Any idea that Portugal is immune to the growth of the far Right witnessed in several other European nations over the last decade is being put to the test by recent events.
The populist radical Right party, Chega, founded in 2019 by André Ventura and other dissidents from the Portuguese Social Democratic Party (PSD), has been making inroads on the political scene. In its first election, that same year, it became the first far-Right party to elect a member to the Portuguese National Assembly since 1974, the year that marked the end of the authoritarian regime of the Estado Novo.
The legality of the party is now being challenged in court on the grounds that it has violated the Portuguese Constitution, which forbids the existence of racist organisations or associations that propagate fascist ideology.
