2029 Portuguese local elections

2029 Portuguese local elections
On or before 14 October 2029
All 308 Portuguese municipalities and 3,259[1] Portuguese Parishes
All 2,058 local government councils[2]
 
Leader Luís Montenegro José Luís Carneiro
Party PSD PS
Last election 136 mayors, 34.3% 127 mayors, 33.2%
 
Leader Paulo Raimundo André Ventura
Party PCP CH
Alliance CDU
Last election 12 mayors, 5.7% 3 mayors, 11.9%

Local elections will take place in Portugal on late September or early October 2029. The election consists of three separate elections in the 308 Portuguese municipalities, the election for the Municipal Chambers, another election for the Municipal Assembly, as well an election for the lower-level Parish Assembly, whose winner is elected parish president. This last was held separately in the more than 3,000 parishes around the country.

In this election, 47 mayors elected in 2025 won't be able to seek reelection due to term limits, with PS having the highest number among all parties of term-limited mayors (24), followed by PSD (19). 2 independent mayors will be term-limited as well as one from PCP and one from CDS.[3]

Almada[4] (Inês de Medeiros - PS), Matosinhos[5] (Luísa Salgueiro - PS), Oeiras[6] (Isaltino Morais - Ind.), Odivelas[7] (Hugo Martins - PS), Maia[8] (António Silva Tiago - PSD), Paredes[9] (Alexandre Almeida - PS) and Barreiro[10] (Frederico Rosa - PS) are the biggest cities in which the incumbent mayor won't be able to seek reelection.

Background

Date

According to the local election law, an election must be called between 22 September and 14 October of the year that the local mandates end. The election is called by a Government of Portugal decree, unlike legislative elections which are called by the President of the Republic. The election date must be announced at least 80 days before election day. Election day is the same in all municipalities, and should fall on a Sunday or national holiday. The 2029 local elections will, therefore, have to take place no later than 14 October 2029.[11]

Electoral system

All 308 municipalities are allocated a certain number of councilors to elect corresponding to the number of registered voters in a given municipality. Each party or coalition must present a list of candidates. The winner of the most voted list for the municipal council is automatically elected mayor, making mayors de facto elected under first-past-the-post (FPTP). Parish presidents also are de facto elected under FPTP. The lists are closed and the seats in each municipality are apportioned according to the D'Hondt method. Unlike in national legislative elections, independent lists are allowed to run.[12]

Council seats and Parish assembly seats are distributed as follows:

Seat allocation for the 2029 local election[13]
Councilors Parish Assembly
Seats Voters Seats Voters
17 only Lisbon 19+a more than 30,000 voters
13 only Porto 19 more than 20,000 voters
11 100,000 voters or more 13 more than 5,000 voters
9 more than 50,000 voters 9 more than 1,000 voters
7 more than 10,000 voters 7 1,000 voters or less
5 10,000 voters or less

a For parishes with more than 30,000 voters, the number of seats mentioned above is increased by one per every 10,000 voters in excess of that number, and then by one more if the result is even.

Electoral reform

During the 2025 election, the PSD and PS opened the possibility of reforming the electoral law for the local elections.[14] The PS is proposing to bring back a proposal, that failed to be approved in 2008, that would abolish the municipal council ballot and elect the mayor through the municipal assembly ballot.[15]

Parties

The main political forces that will be involved in the election are:

1 The PSD and the CDS–PP are expected to form coalitions in several municipalities between them and with some smaller center-right/right-wing parties like the Earth Party (MPT) and the People's Monarchist Party (PPM).

Current City control

The following table lists party control in all district capitals, highlighted in bold, as well as in municipalities above 100,000 inhabitants. Population estimates from 2024.[16]

Municipality Population Previous control New control
Almada 183,643 Socialist Party (PS)
Amadora 181,607 Socialist Party (PS)
Aveiro 88,154 PSD / CDS–PP / PPM
Barcelos 116,959 PSD / CDS–PP
Beja 33,954 PSD / CDS–PP / IL
Braga 203,519 PSD / CDS–PP / PPM
Bragança 35,581 Socialist Party (PS)
Cascais 222,339 PSD / CDS–PP
Castelo Branco 53,342 Socialist Party (PS)
Coimbra 146,899 PS / L / PAN
Évora 53,908 Socialist Party (PS)
Faro 70,347 Socialist Party (PS)
Funchal 108,129 PSD / CDS–PP
Gondomar 169,388 Socialist Party (PS)
Guarda 40,046 NC / PPM
Guimarães 156,513 PSD / CDS–PP
Leiria 136,006 Socialist Party (PS)
Lisbon 575,739 PSD / CDS–PP / IL
Loures 209,877 Socialist Party (PS)
Maia 144,664 PSD / CDS–PP
Matosinhos 181,046 Socialist Party (PS)
Odivelas 156,278 Socialist Party (PS)
Oeiras 177,866 Independent (IND)
Ponta Delgada 69,038 Social Democratic Party (PSD)
Portalegre 21,754 PSD / CDS–PP
Porto 252,687 PSD / CDS–PP / IL
Santarém 61,664 PSD / CDS–PP
Santa Maria da Feira 140,568 Social Democratic Party (PSD)
Seixal 176,883 Unitary Democratic Coalition (CDU)
Setúbal 124,339 Independent (IND)
Sintra 400,947 PSD / IL / PAN
Valongo 101,464 Socialist Party (PS)
Viana do Castelo 86,975 Socialist Party (PS)
Vila Franca de Xira 140,711 Socialist Party (PS)
Vila Nova de Famalicão 136,704 PSD / CDS–PP
Vila Nova de Gaia 312,984 PSD / CDS–PP / IL
Vila Real 50,043 Socialist Party (PS)
Viseu 103,502 Socialist Party (PS)

See also

References

  1. ^ DGAI - Reorganização Administrativa do Território das Freguesias - (RATF)
  2. ^ "Mapa do número de mandatos por órgão municipal" (PDF) (in Portuguese). Comissão Nacional de Eleições. Retrieved 18 July 2025.
  3. ^ "Maioria dos presidentes de Câmara foram eleitos para um primeiro mandato" (in Portuguese). RTP. 20 October 2025. Retrieved 15 February 2026.
  4. ^ "Inês de Medeiros grita vitória em Almada para o terceiro e último mandato" (in Portuguese). Renascença. 13 October 2025. Retrieved 15 February 2026.
  5. ^ "Luísa Salgueiro toma posse para um terceiro mandato no sábado" (in Portuguese). Jornal de Notícias. 21 October 2025. Retrieved 15 February 2026.
  6. ^ "Oeiras: "Queria ter a certeza, e é assim, esta é a minha 11.ª eleição"" (in Portuguese). Observador. 13 October 2025. Retrieved 15 February 2026.
  7. ^ "Odivelas volta a ser PS mas há salto do Chega" (in Portuguese). CNN Portugal. 13 October 2025. Retrieved 15 February 2026.
  8. ^ "Coligação de Direita reconduz António Silva Tiago na Maia" (in Portuguese). Jornal de Notícias. 13 October 2025. Retrieved 15 February 2026.
  9. ^ "Eleições Autárquicas/Paredes: Alexandre Almeida segue para último mandato. PS conquista 13 freguesias" (in Portuguese). A Verdade. 16 October 2025. Retrieved 15 February 2026.
  10. ^ "Autárquicas 2025: Frederico Rosa soma e segue com nova maioria absoluta no Barreiro" (in Portuguese). O Setubalense. 13 October 2025. Retrieved 15 February 2026.
  11. ^ "Lei Eleitoral dos Orgãos das Autarquias Locais" (PDF). Comissão Nacional de Eleições (in Portuguese): 57. 2020.
  12. ^ "Eleição dos titulares dos órgãos das autarquias locais" (in Portuguese). Diário da República. 14 August 2001. Retrieved 17 July 2025.
  13. ^ "AUTARQUIAS LOCAIS - COMPETÊNCIAS E REGIME JURÍDICO". Procuradoria-Geral Distrital de Lisboa (in Portuguese). 2018.
  14. ^ "Nova lei eleitoral autárquica: Governo e PS convergem, Chega avalia depois das eleições" (in Portuguese). Público. 1 October 2025. Retrieved 8 January 2026.
  15. ^ "PS quer assembleias municipais a viabilizar vereadores e mudanças no executivo" (in Portuguese). Público. 5 December 2025. Retrieved 8 January 2026.
  16. ^ "População residente (N.º) por Local de residência (NUTS - 2024), Sexo e Grupo etário; Anual". INE. 18 June 2025. Retrieved 18 June 2024.
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