In 1888 he became Portuguese consul-general in Paris, a position he actively sought. He lived at Neuilly-sur-Seine and continued to write journalism ("Ecos de Paris", "Echoes from Paris") as well as literary criticism. He died in 1900 of either tuberculosis or, according to numerous contemporary physicians, Crohn's disease. His son António Eça de Queirós would hold government office under António de Oliveira Salazar. He was first buried in a family vault in Prazeres Cemetery and later exhumed and moved to a grave in Santa Cruz do Douro Cemetery, in Baião Municipality, Portugal