On August 8, the PS Lagoa party formally presented its candidates for the Lagoa City Council, in the Algarve, with Luís Encarnação running for re-election to the presidency, a position he has held since 2019.

The ceremony took place at Praça 25 de Abril and was attended by José Luís Carneiro, national president of the PS, and Luís Graça, leader of the PS in the Algarve.

According to Lagoa Informa, the current vice-president of Lagoa, Anabela Simão, will not be a candidate for the municipal elections, and Ruben Palma has taken her place, occupying the second place in the electoral list for PS, in Lagoa. Ana Martins remains in third place, and Anabela Ribeiro will be number four on the list.

"We chose this location where, in 2021, we began our journey toward a major victory with an absolute majority in the City Council, the Assembly, and the Parish Councils. Today, there are more people here than there were then, and this can only be an indicator of a major victory for the Socialist Party on October 12th, which will be a victory for Lagoa," said Luís Encarnação, quoted by Lagoa Informa.

During the candidacy presentation, the current mayor of Lagoa said that Lagoa has an unemployment rate of less than 3.5%, with only 520 unemployed, in a municipality with a working-age population of 15,000. Luís Encarnação reinforced that housing and water remain priorities for the municipality, stating that the construction of 36 housing units in Porches and seven in Lagoa will be completed in 2026. More homes will also be built in Ferragudo, Estômbar, and Calvário, and affordable housing projects for young people will also begin in Porches. Regarding water, Luís Encarnação said the municipality has managed to reduce water losses by more than 20%.

Reaction from colleagues

In addition to José Luís Carneiro's praise, Luís Graça praised Luís Encarnação's skill in carrying out "rehabilitation work on water mains, which is inconvenient, causes holes and dust, but guarantees sustainability," as reported by Lagoa Informa. Luís Graça also added that the Socialist Party is honoured and admires the work of Lagoa's current mayor.