Marinha Grande again shapes the presidential campaign after the 1986 incident

Forty years ago, Marinha Grande was the scene of an incident that proved decisive for Mário Soares's campaign. Today the municipality is going through another crisis and few can focus on the presidential election.

Ventura lashes out at Seguro in debate where placard defending 25 April provoked tension

Democratic humility

What would the choice of the ever-present Francisco Sá Carneiro be?

Soares and Freitas, Seguro and Ventura: Differences and Similarities

Forty years after the decisive face-to-face between Soares and Freitas, Seguro and Ventura re‑enacted the two-way duel in a presidential runoff. There were some points of contact and many differences.

Forty years ago, Mário Soares and Freitas do Amaral faced each other in a debate

On Tuesday there will be a debate between the candidates who qualified for the second round of the presidential election. Forty years ago, also here on RTP, the two candidates who went through to the second round faced each other for the final time.

Ventura says in Switzerland that emigrants 'will be decisive' in the second round

Presidential elections: the series A Duas Voltas keeps getting more interesting

A documentary portrait of the 1986 presidential election by Ivan Nunes and Paulo Pena was made to prompt reflection on the present. It serves as a companion series to the 2026 elections.

A cycle tour of Portugal and a poster that changed history. What changes in a run-off?

Until this Sunday, Portugal had experienced a run-off only once. In 1986, Mário Soares faced Diogo Freitas do Amaral in a presidential election that went down in history. We hear the memories of those who ran the campaigns at the time, with pointers for those contesting in three weeks' time.

International press highlights clash between the far-right and surprise candidate Seguro

"The country was experiencing very high political tension." Mário Crespo and Henrique Garcia recall the 1986 presidential duel

Mário Crespo and Henrique Garcia recall the 1986 presidential elections, one of the most intense in the history of Portuguese democracy.

Mário Soares and Freitas do Amaral: the historic 1986 presidential elections, 40 years on

In this episode of 'History Repeats Itself', Margarida de Magalhães Ramalho and Lourenço Pereira Coutinho invited journalist João Reis Alves, author of the book 'The Second Round, 1986: the elections that changed the country', to discuss the historic 1986 presidential elections. What was the Portuguese political, economic and social context on the eve of those elections?

50 years of presidential elections in posters — from smiles to slogans

Posters have long been a staple of political campaigns. They are the communication category with the highest projected spending for the 2026 presidential election, in a contest that puts Luís Marques Mendes in the lead. But what about the past of this communication tool? What stories do the campaigns of 1976, 1986, 1996, ... tell about Portugal?

The bishop monitored by the PIDE and the two rival cousins

The Portuguese Genealogy Association has uncovered family ties linking André Ventura to two other candidates and to a Church member who was persecuted by the PIDE and nicknamed the 'revolutionary bishop'.

Jorge Pinto accused Cotrim de Figueiredo of not wanting to be President of the Republic

The candidate supported by Livre calls for a 'character impervious to any kind of corruption' in defence of the Portuguese Constitution, citing Salgueiro Maia as an example.