The Mayor of Vendas Novas, Valentino Salgado Cunha, was detained early Saturday morning after being caught driving with 1.8 grams of alcohol per liter of blood.
The 33-year-old was arrested during a traffic enforcement operation conducted by the National Republican Guard (GNR) in Vendas Novas.
The official, driving his private vehicle, registered a criminal blood alcohol content level of 1.8 grams per liter. Valentino Salgado Cunha confirmed to the newspaper that he attended the festivities in the parish of Landeira but declined to give further statements.
He is expected to appear in court on Monday.
Notícias ao Minuto contacted the Évora Territorial Command to confirm the details, but the GNR chose not to comment.
A blood alcohol content of 1.2 g/l or higher constitutes a crime, punishable by up to one year in prison or a fine of up to 120 days.
Valentino Salgado Cunha, who was the vice-president of the municipality, assumed the presidency last year after the previous president, Luís Dias, resigned the day after the legislative elections on March 10, 2024, where he was elected as a deputy for the Socialist Party (PS).
Despite this, the local PS branch overlooked the mayor, approving in January a proposal to nominate Paula Rocharte Valentim, president of this party structure and of the Vendas Novas Parish Council, as a candidate for the municipality’s presidency in the elections on October 12.
The Mayor of Vendas Novas, Valentino Salgado Cunha, elected by the PS, criticized the party today for not selecting him as a candidate for the presidency of this municipality in the Évora district in this year’s local elections.
Lusa | 15:36 – 24/01/2025
At the time, Valentino Salgado Cunha criticized the party for the decision, arguing that it showed the PS’s lack of trust in the work the current socialist team is doing in the municipality.
“I always put the interest of Vendas Novas above potential party and personal interests, and this might have conflicted with the expectations of some,” he stated to the Lusa news agency.
The mayor also admitted that he was challenged to lead an independent movement, though he stressed that “the main focus is to complete the current mandate until the end.”
The Portuguese Society of Alcohology praised the beginning of the legislative process in Spain to limit blood alcohol concentration to 0.2 grams per liter, advocating that Portugal should follow this example to reduce road accidents.
Lusa | 09:19 – 19/03/2025
