“First place is taken by the Madeira region, which represents a 44% share of the total revenue. The rest of the podium is filled by the municipalities of Loulé and Torres Vedras, with 24% and 13% of the total respectively, followed by Sesimbra with 7%”, reveals Reduniq Insights in a statement.

This entity, which manages the network of national and foreign multi-bank cards in Portugal, assessed turnover in local businesses during the Carnival period, between the 1st and 4th, in the municipalities of Alcobaça, Estarreja, Funchal (Madeira), Loulé, Macedo de Cavaleiros, Mealhada, Ovar, Sesimbra, Sines and Torres Vedras.

During this period, businesses saw a 7.1% increase in revenue in most of the 10 municipalities compared to the same period in 2024. The increase was more significant in the municipalities of Mealhada (+ 67.7%) and Macedo de Cavaleiros (+ 66.5%).

Mealhada was also the location that saw the greatest year-on-year growth in terms of average spending per card (+26.7%), recording an average value of 41.24 euros, as well as in terms of the average value per purchase (+30.5%), standing at 31.78 euros.

However, it was in Macedo de Cavaleiros that the highest average value per purchase was recorded (€43.19).

This municipality recorded an average expenditure per card of 48.13 euros, being surpassed by Madeira (80.31 euros) and Loulé (72.40 euros).

In comparison with 2024, there were peaks in revenue on Saturday in Mealhada (91.7%), Sesimbra (45.9%) and Loulé (25.7%), on Sunday in Sines (67.4%), Estarreja (35.9%) and in Torres Vedras (34.9%) and, on Carnival Tuesday, in Macedo de Cavaleiros (142.5%) and Alcobaça (23.7%).

The study also found that foreign transactions in these 10 municipalities were mainly from the UK, Germany, France, the Netherlands and Spain.

In Madeira, a third of the cards transacted during this period were foreign, “with Carnival having the most foreign tourists (…) and the destination where the English, Germans, French and Dutch transacted the most”.

On the other hand, Estarreja appears, where only 3.35% of the cards that transacted in local businesses were foreign.