October 2025 – LUSOLOBO

Driving issues in the local elections were housing, public health and education

Portugal’s far-right, xenophobic, nationalist and biggest party in the country Chega (‘Enough’) – defending the reduction of state intervention in the economy, promoting stricter immigration, supporting chemical castration for child abusers and incessantly attacking the Roma population – has won its first three mayoral seats in municipal elections on Sunday, the 12^th of October.
But fell well short of expectations as its vote share halved from Parliamentary elections in May.

Of the merely three municipalities it captured, it won 49% of the vote in São Vicente (Madeira), 40,5% in Albufeira (Algarve) – which its leader André Ventura has called ‘the party’s stronghold’, and the springboard for Portugal’s ‘conquest’ by the far right – and 37% in Entroncamento (Tagus Valley).

The ruling centre-right Social Democratic party (PSD) – focusing on liberalising the economy and associated with conservative values – won the largest share of mayoral races, capturing 136, including the country’s five biggest cities – Lisbon, Porto, Gaia, Sintra and Cascais – up from 114 four years ago.

Together with the more conservative Christian Democratic party (CDS) – with six elected mayors on his own list – it has formed the Democratic Alliance (AD), which is governing the country since last spring.

The PSD ‘victory’ also means the party wins control of both national municipal associations, ANAFRE – the association of parish councils – and ANMP, the association of municipalities, which fell to PS Socialists over a decade ago.

‘This is very relevant’, Prime Minister Luís Montenegro declared. ‘The party now has more parish council presidents, more city council presidents and achieved historic victories in the country’s five largest municipalities, while leading the two autonomous regions (Azores and Madeira) and having a majority in parliament.’

Its centre-left Socialist (PS ) rivals – defending State intervention in the economy to improve social justice – won 128 (22 down compared to four years ago) of the total of 308 municipalities in the country and is no longer the most voted party in the local elections. But the party is pleased, for reversing the awful general elections result of last May.

Voters in Lisbon returned to the incumbent mayor – Carlos Moedas, heading a centre-right coalition – less than six weeks after a deadly funicular crash that killed 16 people, including 11 tourists, and caused a national outcry. Moedas, a rising star in the PSD, has rejected blame for the 3 September accident – most likely a break in the cable linking the two carriages – and refused to resign.
He scored 42% against 34% for the Socialist (PS) candidate Alexandra Leitão.

After three national elections in the past two years, Portuguese voters will again return to the polls next January for a presidential vote.

Enjoy your week Aproveite a sua semana (Pic Público/Sapo)

Orcas sinking boats: annoyed or just playing?

Orcas are known for two things: being very intelligent and being very ruthless.
Last month, new incidents with orcas led to the sinking of a sailing boat just off Costa de Caparica (Lisbon) and damaging boats in Cascais Bay. It is the third boat sinking after confrontations with orcas

The first boat to sink in Portuguese waters was a sailing boat of a French family off the coast near Sines in 2022. Later that same year, another boat involving orcas sank off the coast of Viana do Castelo (Northern Portugal).

Violent interactions with killer whales on the Portuguese coast started around the time of Covid. In September 2021, a sailing boat off the coast of Faro and two more boats between Lagos and Sagres (Algarve) were heavily damaged. And only very recently, five crewmembers had to be rescued from the sea after their vessel lost its rudder following an orca attack off Peniche (Leiria district).

It looks like encounters between sailboats and orcas are becoming increasingly frequent. Since the beginning of this year, about 60 interactions have been recorded, six of them in the last two weeks of September.

This particular group of Iberian orcas is labelled ‘the killer whales of the Strait of Gibraltar’, although they regularly travel along the Atlantic coast, up to the Bay of Biscay (France), and back again. It is a group largely made up of juveniles hitting the hull and the rudder, which usually continues for around twenty minutes.

Although known as killer whales, orcas are not whales. The species Orcinus orca is part of the dolphin family and can measure up to eight metres. This behaviour of ramming vessels probably started with individual orcas, but seems to have spread through social learning.

The Orcinus orca subpopulation – not reaching half a hundred animals – was in 2019 classified as Critically Endangered on the ICNF (International Union for Conservation of Nature) Red List of threatened species.

The reason for the ‘disruptive behaviour’ of the orcas is unclear. According to ICNF biologist Élio Vicente orcas see the ‘rudders as toys. It’s a mobile, it makes noise, and it attracks curiosity. It is not a negative behaviour from their point of view.’ Researcher Rui Rosa emphasises that the people on board never seem to be targeted. ‘The risk around orcas is more of a navigation concern than a direct danger to human life.’

The recurrence of these episodes is already generating economic impact. Fernando Sá, owner of a nautical school in the Lisbon area – explains that he has stopped authorizing tours to the Tagus river mouth for fear of new incidents.
‘The orcas might look at it as a joke, for the people on board it is not.’

Enjoy the week Aproveite a semana (pic Lusa/Público)