okay so this was a whole thing. im registered with EASA, have my A1/A3 cert, everything was fine legally. flying my mini 3 on a beach south of lisbon, not near anyone, well within all the rules. two cops roll up and one of them is convinced drones are just flat out illegal in portugal and demands i delete the footage.

i had all my docs on my phone and showed them and after like 20 minutes of back and forth they let me go but they were not happy about it. the other cop seemed like he actually knew what EASA was which helped. just kind of rattled me because i was doing everything right and still nearly had my whole mornings shots deleted

anyone else dealt with this kind of thing abroad? feels like even in places where its legal the local enforcement just dont know the rules

this happens constantly. i got stopped in greece doing everything by the book and the officer literally told me drones were banned everywhere in greece which is just not true. having the regs pulled up on your phone in the local language helps a lot, i started keeping a translated summary of whatever countrys rules before i travel anywhere now

delete the footage lmao no way. good on you for standing your ground. id have been way too nervous to argue with cops in a foreign country tbh, thats kind of impressive