In Lisbon, where half the number of foreigners is concentrated (162,553), the CDU recorded the smallest drop, from 10.51% in 2021 to 10.09% in Sunday's elections.

However, with Chega's increase from 4.41% to 10.10%, the capital's municipality is the one where the two parties' results are closest.

Among the 12 municipalities with the highest number of foreign residents, Almada and Seixal, on the south bank of the Tagus River in the Setúbal district, were those where the CDU maintained the highest voter percentages and, simultaneously, where Chega also saw the largest increases.

In Seixal, where foreign residents increased by 45% compared to the previous year, the CDU had a vote of 34.89% in Sunday's elections, down from 37.74% in 2021. Chega's vote, however, rose from 8.07% to 22.91%.

In Almada, where 25,700 residents are foreigners, the PCP-led coalition fell from 29.69% to 20.61%, while Chega maintained its upward trend, from 5.63% in 2021 to 18.24% in Sunday's elections.

Lisbon results

This trend was repeated in all municipalities in the Lisbon region with the largest number of foreign residents.

In this region, home to nine of the 12 municipalities with the largest foreign population, Chega saw significant increases in Odivelas (from 8.71% to 22.23%) and Loures (from 3.88% to 20.66%), where housing problems and the demolition of neighbourhoods inhabited primarily by foreigners generated conflicts. In the latter municipality, home to more than 32,000 foreigners, the CDU fell from 24.05% in 2021 to 10.97% on Sunday.

Algarve

In the Algarve, the results of the communist-led coalition reached their lowest levels in Loulé (1.64%), while Chega nearly doubled its vote, rising from 8.68% to 17.74%. In this municipality, the number of foreign residents increased by 17% in the last year.

According to the latest report from the Agency for Migration and Asylum (AIMA), nine of the 12 municipalities with the highest number of foreign residents are in the Lisbon metropolitan area, namely Sintra, Cascais, Amadora, Loures, Odivelas, Almada, Seixal, Oeiras, and the capital itself.

The others are Porto—where both Chega (8.23%) and the CDU (3.93%) have low voter percentages—and Loulé and Braga, where the CDU fell to 3.07% and Chega rose to 10.41%.