In Portugal, the legal response to illegal property occupations was reinforced by Law No. 67/2025, of November 24, which amended the Penal Code and the Code of Criminal Procedure. Article 215 of the Penal Code punishes anyone who invades or occupies someone else's property with the intent to exercise property, possession, use or easement rights without legal, judicial or administrative protection, with up to two years imprisonment or a fine. Penalties increase to three years when there is violence, serious threat or when the property is intended for one's own permanent residence, and can reach four years if the offender acts professionally or with profit-making intent.
One of the main changes allows the judge, under Article 200, No. 8, of the Code of Criminal Procedure, to order the immediate restitution of the property to the owner during the proceedings, provided there are strong indications of the crime and the complainant's ownership. This measure is not automatic and depends on judicial assessment. Criminal proceedings for usurpation depend on a complaint, which can be filed at any police department (PSP or GNR) or at the Public Prosecutor's Office, within a general period of six months after knowledge of the facts.
The owner may also resort to the vindication action provided for in Article 1311 of the Civil Code or to possession defense mechanisms, including provisional restitution in cases of violent dispossession. Direct action by the owner is exceptional and is limited by Article 336 of the Civil Code, requiring that it is not possible to resort in a timely manner to normal means and that it does not exceed what is necessary. Threats, aggression or initiatives outside these limits may hold the owner themselves liable.
Usucapion does not result automatically from prolonged occupation: it requires possession maintained during the legal time limits and under the conditions provided for in Articles 1251 and 1287 of the Civil Code, which
