Drone Rules for Palácio da Alvorada
The airspace over and surrounding the Palácio da Alvorada (Brasília, DF) is classified as a strictly restricted National Security, Executive Residence, and Permanent Military Exclusion Zone (Prohibited Area SBR 204). Civilian drone flights are strictly banned within this perimeter.
The Palácio da Alvorada, located on a peninsula jutting into Lake Paranoá, is the official residential palace of the President of Brazil. Designed by Oscar Niemeyer and inaugurated in 1958, it is a highly guarded estate housing private presidential quarters, reception halls, and subterranean security infrastructure managed by the GSI (Gabinete de Segurança Institucional).
Operating a drone around Alvorada is a direct breach of state security and a federal crime. The geographic vulnerabilities of the palace—being bordered on three sides by water—make the airspace highly sensitive to unauthorized aerial surveillance, intelligence gathering, and kinetic or payload-delivery threats.
The estate is fully locked down inside the SBR 204 defense bubble. The GSI and the Brazilian Air Force operate continuous, overlapping air defense networks across the peninsula, integrated with highly effective Counter-UAS (unmanned aircraft systems) technologies. These anti-drone installations will intercept and jam any incoming civilian control signals, forcing the drone down immediately. Operators caught flying over the palace grounds or piloting drones from boats on Lake Paranoá face swift interception by presidential guards and immediate arrest by the Federal Police (Polícia Federal), carrying severe penalties for compromising national security.