In recent years there has been a rise of the far-right in Portugal, and also, an increase in racist crimes. In 2019 alone, the Portuguese Commission for Equality and Anti-Discrimination has received 436 complaints of racist incidents, which is in fact a 26% increase compared to those in 2018. (To Vima, 2020)
In the country there seems to be an increase in hate crimes that are based on racial and religious discrimination between 2017 and 2020, as those that were officially recorded by the police were 48 in 2017, 23 in 2018, 82 in 2019 and 132 in 2020. (OSCE/ODIHR, n.d.)
In September 2015, 20 neo-Nazis were arrested on suspicion of a number of hate crimes committed in 2013-2015. These people were members of the neo-Nazi organisation called ‘Hammerskin Nation’. (Proto thema, 2016)
Image available at: https://www.shutterstock.com/el/image-photo/alcobaca-monastery-portugal-architecture-background-511289050