2025 Portuguese local elections

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| <- 2021 | 12 October 2025 |

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All 308 Portuguese municipalities and 3,259[1] Portuguese Parishes
All 2,058 local government councils[2]
Opinion polls
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Leader  | José Luís Carneiro | Luís Montenegro | Paulo Raimundo
Party  | PS | PSD | PCP
Alliance  |  |  | CDU
Last election  | 148 mayors, 37.1%  | 114 mayors, 32.1%  | 19 mayors, 8.2%

Local elections will be held in Portugal on 12 October 2025.[3] The election consistes 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 will be held separately in the more than 3,000 parishes around the country.

In this election, 28.9 percent of incumbent mayors, 89 to be precise, will be barred from running for another term: 49 from the PS, 21 from the PSD, 12 from CDU, 4 Independents and 3 from the CDS–PP.[4] The number of parishes up for election will grow from the current 3,092 to 3,259 because of changes in the 2013 local reform law that allowed the separation of merged parishes, of which 167 separations were approved.[5][6][7]

## Background

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### Date

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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 2025 local elections would, therefore, have to take place no later than 12 October 2025,[8] which was the date chosen to hold the elections.[3]

### Electoral system

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Map of the 308 municipalities up for election.

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, similar to first-past-the-post (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.[9]

Council seats and Parish assembly seats are distributed as follows:

Seat allocation for the 2025 local election[10] Councilors  | Parish Assembly

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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.

## Parties

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

* Left Bloc (BE)
* Democratic and Social Centre–People's Party (CDS–PP) (only in some municipalities)1
* Unitary Democratic Coalition (CDU)
* Enough (CH)
* Together for the People (JPP)
* Liberal Initiative (IL) (only in some municipalities)1
* Livre (L) (only in some municipalities)2
* People–Animals–Nature (PAN) (only in some municipalities)2
* Socialist Party (PS) (only in some municipalities)2
* Social Democratic Party (PSD) (only in some municipalities)1

1 The PSD, IL and the CDS–PP are expected to form coalitions in several municipalities between them, and also with other some smaller center-right/right-wing parties like the Earth Party (MPT) and the People's Monarchist Party (PPM).[11]
2 The PS and Livre are expected to form coalitions in several municipalities between them, and also with smaller parties like PAN.[11]

## Opinion polls

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Main article: Opinion polling for the 2025 Portuguese local elections

## Key Races

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The following table lists the current party control in all district capitals, highlighted in bold, as well as in municipalities above 100,000 inhabitants.[12] Population estimates from 2024.[13]

Municipality  | Population  | Current control  | New control

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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  |  | Socialist Party (PS)  |  |
Braga | 203,519  |  | PSD / CDS–PP / PPM / Alliance |  |
Bragança | 35,581  |  | Social Democratic Party (PSD)  |  |
Cascais | 222,339  |  | PSD / CDS–PP |  |
Castelo Branco | 53,342  |  | Socialist Party (PS)  |  |
Coimbra | 146,899  |  | PSD / CDS–PP / NC / PPM / Alliance / RIR / Volt |  |
Évora | 53,908  |  | Unitary Democratic Coalition (CDU)  |  |
Faro | 70,347  |  | PSD / CDS–PP / IL / PPM / MPT |  |
Funchal | 108,129  |  | PSD / CDS–PP |  |
Gondomar | 169,388  |  | Socialist Party (PS)  |  |
Guarda | 40,046  |  | Independent (IND)  |  |
Guimarães | 156,513  |  | Socialist Party (PS)  |  |
Leiria | 136,006  |  | Socialist Party (PS)  |  |
Lisbon | 575,739  |  | PSD / CDS–PP / Alliance / MPT / PPM |  |
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  |  | Independent (IND)  |  |
Santarém | 61,664  |  | Social Democratic Party (PSD)  |  |
Santa Maria da Feira | 140,568  |  | Social Democratic Party (PSD)  |  |
Seixal | 176,883  |  | Unitary Democratic Coalition (CDU)  |  |
Setúbal | 124,339  |  | Unitary Democratic Coalition (CDU)  |  |
Sintra | 400,947  |  | Socialist Party (PS)  |  |
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  |  | Socialist Party (PS)  |  |
Vila Real | 50,043  |  | Socialist Party (PS)  |  |
Viseu | 103,502  |  | Social Democratic Party (PSD)  |  |

## See also

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* Politics of Portugal
* List of political parties in Portugal
* Elections in Portugal

## References

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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. ^ a b "Governo marca eleições autárquicas para 12 de outubro" (in Portuguese). Observador. 3 July 2025.
4. ^ Expresso, Agência Lusa (6 July 2025). "Quem está obrigado a abandonar a Câmara nas eleições autárquicas 2025: lista de presidentes de saída, concelho a concelho". sapo.pt/noticias (in Portuguese). Sapo. Retrieved 6 July 2025.
5. ^ "Prazos e procedimentos para desagregar freguesias estão a ser cumpridos". www.publico.pt/ (in Portuguese). Público. 7 June 2025. Retrieved 22 June 2025.
6. ^ "Lei n.º 25-A/2025, de 13 de março". www.publico.pt/ (in Portuguese). Diário da República. 13 March 2025. Retrieved 22 June 2025.
7. ^ "Pelo menos 185 freguesias pediram ao parlamento para se desagregarem". www.dn.pt/ (in Portuguese). Diário de Notícias. 23 December 2022. Retrieved 11 July 2023.
8. ^ "Lei Eleitoral dos Orgãos das Autarquias Locais" (PDF). Comissão Nacional de Eleições (in Portuguese): 57. 2020.
9. ^ "Eleição dos titulares dos órgãos das autarquias locais" (in Portuguese). Diário da República. 14 August 2001. Retrieved 17 July 2025.
10. ^ "AUTARQUIAS LOCAIS - COMPETÊNCIAS E REGIME JURÍDICO". Procuradoria-Geral Distrital de Lisboa (in Portuguese). 2018.
11. ^ a b "Partidos vão bater recorde de coligações nas autárquicas" (in Portuguese). Jornal de Notícias. 4 July 2025. Retrieved 9 July 2025.
12. ^ ECO (2025-01-21). "ECO/Local Online aposta em 26 municípios nas Autárquicas". ECO (in European Portuguese). Retrieved 2025-01-23.
13. ^ "População residente (N.º) por Local de residência (NUTS - 2024), Sexo e Grupo etário; Anual". INE. 18 June 2025. Retrieved 18 June 2024.

## External links

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* Official results site, Portuguese Justice Ministry
* Portuguese Electoral Commission
* ERC - Official publication of polls

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