Portugal bans burqas in public spaces

[Creyk 18,776]

Portugal's President António Jose Seguro has enacted a law banning face coverings in public spaces.

"The face must be considered a central element of human identity and communication," Seguro said in a statement late Tuesday.
The legislation, dubbed the "burqa law" by local media, was approved by parliament in July with the support of the governing right-wing coalition and far-right parties. Left-wing parties voted against it.
The law prohibits clothing designed to conceal the face or prevent identification in public spaces. It also bans forcing someone to cover their face for reasons related to gender, religion, age or origin.

https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2026/08/20/portugal-enacts-burqa-law-banning-face-coverings-in-public-space

[Ladle Ghoulash 55,270]

Both ridiculous re: religious liberty and also from a public health standpoint. A sick person can’t wear a mask in public? Like what are we doing here 

[electricmisfit 82]

I do kind of agree with this "The face must be considered a central element of human identity and communication," but I'm afraid this will just fuel Islamophobia and is just a (pardon the pun) veil for a more hateful right-wing agenda.

[Bradley 60,364]

I have met lovely lovely people who show up in a burqa everyday. Most of them don't even wear it out of hostility, so I feel that the need to police their religious attire does more harm than good. I'm afraid it's more likely to have come from a place of intolerance rather than an interest in public security.

Edited August 24 by Bradley

[Red 99,386]

The classic Islamophobia disguised as security concerns as usual 

[Zedd 6,517]

To be honest - their country, their rules - others should comply, not to sound Islamophobic. If they can't or don't want to comply, that's their problem.

Coming to another country - follow the rules

Edited August 24 by Zedd

[msr 94]

8 minutes ago, Zedd said:

To be honest - their country, their rules - others should comply, not to sound Islamophobic. If they can't or don't want to comply, that's their problem.

Coming to another country - follow the rules

lol

[Roughhouse Dandy 13,816]

F*** Portugal then. Y'all suck at football (SOCCER) anyway

Edited August 24 by Roughhouse Dandy

[Main Pop Girl 57]

24 minutes ago, Zedd said:

To be honest - their country, their rules - others should comply, not to sound Islamophobic. If they can't or don't want to comply, that's their problem.

Coming to another country - follow the rules

Because no Muslims have ever been born in Portugal? You sound like a leotard

[Ladle Ghoulash 55,270]

26 minutes ago, Zedd said:

Coming to another country - follow the rules

Making the assumption that there are no Portuguese citizens who are Muslim is wild lol

Edited August 24 by Ladle Ghoulash

[Future Lovers 7,768]

28 minutes ago, Zedd said:

To be honest - their country, their rules - others should comply, not to sound Islamophobic. If they can't or don't want to comply, that's their problem.

Coming to another country - follow the rules

What a loser

[Ladle Ghoulash 55,270]

Not really surprised to see @Creyk agreeing with someone espousing ethnonationalism tbh. Among their myriad bad takes, apparently religious bigotry is another of them (and I say this as someone who doesn’t even like religion, I just believe in civil liberty). Same person who also claimed that Trump won in 2024 because of online wokeness or some bullsh*t lmao

[Blue wig 356]

Oh, Switzerland also banned the burqa, and it was really embarrassing because a) it was a national votation so apparently a majority of people approved of this (they banned minarets during a previous votation, ughhhh), and b) not long after Covid hit, so we ALL had to cover our faces  

Edited August 24 by Blue wig
Little detail + spelling

[Delulu Rogers 7,676]

So does this mean people can’t wear health masks too? 

[Ladle Ghoulash 55,270]

2 minutes ago, Delulu Rogers said:

So does this mean people can’t wear health masks too? 

Based on the description in the OP, it certainly seems possible. They describe the ban as being on articles designed to “conceal the face” or “prevent identification” and, while those are not the purposes of medical masks, municipalities have banned them for that reason.