This is a measure that the municipality has adopted in recent years and that allows "benefiting hundreds of family economies and strengthening local commerce at a crucial time" during the Christmas period, the Faro City Council highlighted in a statement.

The Algarve municipality stressed that the program will "directly and objectively support local businesses" and its approval in a council session was achieved on Monday, with votes in favour from the PS - winner of the last municipal elections, electing António Miguel Pina as mayor -, abstention from Chega and rejection by the PSD.

“The initiative, implemented in previous years and recognized for its positive impact on the local economy, will maintain the format already tested in the past in 2025 – this year with concrete adjustments aimed at reducing the costs associated with its operation (approximately €150,000 less),” the Algarve municipality informed in a statement.

A source from the municipality clarified to the Lusa news agency that the approved proposal foresees total funding for the program of €400,000, of which €275,000 will be “allocated to vouchers for all students, at all levels of education, in the municipality,” whether from public, private, or associative schools.

Each student will have access to a voucher of €25 to spend in local businesses, it was specified.

Mayor Antonio Miguel Pina considered the approved program “fundamental to guaranteeing the stability of many businesses and family economies, which, in recent years, have come to rely on this instrument.”

This is the “possible solution” because it was “conditioned by the short window of time” between the inauguration of the new executive and the end of the year, said the mayor, who was elected in the municipal elections held on October 12th, as quoted in the statement.

Basic needs

The city hall emphasized that 43% of the funds allocated through the “Faro Somos Todos” program are used to purchase food and more than 20% are allocated to clothing, contributing to “meeting the basic needs of its beneficiaries – children, students, and municipal workers”.

The “Faro Somos Todos” program was launched in 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, with the aim of boosting local commerce, in partnership with the Algarve Region Commerce and Services Association (ACRAL).

Despite the change in municipal leadership that occurred after the last local elections, with the Socialist Party (PS) regaining control of the Faro municipality from the Social Democratic Party (PSD) after 16 years, the executive led by António Miguel Pina decided to maintain the measure, valuing the contribution of the "Faro Somos Todos" program to the local economy.