Gouveia e Melo, after spending two days in France meeting with members of the Portuguese community, emphasized the importance of Portugal being “more open, looking beyond its borders and truly integrating its overseas communities.”
The candidate visited a Portuguese product market and a bakery founded by Portuguese emigrants, potential voters to whom he assured that if elected, he would do everything “within his power to bring the community closer to their homeland.”
Today, the candidate dined with about a hundred people from the Portuguese diaspora in France.
He stated that his goal is to “foster a more open economy,” utilizing the Portuguese communities as “spearheads of Portugal in the countries where they reside.”
For Gouveia e Melo, Portuguese emigrants are “outposts of Portuguese culture and relationships with other peoples.”
The admiral insisted that, in his view, “there are no first, second, or third-class Portuguese,” and that Portugal is “much larger than its territory.”
Regarding the state program “Regressar,” which supports the return of emigrants, the candidate highlighted the importance of “further developing the economy” to offer “better prospects” to Portuguese citizens deciding to return to Portugal.
In 2023, the French presidency estimated 1.72 million people of Portuguese descent living in France. According to the French statistics institute (INSEE), also in 2023, 577,000 people born in Portugal lived in France.
Voters residing in France represent about 25% of Portuguese voters living abroad.
The presidential elections are scheduled for January 18, 2026.
This will be the 12th time (including the two rounds of the 1986 elections) since 1976 that Portuguese citizens are called to elect a President of the Republic in a democratic context.
Alongside Gouveia e Melo, other announced presidential candidates include António Filipe (supported by the PCP), António José Seguro (supported by the PS), André Ventura (supported by Chega), Catarina Martins (supported by BE), João Cotrim Figueiredo (supported by the Liberal Initiative), Jorge Pinto (supported by Livre), and Luís Marques Mendes (supported by the PSD).
According to the candidacy portal from the Ministry of Internal Administration, there are 31 other citizens collecting signatures for a presidential candidacy.
