues need a project dossier 15 working days ahead. You need liability insurance from an insurer authorised in Portugal (a foreign policy needs a certified Portuguese translation) and, for a full licence, a notice to residents. A shoot rained off before the space was occupied can be moved to another day at no charge.
The Lisboa Film Commission answers questions at [email protected].
Cascais
A commercial shoot occupying the council's public space needs authorisation from the Câmara Municipal de Cascais: the form, digitally signed as a PDF/A, goes to [email protected] at least 5 working days ahead, or 10 working days if police support is needed. No small-crew exemption is published.
On beaches and the seafront you also need the Capitania do Porto de Cascais; inside the Sintra-Cascais Natural Park, the ICNF. The council's published fees (2023 table; confirm the current figures with the council) start at €56.80 an hour or €562.20 a day in public space and gardens. Beaches are charged separately: €94.90 to assess the request, then €199.80 a day for up to five hours and €70.20 for each extra hour, per beach, before the maritime authority's own fees.
Sintra: the town, the parks and Regaleira
Sintra has three separate gatekeepers, and a shoot that moves around the hills can need all of them.
The town. The Câmara Municipal de Sintra handles filming through its general request to occupy public space ([email protected]). Its fee table, still in force, charges commercial filming and photography by the hour per location: €56.00 without occupying public space, €61.70 or €72.90 with it. Its public-space regulation asks for at least 22 working days' notice.
Parques de Sintra. Pena, Monserrate, the Moorish Castle, the Capuchos Convent, the National Palaces of Sintra and Queluz and the Cabo da Roca lighthouse are managed by Parques de Sintra. Any commercial or professional photography needs prior authorisation. The web page asks for 15 working days' notice; the regulation says no less than 15 days, so allow the longer of the two. Fees are per hour per location. For commercial and advertising work they range from €750 in the forest areas to €3,000 at Pena and the two National Palaces; artistic productions pay less. Payment is due at least two days before the shoot, liability insurance is required, and published images must credit the site and Parques de Sintra. Drones are not allowed for visitors or wedding sessions. Wedding sessions for up to six people are a separate, simpler case at €150. More in Photo Shoots in Sintra.
Quinta da Regaleira. Managed by the Fundação Cultursintra, not by Parques de Sintra. Requests go to [email protected], 5 full working days ahead for photography and 10 for video. Since January 2025, fees start at €3,500 for two hours.
Monuments and museums
Since January 2024 the national monuments, museums and palaces, such as the Jerónimos Monastery, the Belém Tower and the National Museum of Ancient Art, are run by Museus e Monumentos de Portugal. Write to [email protected] or to the monument, with a synopsis, the equipment, the dates, where the images will be used, the team and a safety plan, at least 15 days ahead. Commercial shoots need insurance and payment in advance. The 2014 fee table is still referenced, but the final amount is set case by case.
Other landmarks have their own owners: the Padrão dos Descobrimentos (EGEAC), the riverfront docks (the Port of Lisbon, APL), the bridges (Lusoponte) and the MAAT museum.
Beaches and the coast
Bathing beaches are managed by the municipality, which authorises shoots on them.
The rest of the coast and the water's edge falls under the Capitania (the maritime authority), requested through Capitania Online+. The Lisbon and Cascais captaincies require the Port Captain's licence for professional shoots; Lisbon asks for at least 3 working days, and late requests pay an urgency fee.
Which captaincy: Lisbon covers São Julião da Barra to Costa da Caparica and the Tejo; Cascais covers the coast from São Julião up to the Sizandro river, including Ericeira.
Elsewhere: Mafra (Ericeira's beaches) asks for 15 working days; Almada (Costa da Caparica) for 10 days; Setúbal's beaches for 15 working days.
The riverfront, protected areas and private places
Port of Lisbon (APL): docks and riverfront it manages need at least 5 working days' notice; €52.15 to assess the request, then €482.58 a day for up to five hours, plus VAT.
Protected areas (ICNF): commercial photography in a natural park or reserve (Sintra-Cascais, Arrábida, the Sado estuary, the Costa da Caparica fossil cliff) is requested on the ICNF's "Filmagem e Fotografia Comercial" form. Allow 30 to 45 working days; €86.40 a day plus VAT applies when state property is used.
Private venues such as LX Factory and MAAT set their own conditions: ask them directly.
Drones
EU rules: in the Open category a drone under 25 kg flies within sight and below 120 m; anything beyond that is the Specific category, with a declaration or an ANAC authorisation.
Register as an operator with ANAC (uas.anac.pt), or in your home EU country, for any drone of 250 g or more, or any drone with a camera. Pilots need the matching ANAC competency.
Authorisation for aerial images. The Autoridade Aeronáutica Nacional must authorise any aerial image capture, whatever the drone's weight. It is free, requested only through e-AAN, and a decision is guaranteed only for requests made 10 days ahead.
Lisbon's airspace includes the airport's prohibited and height-limited zones and no-fly areas over government, military and police sites. Check ANAC's zones map at dnt.anac.pt before planning a shot.
Beaches and parks: flying from beaches or coastal waters may need the maritime authority's authorisation through the local Capitania; Parques de Sintra does not allow drones for visitors or weddings. More in Drone Rules for Photo & Video Shoots in Portugal.
People: image rights, releases and children
Portuguese law protects a person's image: a portrait cannot be shown, reproduced or sold without consent, except in narrow cases such as public figures or people who are simply part of a public scene, and never where it harms their reputation. Consent can be withdrawn. Photographing someone against their will can be a crime. Personal data falls under the GDPR and Lei 58/2019.
In practice: a written release from everyone recognisable, stating where and how long the images will be used. Children taking part in a production need an authorisation from the local child protection commission (CPCJ), or, for some short jobs, a notification at least 5 working days ahead; the commission has 20 days to decide on an authorisation, so start about four weeks ahead. More in Image Rights & Model Releases in Portugal. Young people aged 16 to 18 are exempt.
How we handle it
When we produce a shoot, what each location needs is part of the plan from the first scout, so the permissions, the timing and the budget are known before anyone books a flight.
Sources
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