Portugal permits entry to American tourists

Despite the Council of the European Union’s recommendations, American tourists are still allowed to enter Portugal for non-essential purposes such as tourism.

After estimating that the US has lately recorded a large number of COVID-19 infections, the EU Council asked its 27 Member States to apply stricter entry conditions for travelers from the US, including the suspension of non-essential travel.

At the same time, the EU has removed Kosovo, Israel, North Macedonia, Montenegro, and Lebanon from its safe third countries list, as the COVID-19 situation in these countries has deteriorated in the last two weeks.

However, according to SchengenVisaInfo.com, Portugal will disregard such advice and will allow US travelers to enter its territory, including for tourism, if they present a negative Coronavirus test result taken 48 hours before departure.

“Portugal has confirmed that discretionary, non-essential travel is still allowed, provided visitors present a negative COVID-19 test result at boarding and entry into the country,” according to a statement published by Portugal’s tourism authority, Visit Portugal.

According to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, over 83.2 percent of the population in Portugal has been fully vaccinated up to this point, while on the other hand 95 percent of the adult population received at least one injection.

Before the outbreak of COVID-19, Portugal welcomed one million visitors from the United States in 2019, highlighting that the United States had a major impact on the industry of Portugal’s tourism.