Taking old azulejos out of Portugal: what the law says
This is a plain-language reading of the texts below, not legal advice. Laws change; we have not checked whether Decreto-Lei 148/2015 has been amended since 2015. Ask the heritage authority before you buy or ship anything old.
Why tiles are covered
The Lei de Bases do Património Cultural (Lei 107/2001, art. 55) counts as movable cultural heritage goods that have cultural interest (as defined in its art. 14) and that, among other cases, were created or produced in Portugal, come from the dismembering of buildings situated there, or have been in Portuguese territory for more than 50 years. So it is not every new tile: the law is aimed at goods of cultural interest. An old tile taken off a wall can fall under more than one of these cases.
The steps, in order
- Notify first. Temporary or permanent export, even of goods that are not listed or inventoried, must be preceded by a notice to the heritage authority at least 30 days ahead, on its official form, with proof of ownership (or a declaration from the owner if proof is impossible).
- The authority then has 15 days to assess the cultural value. It can provisionally block the departure. For export outside the EU it must issue the export licence within that same period, on the EU standard form (the licence Regulation 116/2009 requires), and a fee applies.
- If the item is inventoried, it needs an authorisation instead, which the authority decides within 60 days. Items classified as of national interest cannot leave permanently.
- The EU regulation (116/2009) only covers the categories of goods listed in its Annex I. One of them is elements forming an integral part of dismembered artistic, historical or religious monuments over 100 years old, for which a licence is needed whatever the value. Tiles taken from an old building can fall here.
What is exempt
- Goods under 50 years old are exempt from the notice, with listed exceptions for certain collections. A new tile from a working factory is not an old cultural good, but keep the invoice.
- Works exported by their own author are also exempt.
Taking tiles off a building
Lei 79/2017 added the removal of façade tiles to the operations that need municipal control, and makes it grounds to refuse a licence unless the council authorises it in justified cases (for example, tiles of little or no heritage value). Do not buy tiles that were pulled off a façade without paperwork. The police museum’s SOS Azulejo project exists to fight the theft and vandalism of tile heritage.
The articles we relied on
“A exportação e a expedição temporárias ou definitivas de bens que integrem o património cultural, ainda que não inscritos no registo patrimonial de classificação ou inventariação, devem ser precedidas de comunicação à administração do património cultural competente com a antecedência de 30 dias.”
“No prazo de 15 dias a contar da comunicação prévia […] a administração patrimonial competente procede à apreciação do valor cultural dos bens, podendo […] vedar liminarmente a sua exportação ou expedição, a título de medida provisória.”
“Elements forming an integral part of artistic, historical or religious monuments which have been dismembered, of an age exceeding 100 years.”
The decree names the Direção-Geral do Património Cultural as the authority. We believe it has since been replaced by Património Cultural, I.P., but could not confirm that from its website. Check which body to notify.
Not confirmed: Lei 79/2017 is quoted from a secondary transcription, and EU thresholds from the as-adopted text: check EUR-Lex for later changes.
Sources
- Lei 107/2001 (consolidated, PGDL)
- Decreto-Lei 148/2015 (copy of the Diário da República text)
- Council Regulation (EC) 116/2009, as adopted (EUR-Lex reference: eli/reg/2009/116/oj)
- Lei 79/2017 (secondary transcription; official page would not load)
- SOS Azulejo, as described by Infraestruturas de Portugal