Linking from Lisbon: How to handle phone numbers in Portugal

If your company trades with Portugal and you want your business to look local by advertising a Lisbon phone number (or any other Portuguese city code), there’s an important regulatory change you need to be aware of. 

Recent changes in Portuguese telecoms legislation mean you can no longer legitimately purchase a local geographic phone number in Portugal and forward the inbound calls to a destination outside of Portugal. 

In practice, this means: 
- If you want a Lisbon local number to ring through to your office in London, New York, or anywhere else abroad – you can’t do this legally anymore. 
- Some providers may still offer to set up this type of routing, but if the in-country regulator discovers that your local Portuguese number is permanently forwarded overseas, the number is at risk of being terminated without notice. 

Simply put: it’s not worth the risk to your brand or your customer communication. 

What are your options for phone numbers in Portugal? 

Your compliant option today, if you want a national presence in Portugal without a physical office, is to use a Portugal toll-free number rather than a local city number. 

A Portugal toll-free number: 
- Gives your customers a free-to-call, professional contact point. 
- Can be legally routed to your existing support or sales teams in another country. 
- Still helps your business appear committed to the Portuguese market, without breaching local numbering rules.

If you’d like to explore this route, you can visit our Portugal toll-free numbers page for more information. 

Already using a local Portuguese number? 

If you already have a local number in Portugal that currently forwards outside of the country and you’re concerned about how this regulatory amendment might affect you, we strongly recommend reviewing your setup. 

Feel free to contact us to discuss your options and move to a compliant solution before it becomes a problem. 

As the Portuguese saying goes, “É melhor prevenir do que remediar.” It’s better to prevent than to fix.