The order published by the Secretary of State for Culture approves the new price list, which will be in force from 1 January 2025 and according to which the majority of normal tickets will suffer increases that vary between two and seven euros compared to the current list.

Some cultural facilities will double in price, such as the National Museum of Ethnology in Lisbon and the National Museum of Music, which will open in Mafra in 2025, or the Paço dos Duques de Bragança in Guimarães, from five to 10 euros.

The biggest increases - of seven euros - are seen in some of the most visited facilities in the country, such as the Belém Tower, the National Coach Museum (includes entry to the Royal Riding School), the National Archaeology Museum and the National Palaces of Ajuda and Mafra, from eight to 15 euros, while in the Jerónimos Monastery, the price will increase from 12 to 18 euros, an increase of six euros.

Other museums will see their entrance fees increase by five euros, such as the National Museum of Ancient Art in Lisbon, the Convent of Christ in Tomar, and the Monastery of Alcobaça, from 10 to 15 euros.

There will be facilities that will increase the price of tickets by two euros, namely the National Museum of Contemporary Art - Chiado Museum, in Lisbon, the National Resistance and Freedom Museum, in Peniche, the Grão Vasco National Museum, in Viseu, the Machado de Castro National Museum, in Coimbra, and the Soares dos Reis National Museum, in Porto, from eight to 10 euros.

Other museums will keep their prices unchanged, such as the National Costume Museum and the National Theatre and Dance Museum, both in Lisbon, with admission at five euros, which are expected to be closed for at least part of 2025 for works under the Recovery and Resilience Plan.

At the beginning of this year, as part of an organic reorganisation of the Ministry of Culture, the Directorate-General for Cultural Heritage (DGPC) and the Regional Directorates of Culture were extinguished, and two entities were created: the Cultural Heritage Institute and the public company MMP.

The document published in Diário da República also includes the review of the free admission regime for MMP museums, monuments and national palaces, created by the Government to guarantee free access to these facilities on 52 days a year to all citizens residing in national territory.

Also regarding free access to museums, monuments and palaces, since August, children under 12 years of age, accompanied by an adult, no longer have an entry limit, as well as unemployed visitors residing in the European Union, and also researchers, museology and/or heritage professionals.

Conservators and restorers in the exercise of their functions, members of national organisations linked to heritage, workers of bodies supervised by the Ministry of Culture and those included in the Register of Professionals in the Area of ​​Culture are also entitled to free entry.

Since August, access has also been restricted to teachers and students of any level of education, on study visits, groups with proven economic need, members of Groups of Friends of museums and monuments, or volunteers from the heritage sector, among others.

On Wednesday 20 November, the president of the MMP, Alexandre Pais, warned, in a hearing at the Lisbon Municipal Assembly, that there are several museums and monuments, particularly in the capital, exceeding their limits: “When we already have spaces completely at the limit of their capacity, as is the case of the [Mosteiro dos] Jerónimos, which is in fact a very worrying case, the Torre de Belém and even the [Museu Nacional do] Azulejo, which are exceeding their capacity, we have to have an alternative here”.

“We are in a phase of finding strategies”, stressed Alexandre Pais, who highlighted the idea that there are not too many tourists, they are just poorly distributed, and that it is necessary to find solutions to carry out this distribution when the prospect of a new airport will be to attract more than twice as many visitors as today.

The 2023 statistics "show that, in the 38 museums, monuments and national palaces now managed by MMP, there was an increase in visitors of around 10% compared to the previous year, which represents around 444 thousand more visits throughout the year".

Among the most visited cultural facilities in 2023, the Jerónimos Monastery, in Lisbon, leads with 965,526 entries, followed by the Sagres Fortress, with 427,817 visitors, and the Guimarães Castle, with 387,570.