Towing Trailers In Portugal
Trailers in Portugal
It’s all to do with weight and the driving license you hold.
The weight of your car, the weight that it can tow and ultimately the weight of your trailer when loaded.
If you have a category B driving license, as most of you will if you have upgraded to a Portuguese license, you can drive motor vehicles with a maximum authorised mass not exceeding 3500 kg.
Then add a maximum number of up to 9 passengers, including the driver and a trailer with a maximum mass of up to 750 kg or higher may be towed, provided that the combination of the two vehicles, vehicle + trailer + load does not exceed 3500 kg.
If the total weight of the combined vehicles exceeds 3500 kg but not 4250 kg, the B+E category is required.
If your license was issued before 01 01 1997 it is likely that you will have B, B1 and B+E on your license (As Above). If your licence was issued after the 01 01 1997 it is usually only B. To have the B+E category you will need a Portuguese test. Any good test centre should be able to organise this for you.
You may not tow any non-Portuguese vehicle that is for the purpose of commercial use in Portugal. By that, we mean a vehicle such as a food booth, ice cream stall etc, that you want to trade from. You can tow such trailers though as long as you are not going to trade from them.
Permanent Portuguese residents with a Portuguese driving License may not drive or tow and any vehicle that does not have Portuguese plates.
If the trailer has up to 300 kg of gross weight, it does not need to have its own registration plate; however, if the trailer covers the registration plate of the car that is towing it, it must have the registration plate of the car at the back of the trailer.
If you have more than 300 kg of gross weight, it will be necessary for the trailer to be registered in order to obtain its own registration plate and registration certificate as well as its own insurance. You must make an addition to your insurance to include the trailer. The trailer must have its own lighting at the front if they are wider than the vehicle that is towing it and at the rear.
Lighting Board Requirements
White light on the license plate; two red lights of presence; two red or orange stop lamps, unless the lights on the vehicle towing are clearly visible, indicators, rear fog lamps.
For trailers registered after 27 May 1990.
Two triangular red reflectors, non-triangular amber side reflectors Trailers registered after 30 September 1994, must also have a reverse light on the trailer and you must use a 13-pin plug.
Check the weight of the car, the towable weight and the weight of the trailer when fully loaded, you will need to register your trailer when driving through some EU countries as a tourist.
Registering Trailers
It is illegal to tow any other vehicle in Portugal by a Portuguese resident using a Portuguese vehicle by any means with its wheels on the road. You can, however, tow another vehicle providing it is on a trailer and none of its wheels are on the road. This includes all vehicle types including motorbikes.
You may tow boats and any other vehicle as long as it’s on a trailer and that trailer meets all of the above requirements
Do not forget that when driving with a trailer in Portugal you should be aware of the different speed limits you need to adhere to.
50 km /h within the localities
70 km /h on other public roads
100 km /h on the motorway
Please note: These statistics were factual at the time of writing and may be subject to legislative change. This is a guide only based on research. Please always check with the correct authorities.