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Getting Your Car Back After It Is Towed in Portugal

How to find a towed or clamped car in Portugal, what you pay to get it back, what to bring, and how long you have before it is treated as abandoned.

Getting Your Car Back After It Is Towed in Portugal

Last verified: September 2026.

Who this is for

  • You parked in Portugal and came back to find your car gone, or a clamp on its wheel.
  • You own a car here and received a letter saying it was removed to a depot.
  • You lent your car to someone, and it was towed while they were driving it.

Not for you if: you want to get rid of an old car for good. Read "Scrapping a Car in Portugal".

If your car has disappeared, check first whether it was towed. In Lisbon and Porto, send a text message to 3838.

You get the car back at the depot once you show its papers and pay the fees there. For a car in 2026, that means €111 for a tow inside a town plus €32 for each day or part of a day in the depot. The fine for the parking offence is a separate matter. If nobody claims the car within 45 days of the notice, the law treats it as abandoned.

When the police or the council can tow or clamp your car

The law lets the authorities remove a car that is:

  • parked wrongly or for too long (for example, more than two hours past the time you paid for in a paid zone);
  • parked or stopped on a motorway hard shoulder;
  • parked so that it is an obvious danger or blocks traffic badly;
  • parked where safety, public order, or an emergency makes removal necessary.

The rule lists what counts as an obvious danger. It includes a bus lane, a bus stop, a marked pedestrian or cycle crossing, the pavement, double parking, a garage entrance, a disabled bay, and a loading bay.

In the first three cases, the car can also be clamped (bloqueado) until the tow truck comes. Only the authorities may take the clamp off. If you remove it yourself, the fine is €300 to €1,500.

The police (PSP and GNR) can do this on any public road. So can the council, through its municipal police and its parking staff.

How to find out where your car is

  1. Look for a notice. A clamped car usually has a notice on it saying how to get it released. In Porto, if there is no notice, call the municipal police on 226 198 260.
  2. In Lisbon or Porto, send a text. Text 3838. In Porto, write REBOQUE, a space, and the number plate (for example REBOQUE XX-XX-00). You get a reply with the depot's address.
  3. If the reply says it was not towed, go to the nearest PSP police station. Your car may have been stolen.
  4. Elsewhere, call the local police or the council. The law says the owner must receive a letter at the address on the car's registration, saying where the car is.

Where the depots are

Lisbon: the towed car park of the Lisbon municipal police, Azinhaga de Santa Susana, 1750-253 Lisboa. It is open every day from 07:30 to 22:00. Phone +351 911 011 799. To check whether your car was towed, text 3838 or call +351 217 225 200.

Porto: two depots.

  • Parque do Silo Auto, Rua Guedes de Azevedo 180, 4th floor. Open 08:00 to 20:00. Phone 932 224 075.
  • Parque do Campo Alegre, Rua do Campo Alegre, opposite number 452. Open 08:00 to 18:00. Phone 932 225 198.

Elsewhere: the law says depots must open every day from 09:00 to 18:00 at least.

What to bring

Porto's council lists what to show when you collect a car:

  • the vehicle registration document (documento único automóvel or certificado de matrícula), or the registration of ownership;
  • your citizen card, residence card, or another identity document;
  • your driving licence.

The owner, the driver, or someone holding the owner's power of attorney (procuração) may collect the car. Lisbon's parking rules say a car is handed over only to someone carrying the registration certificate, or who can show a right to collect it.

Keep the registration document with you, not in the car. If it is inside, ask the depot how to get it before you pay.

What it costs

You pay the fees when the car is handed back. The rates rise each year on 1 March with inflation. These are the rates from 1 March 2026:

What happenedMoped or motorbikeCar or light vanHeavy vehicle
Clamp only€51€87€168
Tow inside a town€51€111€210
Tow from outside a town, up to 10 km€69€128€248
Depot, each 24 hours or part of it€22€32€51

Some rules on how the fees add up:

  • If the car was clamped and then towed, you pay the tow and the depot fees only, not the clamp.
  • If you arrive while it is clamped and before the truck comes, you pay the clamp fee only. If the truck has already arrived, you pay the tow fee, even if it has not started.
  • The registered owner is responsible for the costs. If someone else was driving, the owner can claim the money back from them.
  • Porto lets you ask to pay in instalments, but you get the car only after the last payment.

A day in the depot costs €32 for a car, so collect it quickly. In Porto, a car not claimed within three working days goes to the council's abandoned vehicles unit and moves to a depot in Sobrado, Valongo.

The parking fine is separate

When you collect the car, you are usually given the notice of the offence (auto de contraordenação). You can pay the fine there, in Porto for example. You then have 15 working days from the notice to:

  • pay the minimum fine; or
  • send a written defence, in Portuguese, with up to three witnesses.

If you do not pay in time, you also pay the costs of the case, at least €52.50. For fines handled by the road safety authority (ANSR), the defence form is F305 on its website. Fines for wrong or overlong parking on council roads are handled by the council.

If you are not convicted, the law says the towing fees are paid back.

If you do not collect it

After a car is removed, the owner is sent a letter giving 45 days to collect it. If the car is in such poor condition that selling it might not cover the costs, the deadline is 30 days. The days count from when you receive the letter, or from when a notice is posted.

If nobody claims the car by then, it is considered abandoned. It then becomes the property of the state or the council. If you tell the authorities you do not want the car, it is treated as abandoned at once.

If the car has a loan registered against it, the lender is also told about the removal.

If the car was damaged or the tow was wrong

  • Damage: Lisbon says the city is liable only for damage done on purpose or through negligence. Porto has an online form for damage claims. Take photos before you drive away.
  • Wrongful tow: contest the fine within the 15 working days. A defence in Porto does not stop the depot fees from growing, so collect the car first and argue afterwards.

This guide is general information, not legal advice.

Sources

This guide is written from official Portuguese and EU sources and, for prices and contact details, the providers' own websites.

Last verified September 2026. Rules and fees change; check the official source before acting.

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