Mafra is a city and a municipality in the district of Lisbon, on the west coast of Portugal, and part of the urban agglomeration of the Greater Lisbon sub-region. The population in 2011 was 76,685, in an area of 291.66 km².

It is mostly known for the sumptuous Mafra National Palace. Built in the Baroque style, the Mafra National Palace also inspired Portuguese Nobel Prize laureate Jose Saramago to write his novel Baltasar and Blimunda (Memorial do Convento). Other points of interest around the municipality include the Tapada Nacional de Mafra an enclosed wildlife and game reserve, and Ericeira’s World Surf Reserve.

It is mainly rural with some tourist activity centred in the town Mafra and especially in the seaside town of Ericeira, which has become a key destination for national and international surfers. After the completion of the A8 Motorway, linking the eastern part of the municipality to the centre of Lisbon, commuter population has increased substantially.

Mafra is under the police jurisdiction of the GNR.

The Municipal Council of Mafra produces a monthly bulletin and the latest for July 2016 can be downloaded in Portuguese here.

Useful government and non-government contact telephone numbers for Mafra municipality can be downloaded here.