POSTAL SERVICES
The postal service in Portugal is known as the Correios . It
is reasonably efficent: a letter sent to a country within the EU should take
five to seven days, and a letter sent to the USA or further afield should
take about seven to ten days. The Correios sign depicts a
horse and rider in red.
Correios (postal service) logo
First-class mail is known as correio azul and second-class
mail is called normal . First-class letters are posted in
blue postboxes and second-class post in red ones. At post offices there may
be separate slots for national and international mail. There is also an
express mail service called EMS, and for valuable letters, a recorded
delivery service (correio registado) is available. Stamps
(selos) can be bought from post offices or from any
shop displaying the red and white Correios sign, and also
from vending machines. These are found in airport terminals and in railway
stations, as well as on the streets of large towns.
Portugal’s Postboxes
First-class letters should be posted in blue (Correio
Azul) boxes and second-class letters in red boxes.
Information on collection times
First-class postbox
Second-class postbox
A mail-holding service (posta restante) is also available
at most major post offices. The envelope should carry the name of the
recipient in block capitals, underlined, followed by posta
restante together with the postcode and the name of the destination
town. To collect the mail, take your passport and look for the counter that
is marked encomendas . A small fee is charged for this
service.
Portuguese stamps
Post offices are usually open from 9am until 6pm from Monday to Friday.
Central post offices in major cities have different opening times. These are
8am–10pm from Monday to Friday and 9am–6pm on Saturdays.
Portuguese addresses often include both the storey of a building and the
location within that floor. The ground floor is the rás-do-chão (r/c), first floor primeiro andar
(1°), the second floor is expressed as 2°, and so on. Each floor is divided into left, esquerdo (E or Esqdo), right, direito (D or Dto).
