André Ventura, leader of Portugal’s main opposition party CHEGA, declared on Thursday in Portimão that the Algarve will become the party’s “great stronghold” and will mark the “beginning of the conquest of the country.”
His words came at the end of a street walk where, at one point, he was carried on the shoulders of two supporters.
“This district, this region, the Algarve, will be CHEGA’s great bastion in the coming years in Portugal because it will mark the beginning of the conquest of the country, from the south. We are going to conquer Portugal, we are going to clean Portugal,” Ventura told the crowd.
Joined by Paulo Graça – a local MP for CHEGA and the party’s candidate for Portimão mayor – Ventura walked less than a kilometre, accompanied by over 200 supporters. Speaking from the door of a car at the end of the march, he said that for these local elections, “the only goal can be to win.”
“We are no longer a party that settles for second or third place. We want to win. If we want to clean up corruption and give young people a future, we have to win,” he insisted.
Ventura said he expects a “great victory in the Algarve” on Sunday, October 12 (the date of the local elections), with the far-right party taking control of several municipal and parish councils.
He also stressed that the region will serve as a “national laboratory” for the party, with hopes of winning the most councils here. “It’s important to show we can govern locally in Portimão, where our candidate is João Graça, but also in Faro, Olhão, Albufeira, Vila Real de Santo António, and other Algarve councils,” he added.
“The Algarve is probably where the strength of CHEGA is felt the most on the streets and you can see it here today,” he declared.
André Ventura also called for his party’s supporters to support CHEGA even when he is not the one on the ballot.
“People have to understand it’s not enough to vote for André Ventura nationally or in the presidential elections. They have to vote for those who can change their lives directly – the local authorities.” He continued: “The party cannot think that it is either André Ventura or nobody. It must have mayors, it must have local politicians who are responsible and who are scrutinised and criticised when they need to be.”
The Algarve has been a key region for CHEGA: it was the first district the party won in the 2024 legislative elections (along with the Europe constituency) and this year CHEGA came out on top in Faro, Beja, Portalegre, Setúbal, and both emigration constituencies.
The event in Portimão ended with drums, chants, and supporters singing: “Portugal is ours, and it always will be, Portugal is ours until we die.”
