Drone no-fly zones in Portugal
Portugal publishes 358 official drone (UAS) geographical zones, maintained by ANAC - Autoridade Nacional da Aviação Civil. Check any location before you fly, see the altitude limits and the responsible authority, and download the zones for your drone controller.
Portugal drone zones by restriction type
Every zone is classified using the EASA ED-269 restriction vocabulary. Here is what Portugal currently publishes:
| Restriction | Zones | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Prohibited | 74 | Drone flight is not permitted. |
| Requires authorisation | 207 | You must obtain authorisation from the responsible authority before flying. |
| Conditional | 23 | Flight is allowed only under stated conditions (for example an altitude cap). |
| No restriction | 54 | No additional restriction beyond the general rules - usually informational. |
Can I fly a drone in Portugal's cities?
Zone counts, altitude limits and the authority to ask, for the 6 largest cities we can answer specifically:
Also checked: Braga, Coimbra, Setúbal, Aveiro – they have too few published zones nearby for a page of their own. The general Portugal rules above still apply, and every zone is on the map.
Where does this data come from?
Under Regulation (EU) 2019/947, Article 15, every EU and EEA state must publish its UAS geographical zones - the areas where drone flight is prohibited, restricted, or requires authorisation. canfly? ingests Portugal's official dataset directly, normalises it to the EASA ED-269 model, and refreshes it automatically.
- Published by
- ANAC - Autoridade Nacional da Aviação Civil
- Dataset
- ANAC - Portuguese UAS geographical zones (ED-269)
- Official source
- https://dnt.anac.pt/
- Data version
- 2026-04-22
- Last refreshed by canfly?
- 2026-08-14
- Legal basis
- Regulation (EU) 2019/947, Article 15
What still applies when you fly in Portugal
The EU-wide rules apply in Portugal as they do across the EU and EEA. The zones above are only half of what binds you:
- Register as an operator once, in your country of residence. The registration is valid across the EU and EEA.
- Open, Specific or Certified. Most recreational and light commercial flying is in the Open category, with its A1/A2/A3 subcategories and a 120 m height limit.
- Class marking and remote ID obligations follow the drone, not the country.
- The zones above are the official set - they are law in Portugal, and they change. Confirm anything critical against the authority named below.
Frequently asked questions
Where can I fly a drone in Portugal?
You can fly a drone in Portugal outside the official UAS geographical zones published by ANAC - Autoridade Nacional da Aviação Civil. canfly? currently tracks 358 such zones in Portugal, colour-coded by restriction, so you can check any location before you fly. Always confirm against the official source before a flight.
How many drone no-fly zones are there in Portugal?
Portugal currently has 358 published UAS geographical zones: 74 prohibited, 207 requires authorisation, 23 conditional, 54 no restriction. These are published by ANAC - Autoridade Nacional da Aviação Civil and refreshed automatically.
Who publishes the drone zones for Portugal?
ANAC - Autoridade Nacional da Aviação Civil publishes Portugal's UAS geographical zones under EU Regulation 2019/947, Article 15. canfly? ingests that official data and normalises it to the EASA ED-269 model.
Can I download Portugal's drone zones for my controller?
Yes. You can download Portugal's zones - or just the area you're flying - as KML, KMZ, GeoJSON, CSV, ED-269, or a QGroundControl .plan geofence, ready to load into apps like DJI Pilot, Autel, QGroundControl, Google Earth or Avenza Maps.
Drone zones in other countries
canfly? covers 16 of 31 EU and EEA states. See the full coverage and data-status matrix, or jump straight to another country: