The two bills presented by the socialist deputies elected for the Faro constituency, Jamila Madeira, Luís Graça and Jorge Botelho, were voted on in plenary, having received favourable votes from deputies from all benches.

The proposals will now be sent to the Committee on Local Government and Territorial Cohesion, the body responsible for analysing whether they meet all the legally required requirements and opinions.

“Now it is just a matter of checking the specifics by the committee, whether the proposals are in accordance with the law, and then proceeding to the final overall vote”, explained deputy Jorge Botelho and PS coordinator in that committee.

According to the parliamentarian, “It is now safe to say that the Algarve has one more city and one more town from today onwards”.

In the bill, presented in September, the PS deputies state that "it is easy to conclude, by verifying the legal requirements", that Almancil meets the criteria for being elevated to the category of city.

According to the legislation, a locality can be elevated to the category of city if it has more than 8,000 voters and at least half of the following facilities: hospital facilities, pharmacies, fire brigade, entertainment venue and cultural centre, museums and library, hotel facilities, preparatory and secondary education establishment, pre-primary education establishment and nurseries, public transport and public parks or gardens.

To be elevated to the status of town, a locality must have more than 3,000 voters in a continuous population cluster and at least half of the following establishments: medical centre, pharmacy, town hall, fishermen's house, entertainment centre, cultural centre or other groups, bank branch, public transport, post office, commercial or hotel establishments and a public school.

Almancil, a parish in the municipality of Loulé, has an area of ​​62.30 square kilometres and 10,677 inhabitants, according to the 2021 Census, a population increase that has almost doubled since 1981.

The new city is located approximately 14 kilometres from Gago Coutinho International Airport, approximately six kilometres from the cities of Loulé and Quarteira and 10 kilometres from the city of Faro.

The deputies highlight in the proposal that Almancil “has a remarkable economic dynamism, cosmopolitan, with a set of infrastructures that are fundamental for economic and financial activity, of which banking institutions are the most visible part since it has, at a national level, the highest ratio of banking institutions 'per capita'”.

In the bill proposing the elevation of Boliqueime to the status of town, signed by the parliamentarians elected by Faro, joined by the socialist MP Pedro Delgado Alves, the signatories consider that the town “has all the elements, both in terms of demographics and the presence of facilities identified in the law” for its elevation.

Located between the cities of Loulé and Albufeira, Boliqueime is a parish in the municipality of Loulé, with an area of ​​46.21 square kilometres and an estimated population of around 6,000 inhabitants.