Portugal’s parliament approves far-right party’s bill to ban face veils

The far-right Chega party proposed a bill that would prohibit the use of face veils for “gender or religious purposes” in most public spaces. It also targets Muslim women’s burqas and niqabs.

The proposed fines for wearing face veils in public would range from 200 to 4 000 euros ($234 to $4, 670), as per the proposed legislation, which was approved by parliament on Friday. A person who is forced to wear one would face prison sentences of up to three years.

Face veils could still be worn on diplomatic aircraft, in diplomatic buildings, and in places of worship.

The parliamentary committee on Constitutional Affairs, Rights, Freedoms, and Guarantees, a body charged with reviewing constitutional legislation, is scheduled to hear the bill right away, according to local media reports.

Portugal would join other European nations like France, Austria, Belgium, and the Netherlands, which are already subject to full or partial bans, if passed into law.

The bill could still be vetoed by President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa or sent for review to the Constitutional Court.

Chega leader Andre Ventura was confronted by several left-wing lawmakers who opposed the bill during the parliamentary session on Friday, but it was supported by the centre-right coalition.

“We are today preventing female members of parliament, your daughters, our daughters from being required to wear burqas in this country one day,” Ventura said.

He wrote, “Today is a historic day for our democracy, the protection of our values, our identity, and women’s rights,” in a post on X.

Before the vote, Social Democratic Party lawmaker Andreia Neto stated: “This is a debate about gender equality.” No woman should be made to cover her face.

According to local media reports, two of the ten parliamentarian parties, including the People’s Animals-Nature party and the Together for the People party, disqualified from the vote.

The parties claim that the proposal promoted discrimination.

In Portugal, these veils are uncommon, and only a small minority of Muslim women in Europe cover their faces.