“Anyone who arrives at a municipality like this — with a budget of over 150 million euros, quite complex and one of the most important and financially sound in the Algarve — has to take stock. We need to know what state it is in,” Rui Cristina told reporters.

The former deputy, who today began his duties as mayor of the municipality in the Faro district, was elected by Chega with 40.51% of the votes, dethroning the PSD/CDS-PP, which had administered the municipality for several decades and came in second place in the October 12 elections, with 32.30%.

Rui Cristina said he will meet with the councillors to analyse how to move forward with the financial and procedural audits, which is a priority, "without criticising anyone," he stressed, and only to know "where to start" and how to implement his ideas.

"We know there are several gaps: we need to invest in housing, access to health, mobility, and resolve some points of insecurity. For this to happen, there needs to be financial availability, and we need to know the current state of affairs. There are procedures we want to understand better," he summarized.

“Procedural literacy”

According to the mayor, all mayors, when elected for the first time, should conduct audits to "start from scratch" and know what they can count on: "It's just a matter of procedural literacy: understanding what we can improve in terms of procedures, and also financial ones."

Access to housing in what is the most touristic municipality in the Algarve is another of his priorities, arguing that it is necessary to accelerate the revision of the Municipal Master Plan, a process that has been dragging on since 2016, so that the construction of housing at controlled or affordable costs can begin.

“We want to build more affordable housing. But, for that, we need land. Former mayor José Carlos Rolo said that there were several areas of land prepared for construction; if these areas are truly ready to receive this type of construction, we will move forward as soon as possible,” he stressed.

According to Rui Cristina, some of these homes will be allocated to essential workers, such as doctors, teachers, and members of the security forces, professionals who are difficult to attract to the Algarve due to the cost of housing and also the lack of daycare centers, which is “a common problem” throughout the Algarve.

“It is up to us, as a municipality, to align internal strategies to attract these specialized professionals — teachers, doctors, and also the GNR (National Republican Guard), so necessary in this municipality, which had 7.5 million overnight stays last year, if I'm not mistaken,” he said.

Security

At the same time, regarding security issues, Rui Cristina said he wants to meet with the Municipal Police, with the aim of opening recruitment processes to reinforce the staff and increase the number of video surveillance cameras, also advocating for the municipalisation of the fire department.

In addition to housing and security, the mayor also prioritizes health, the “big problem” of the municipality, where 18,000 inhabitants are without a family doctor, leading the mayor to want to implement a partnership strategy so that, within a year, more than 12,000 consultations can be carried out.

“There could be a public or private partnership between the City Hall and a third-sector entity, such as a Santa Casa da Misericórdia (a charitable institution), to create conditions similar to the White Coat program, in which the City Hall and the third sector can serve those who do not have a family doctor, by hiring doctors,” he exemplified.

Rui Cristina's victory in Albufeira marks Chega's entry into local government in the Faro district, after the party won the 2024 and 2025 legislative elections in the Algarve.

Chega won three of the seven elected seats, the same as the PSD/CDS-PP, while the PS-BE-PAN coalition “Albufeira é Tua” came in third place.