Yes, it is illegal to leave a child alone in Portugal. Be it your house, park, playground, or mall, you are not allowed to leave a child alone in Portugal.
If you have to go somewhere where you cannot bring your child with you, you have to leave them with someone who would take care of them. Like your friends, relatives, or a professional nanny.
If you leave your child alone at home in Portugal, you would be arrested and you may have to pay a heavy fine.
There have been some cases of child abandonment in Portugal and the parents were arrested for doing so.
In August 2019, parents were arrested leaving a 3-year-old girl home alone for 14 hours.
The girl was found crying on the balcony, resulting in PSP detaining the parents, a couple in their late twenties, for child neglect or possible abandonment, after leaving their 3-year-old daughter alone for 14 hours in a dwelling in the parish of Estrela, in Lisbon.
Also in May 2021, a single mother was arrested for leaving her 4-year-old boy alone in the park.
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