“I’m going to walk around.” What happened to the Mayors who left office?

More than 90 former mayors had to step down from office because they had completed three terms and could no longer run for re-election. They are in other positions in official institutions or have returned to the jobs they had before politics. Others have retired and are “totally out”…

The phrase “I’ll walk around” entered the imagination of national politics in 2005, when Pedro Santana Lopesat the time outgoing leader of the PSD, announced in his final speech at the party’s XXVII Congress, in Pombal, his intention not to withdraw from political life.

Since then, Santana Lopes walked around. The former mayor of Lisbon (2002-2004 and 2005) left the PSD, founded Aliança, which became extinct, and returned in 2021 to the presidency of the Chamber of Figueira da Foz, an authority he had previously led between 1998 and 2001.

And then, Where are the more than 90 “dinosaurs”? who were forced to leave their municipality because they reached the term limit in the last elections?

Some are in other positions in official institutions, others returned to their jobs they had before politics. Some simply retired: you can’t be a “dinosaur” without reaching an age that justifies it.

They are out there in other positions

Álvaro Amarothe former president of the Municipal Chamber of Palmela, in the district of Setúbal, is one of almost 90 mayors who could not re-apply for the position in 2025 due to the law that limits the consecutive terms that a mayor can hold in the same municipality to three.

The mayor elected by the CDU, aged 64, prepared to return to teachinga profession he already embraced before having his time occupied 100% in political life, but ended up being chosen by the nine municipalities in the region to be first secretary of new intermunicipal community (CIM) of the Setúbal Peninsula.

It is the installation of this new regional entity, with a decisive role in defining priorities for the management of community funds in the Setúbal Peninsula, that has been working on recently.

“It has been a demanding task. It’s like installing a local authority, or a set of local authorities, from scratch”, he told Lusa, recognizing that neither teaching nor music, a long-time hobby of this author and composer, prevented a quick return to political life.

Like Álvaro Amaro, other presidents who left the municipalities in October 2025 due to term limits have since assumed official positions.

Rui Moreira, former president of the Chamber of Porto, he began his duties on April 7th as andambassador of Portugal to the OECDby appointment of the Government.

Luís Montenegro’s executive also chose Paulo Fernandes (PSD), former mayor of Fundão, to be coordinator of the Mission Structure for the recovery of areas affected by the bad weather at the beginning of this year.

Already José Ribau Esteveshistoric mayor of Aveiro (PSD), was elected president of Center Regional Coordination and Development Commission (CCDRC), a position he has held since February.

José Alberto Quintinoformer mayor of Sobral de Monte Agraço, who in the last municipal elections ceased to be a communist bastionis currently employee of the Western Energy and Environment Agency.

Reading and walking

The social democrat Carlos Carreiras, 74, retiredafter three terms as president of the Cascais Chamber, with an absolute majority, after “a very large contributory career“: he started working at the age of 16 – and to “not destabilize the family financially”.

Careers decided to tell the municipal experience in the book “Prestar Contas”, by Inês Serra Lopes, recently released, and was application agent from its former vice-president to the municipality.

The former mayor told Lusa that “you should never say never“, but it is “very far from national politics and even more so from municipal politics”, especially because it has proof that “politics is not good for health and quality of life”.

Careers continue to collaborate ‘pro bono’ with social institutions in the municipality and is “monitoring the launch of three or four projects”, linked to the Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries (CPLP) and Brazil, in addition to “some initiatives” in Portugal “related to the 2030 FIFA World Cup”, co-organized with Spain and Morocco.

“When these projects start, I suspend the reform“, he emphasized.

The jurist and former founder and activist of the CDS Basilio Hortaaged 82, elected as independent by the PS president of the Chamber of Sintra in 2013, 2017 and 2021, told Lusa that it is renovated and “completely out” active politics, despite having supported and joined the honor committee for António José Seguro’s candidacy in the recent presidential elections.

The former deputy to the Constituent Assembly and minister of several Governments said that he divides his extra time between read and walk, recovered from a recent surgical intervention to replace a heart valve, which forces a calmer rhythm.

Although retired, he has presided, since December 2025, of the Human Rights Commission of the Bar Association.

The former mayor, who started working at the age of 22 as a public prosecutor, speaks enthusiastically about the need to defend human rightswhich, despite being “the basis of a regular society where one can live in peace”, are “being despised” in America and the world, but also in Portugal, with the proposed labor law and “health policy”, without taking “basic human rights into account”.

Also Antonio Anselmo69 years old, is retired. About six months after leaving the Chamber of Borba, due to term limits, the former president is away from politics and dedicated to his family.

Back to work

Other former presidents returned to the professions they had before embarking on local politics, such as Ricardo Rio (PSD), who left the Braga Chamber to return to being a consultant and university professor.

Also Nuno Mascarenhas (PS), former president of the Chamber of Sines, returned to his old job. He returned to his duties in the financial area at the Sines and Algarve Port Administration.

Although it can now be reformed, Jose Pioreturned to work at the Federal Revenue Service in Gavião — a socialist stronghold where he was president for three consecutive terms.

Rogério Bacalhau (PSD) left the Chamber of Faro and was appointed to functions in the administration of Águas do Algarve, but returned to teaching.

Also the former president of the Chamber of Gaia, Eduardo Vítor Rodrigues (PS), who left city hall after being sentenced to loss of mandate due to embezzlement, he returned to teaching.

The former mayor returned to the Faculty of Arts from the University of Porto, where he is an assistant professor of Sociology, and awaiting trial for allegedly buying tickets to watch Champions League games with city hall money. At the time of the accusation, he guaranteed that it was a “regular and legal” purchase.

The former president of Évora Carlos Pinto de Sáelected by the CDU, is now president of the neighboring municipality of Montemor-o-Novo, elected in the municipal elections of October 2025, having returned to a position he had already held between 1994 and 2012.

Already Vítor Proençaalso mayor for the CDU, told Lusa that he was currently on vacation and dedicated to familyafter having presided over the Chambers of Santiago do Cacém and Alcácer do Sal, in the district of Setúbal, for 24 years, and having resigned from the position of councilor to which he was elected when tried to return to Santiago do Cacém.

In the end, no dinosaur truly became extinct: some have changed their habitat, others hibernate — but they all continue to roam around.