Twelve people have died and 453 drivers have been arrested for drink-driving offences during the first eight days of Portugal’s Christmas and New Year road safety operations, the PSP and GNR said on Friday, December 26.
In a statement, the Public Security Police (PSP) said officers arrested 258 people for road traffic offences, including 174 for drink-driving and 84 for driving without a licence. A further 35 people were arrested for property crimes, such as theft and robbery, and 36 suspects for drug trafficking, with 45,413 individual doses seized.
Within the PSP’s area of responsibility, 1,329 road accidents were recorded, resulting in three deaths and 408 injuries, including 20 serious and 388 minor injuries.
Between December 18 and 25, as part of the “Safe Holidays 2025–2026 – Christmas Phase” operation, the PSP checked 10,087 drivers and monitored 35,387 vehicles using speed radar. Officers detected 2,808 traffic offences, including 367 cases of speeding.
The PSP also identified 270 offences related to overdue vehicle inspections, 127 cases of missing compulsory motor insurance, 73 drink-driving offences, 45 instances of mobile phone use while driving, and 26 violations involving the failure to use seat belts or child restraint systems.
During the same period, police seized 19 firearms, 55 bladed or dangerous weapons, 435 rounds of ammunition and 37 other prohibited weapons. A total of 6,676 pyrotechnic items were also confiscated.
At airport border control points, the PSP arrested 15 people for illegal stays in the country, checked 309,698 foreign citizens and issued 17 referrals and 21 administrative offence reports under immigration law. Officers also intercepted 522 people, refusing entry into Portugal to 16 and notifying three to leave voluntarily.
Meanwhile, the National Republican Guard (GNR) recorded 1,844 accidents during the first eight days of its Christmas and New Year operation, resulting in nine deaths, 41 serious injuries and 455 minor injuries.
Between December 18 and 25, the GNR checked 60,846 drivers, of whom 485 were found to be driving under the influence of alcohol. Of these, 279 were arrested for having a blood alcohol level of 1.2 grams per litre or higher, which constitutes a criminal offence. A further 89 people were arrested for driving without a licence.
Out of 9,220 traffic offences detected by the GNR, the most common were speeding (1,397 cases), drink-driving (206), failure to use seat belts or child seats (214), mobile phone use while driving (249), overdue vehicle inspections (1,186) and lack of compulsory motor insurance (365).
Source: Lusa
