The new law was published in the Government Gazette at the start of this week, on Monday, and comes into force 120 days after its publication.

This means that from 27 December this year, all establishments, public and private, must abide by the legislation or face penalisation.
It extends a ruling that until now was only applicable to public services.
Speaking to newspaper Público earlier this year, when the law was first announced, Ana Soria Antunes, State Secretary for the Inclusion of People with Disabilities, said “this legislation would be unnecessary if we could apply something simple, called common sense, in our day-to-day.
“It turns out that common sense is not cross-cutting and therefore it was necessary for us to define [the priority rule] with law.”
Hence, from the end of this year, pregnant women, the disabled, the elderly and parents carrying toddlers aged up to two will be legally entitled to queue-jump.
Restaurants, shops, offices, supermarkets, all establishments with customer services are compelled to uphold the ruling and no signage is required to inform other customers of the order.
In daily scenarios this means that a pregnant woman may pass ahead of other patrons waiting in line for a table at an eatery, while wheelchair-bound citizens should be given priority when buying a newspaper in a paper shop.
“In practical terms, what changes is that an obligation which already existed for public services - even though for many it was not clear whether it was an obligation or whether it was a social behaviour rule - shall also be applied in other contexts, more specifically in private establishments and private companies”, Ana Soria Antunes elaborated.
Citizens in the aforementioned categories who are refused priority service will be entitled to call the police to take note of the occurrence and enforce the obligation.
Entities caught disrespecting the law face fines of between €50 and €500, in the case of an individually-owned company, or of between 100 and €1,000 if the entity in question is collectively-owned.
Exceptions to the general rule are situations in which appointments are pre-booked, and health services, where patients are seen based on clinical assessments.
Registry services are also excluded from the law “when changing the order of customer service could jeopardise the allocation of a subjective right or position arising from the priority of the registration”.
Under the law a person is considered disabled when they have a medically-recognised disability level of 60 percent or more, and have specific difficulties that could “limit or hinder activity and participation on equal terms.”
Citizens aged 65 or over and who have an “obvious change to or limitation of physical or mental functions” are considered elderly.
In cases of conflict, where various people who are all entitled to priority service turn up at the same time, precedence should be given on a first-come-first-served basis