Two of the four mayors from the CDU (PCP/PEV coalition) are running in municipalities they previously led and where they each completed at least three consecutive terms.
The mayor of Évora, Carlos Pinto de Sá, is finishing his third consecutive term in this municipality, the maximum allowed by law, and has announced a return to his roots by leading the CDU list for Montemor-o-Novo, where he served as mayor from 1993 to 2013.
In Montemor, Carlos Pinto de Sá will face the current socialist mayor, Olímpio Galvão, who is vying for a second term after taking the municipality from the CDU in 2021.
Vítor Proença, unable to run for Alcácer do Sal again due to term limits, aims to return to a familiar setting in the next local elections as the CDU candidate for the Santiago do Cacém council, which he led from 2001 to 2013.
The current president of Santiago do Cacém, Álvaro Beijinha, is leaving but is now running for Sines, where the socialist president, Nuno Mascarenhas, cannot seek re-election.
João Português, in his third mandate in the municipality of Cuba, is the CDU’s lead candidate for the neighboring council of Ferreira do Alentejo, led by socialist Luís Pita Ameixa.
Pita Ameixa, elected in 2017 and 2021, is running for a final term in this council, where he previously presided from 1994 to 2005.
In the Algarve, socialist António Miguel Pina, the current mayor of Olhão, is running for the neighboring municipality of Faro, led by the social-democrat Rogério Bacalhau, who must also step down.
In Faro, António Miguel Pina will face sitting deputy Cristóvão Norte, president of the social-democratic district of the Algarve, running at the helm of a coalition led by PSD.
The mayor of Covilhã, Vítor Pereira, elected by the PS and serving his third term, is the socialist candidate for the neighboring council of Belmonte, in the Castelo Branco district.
Vítor Pereira, president of the PS district of Castelo Branco, aims to keep this Beira Baixa council under socialist leadership, succeeding Antonio Rocha, another socialist, who is stepping down after his third consecutive term.
José Manuel Ribeiro, mayor of Valongo since 2013, is running this year for the mayoralty of Maia, currently led by social-democrat António Silva Tiago, who is seeking a third term.
Pedro Ribeiro, mayor of Almeirim since 2013 and president of the National Association of Socialist Mayors, is this year running for the mayoralty of Santarém, currently under social-democrat control.
The current mayor of Santarém, João Teixeira Leite (PSD), succeeded Ricardo Gonçalves less than a year ago, who took over the presidency of the Portuguese Institute of Sports and Youth, marking his first candidacy for the council in this election.
Several former mayors have announced their candidacies, vying again for leadership in municipalities they once governed, including Dores Meira, aiming to return to Setúbal, and Luís Filipe Menezes, running for Gaia.
Lusa | 08:14 – 26/07/2025
Nearly 90 mayors are leaving in these local elections after reaching the limit of three consecutive terms in the same municipality, most of them socialists.
In addition to the 89 mayors stepping down due to term limits in these elections, 46 others have already left their positions over the last two years, primarily to take up roles in government, as deputies in Parliament or in Europe, and in public office: 28 from PSD or social-democrat coalitions, 16 from PS, one from CDU, and one from Juntos Pelo Povo (JPP).
Of the 89 mayors ending their terms, 49 are socialists, 21 are social-democrats or from coalitions led by PSD, 12 from CDU, three from CDS-PP, and four are independents.
Portugal comprises 308 municipalities, most of which elected socialist executives in 2021.
The local elections are scheduled by the government for October 12, and candidacies must be submitted by August 18.
