Tuesday, October 28th saw Portugal’s minority government secure an accord—with parliamentary populists—to propose a new law toughening the rules on foreigners obtaining Portuguese nationality, officials said.
A first vote on the law was to be held in the parliament later that day following the accord with the national conservative, right-wing Chega party. The new law would notably extend the time required to acquire Portuguese nationality, said Hugo Soares, head of the governing coalition in parliament.
Both sides made “concessions” during months of talks, according to Chega leader André Ventura:
Portugal today joins the group of European countries where it will be more difficult to obtain nationality.
Chega became the main opposition party in parliament following elections in May last year, after which centre-right leader Luís Montenegro returned as prime minister but without a governing majority.
Chega has campaigned against immigration, seizing on figures that said at the end of 2024 there were more than 1.5 million foreigners in Portugal, nearly four times more than in 2017 and making up about 15% of the population.
