LISBON: Border guards in Portugal have turned back more than 1,300 foreigners caught trying to enter the country illegally since the country restored full border controls last week as part of security measures for the Euro 2004 Finals.
The vast majority of those stopped were people travelling without documents who police suspect were illegal immigrants heading to Portugal to look for work, border police officials said.
Portugal reintroduced the border checks on May 26 and will keep them in place until July 4, the final date of the 16-nation tournament, one of the world's biggest sporting events.
With the controls in place, citizens of the 25-member European Union along with those from Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland must show a valid identity card or passport at border crossings with Spain.
