Weathered façade tile

A tin glaze is thin and exposed. The V&A notes that the thin glaze layer on delftware tiles was vulnerable, which led to tiles being used more on walls than on floors. English Wikipedia adds that Jorge Colaço's methods broadened colours and visual effects, but some contemporaries raised concerns about their long-term durability. Tile is also lost to people. SOS Azulejo was created on 28 February 2007, led by the Museu da Polícia Judiciária, to fight what it called a serious, growing and alarming loss of tile heritage by theft, vandalism and neglect.

In October 2014 a protocol between Infraestruturas de Portugal and the Polícia Judiciária put information plaques at stations and halts, to deter theft, receiving and vandalism. Law 79/2017 of 18 August, in force the next day, requires licensing for operations that remove façade tiles, whether or not they face the street, and makes demolishing tiled façades or removing tiles grounds to refuse a licence unless the municipality authorises it in justified cases. In June 2024 the Lisbon group Fórum Cidadania Lx called the law short and innocuous, said illegal sales continue without inspection or sanctions, and said it forgets interior tiles.