Number of foreigners using roaming in Portugal rises 67.4%

“NOS data records users from at least 144 different nationalities,” the figures show, taking into account customer movements and, for international visitors, users from foreign carriers roaming on its network.

By TPN/Lusa, in News · 28 Sep 2026, 11:33 · 0 Comments

Credits: Unsplash; Author: Paul Hanaoka;

According to the operator, “the data confirm the significant importance of European markets for international tourism in Portugal,” with France accounting for nearly a third (30%) of all foreign users.

Spain ranked second (16%), followed by the United Kingdom (8%).

“A significant presence of people from the United States (7%) is also observed, especially in major urban centres,” NOS notes.

The data indicate that the highest concentration of international tourists and expatriates is in Lisbon, which accounted for about 20% of all foreign users during August, followed by Faro (15.6%), Porto (13.9%), Braga (6.2%), and Setúbal and Viana do Castelo (both at 5%).

“The lowest concentration of international visitors is found in the Alentejo region; Portalegre accounts for just 0.8% of all foreign users, Évora for 0.9%, and Beja for 1.1%,” the NOS analysis states.

“The data show that destinations with the highest total volume of users from foreign carriers are not necessarily the most internationalised”; when looking at the percentage of international users within each region, “internationalisation is most pronounced in the autonomous regions during the summer.”

In August, in the Azores, “international tourists and emigrants accounted for 67% of the region’s total, while in Madeira the figure was 66%. In mainland Portugal, the districts with the highest percentage of international visitors were Viana do Castelo (61%), Faro (59%), and Vila Real (50%).”

In terms of vacation length, stays generally ranged from three to five days.

“However, a significant number of tourists with longer stays drove up the average vacation duration, reaching between 6 and 10 days in many inland destinations, the Alentejo region, and the Autonomous Regions,” according to the analysis.

The districts “where vacationers stayed the longest, on average, were Portalegre (7.2 days), followed by Viseu, Coimbra, and Aveiro (6.7 days).”

The municipalities with the longest average stays “were Pedrógão Grande (10.1 days), Avis (9.8 days), Monforte (9.3 days), and Tondela (9.2 days), demonstrating an enhanced ability to retain visitors for extended periods.”

Conversely, “major urban centres and destinations with high tourist turnover saw shorter stays, specifically in the districts of Setúbal (5.3 days), Porto (5.4 days), and Lisbon (5.7 days). Regarding specific municipalities, those with notably short stays included Porto (3.6 days), Loulé (3.6 days), Funchal (3.9 days), Cascais (4.0 days), and Sintra (4.1 days).