Portugal’s parliament has passed legislation that bans the wearing of face veils in public for ‘gender or religious’ reasons, with violators potentially facing significant fines.

This initiative, introduced by the far-right Chega party, specifically targets garments such as the burqa, which covers a woman completely from head to toe, and the niqab, which is a full-face Islamic veil that leaves only the eyes visible, restricting their use in most public areas.

However, exceptions to this ban will apply in specific locations, including on airplanes, within diplomatic missions, and in places of worship.

Individuals found wearing face veils in public spaces could incur fines as high as 4,000 euros, approximately £3,475.

The bill now awaits the approval of President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, who holds the power to either veto the legislation or refer it to the Constitutional Court for further examination.

If signed into law, Portugal would join a number of European countries such as Austria, France, Belgium and the Netherlands who have full or partial bans on face and head coverings.

Not many women in Portugal wear such coverings, but the issue of Islamic veils has generated controversy similar to other European countries. 

Chega cited France and other EU countries’ rationales for banning face coverings commonly worn by Muslim women. 

Portugal’s parliament has approved a bill banning face veils worn for ‘ gender or religious’ reasons in public

The far-right Portuguese party received support for the bill from centre-right parties.

In its bill, Chega said that hiding the face subjects individuals — especially women — ‘to situations of exclusion and inferiority’ and was incompatible with principles such as ‘liberty, equality and human dignity.’

Lawmakers from left-leaning parties disagreed.

‘This initiative is used solely to target foreigners, those who have a different faith,’ said centre-left Socialist Party lawmaker Pedro Delgado Alves whose party voted against the bill.

He said that while no woman should be forced to wear a veil, the far-right party’s approach was wrong.

The bill comes in the same week that Sweden’s deputy prime minister called for a burqa ban ‘while we can’ as she hit out at the country’s ‘failed integration’. 

Ebba Busch, leader of the Christian Democrats, said the Scandinavian country should prohibit woman from wearing burqas and niqabs in public, claiming it is an ‘oppression’ that is not welcome.

The veils should be banned in public environments including streets and squares, shopping centres and healthcare facilities, she added.

Portugal’s proposed bill stipulates fines for those wearing face veils in public of up to 4,000 euros or £3,475. File photo: A woman wearing a niqab, a type of full veil as she walks down the street 

Local municipalities in Sweden have previously tried to impose restrictions on the burqa, including in schools, but there are currently no restrictions nationwide.

Ms Busch, who also serves as the country’s Minister for Energy and Minister for Business and Industry, said she believes the veils are incompatible with Swedish society and are an ‘expression of a strict interpretation of Islam practiced in totalitarian states such as Iran and Afghanistan’.

‘You should be able to meet for real if you are on the street, if you are shopping in the square, in the Ica store or taking the children to the health centre. Then I don’t want to meet someone who has covered their entire face, she told Swedish outlet Aftonbladet.

The proposal would be part of an effort to increase the ‘social cohesion’ in the country which has seen ‘failed integration’.

‘It is the type of very naive liberalism, or lax social policy, that has brought Sweden to the situation we are in today,’ the Ms Busch added.

She said almost 70,000 woman have suffered from female genital mutilation in the nordic nation and that while ‘you are very welcome to be a Muslim in Sweden… you have to adapt if you are already in the country’.

Sweden’s proposal comes after Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni called for a burka and niqab ban in public places in Italy with fines of £2,600 to stop ‘Islamic separatism’.

Earlier this month, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni called for a burka and niqab ban in public places in Italy 

The bill, presented to parliament by the Italian prime minister’s Brothers of Italy party earlier this month, would see those wearing the garment in shops, offices, schools and universities fined between £260 and £2,600.

It will also introduce criminal penalties for ‘cultural crimes’ including virginity testing and increase punishments for forced marriages to up to 10 years in prison, with religious coercion grounds for prosecution.

The bill will combat ‘religious radicalisation and religiously motivated hate’, the party claims.