Portugal imposes controls on everyone who enters from Spain until August 7 for the visit of the Pope

Starting this Saturday, Portugal will impose controls on the border with Spain due to the visit of Pope Francis, a measure decreed on the occasion of World Youth Day (WYD) in Lisbon, which will be limited to the “strictly necessary minimum”, and will be in force until August 7.

Travelers who cross through one of the 21 border crossings with the neighboring country will have to show an identity document to enter between midnight this Saturday and until August 7. The Spanish consulate in Lisbon has recommended that minors also go with a valid ID or passport.

Some of the border crossings are located in Valença-Viana do Castelo, Vila Verde da Raia-Chaves, Quintanilha-Braganza, Vilar Formoso-Guarda, Marvão-Portalegre, Caia-Elvas, Vila Verde de Ficalho-Beja, Castro Marim and Monção.

Likewise, you can cross through Barrancos, Rio de Onor, Melgaço, Montalegre, Tourém, Vinhais, Ponte da Barca, Vila Nova de Cerveira, Pomarão, Termas de Monfortinho-Castelo Branco, Miranda do Douro and Mourão.

The Internal Security System of Portugal has assured in a statement that “it will not close the borders”, but that the controls will be “selective and directed, based on information and risk analysis”.. The Foreigners and Borders Service, together with other State security forces and services, will be in charge of implementing the measure.

The control will be carried out according to the “principle of proportionality” and will be limited to the “strictly necessary minimum to respond to possible threats to public order and internal security”, says the resolution of the Council of Ministers.

The Portuguese government has justified the measure by the “dimension, characteristics and complexity of the event”, its “media visibility”, the “enormous flow of people expected” and the “current context of threat”.

For this reason, it considers it necessary to prevent “the entry into national territory of citizens or groups whose behavior may be likely to compromise the security of national and foreign citizens who participate in the event.”

It is not the first time that Portugal has taken a measure of this level, as it carried out a similar practice during the visit of Pope Francis in 2017, on the occasion of the centenary of the apparitions of the Virgin in Fatima, according to Catholic tradition.

World Youth Day will be held in Lisbon and neighboring municipalities between August 1 and 6 with a forecast of one million participants, but Pope Francis will arrive in Portuguese territory on Wednesday the 2nd, where he will stay until August 6 and will also visit Fátima.