In the Diário de Notícias (DN) editorial, written by the newspaper's editor, Filipe Alves, the focus is on five conclusions about Sunday's municipal elections, based on the reconfiguration of the political map and the trends.

According to Filipe Alves, the first conclusion is that the AD government emerged stronger, having won, alone or in coalition with the CDS-PP and the Liberal Initiative, the largest number of city councils nationwide, including the country's five largest: Lisbon, Porto, Gaia, Sintra, and Cascais.

"The second conclusion is that the Socialist Party (PS) is no longer the most voted party in the local elections, having lost crucial battles in Lisbon and Porto and seen its influence at the local level weaken," writes the DN director.

The third conclusion also highlights that "Chega has established itself as an effective force at the local level, although it has failed to end bipartisanship and has not obtained the dozens of councils it coveted." The fourth conclusion is "the erosion of the CDU, which for decades has been the third-largest force at the local level."

The fifth and final conclusion highlighted in the DN editorial concerns the disappearance of the Left Bloc as an effective force at the local level.

Big winners

In turn, the Jornal de Notícias (JN) highlights in its editorial that the PSD was the big winner on election night, based on the number of councils won, with the victories of Carlos Moedas in Lisbon and Pedro Duarte in Porto and the municipalities of Sintra, Cascais, and Gaia.

They also highlight that the PS was relegated to second place and that Chega won some city council presidencies, the most important being Albufeira, but fell short of its ambitions.

The JN editorial also highlights the communists' loss of municipalities such as Setúbal and Évora, the survival of the CDS at the national level, "with the assistance of the PSD," and the "great victory, which was the increase in voter turnout."

The Correio da Manhã (CM) editorial, written by Carlos Rodrigues, emphasizes that "the news about the end of bipartisanship is clearly premature."

"For those who thought the power of the PSD and PS was a thing of the past, the result of the municipal elections serves as proof of the enormous resilience of the two largest parties, based essentially on local presence," the editorial states.

It also emphasizes that "André Ventura has a long way to go to consolidate his personal charisma and mature it into solid and lasting party structures," noting that Sunday's vote "also highlighted the need for dialogue."

In the Público newspaper editorial, Manuel Carvalho emphasizes that the PS and PSD remain the hegemonic forces on the ground, noting that the PSD has increased its number of chambers and consolidated its strength in the country's largest municipalities, while Chega's result fell short of expectations.

"The CDU and CDS, especially the CDS, can say that the night of the 12th was a happy one. Nuno Melo's party survives in national politics with the support of the PSD, but at the local level it continues to demonstrate a remarkable capacity for resilience," writes Manuel Carvalho.

Observador also highlights today that the municipal elections reinforced confidence in the government, with the PSD becoming the largest municipal force and Chega's result falling short in Sunday's elections.

Expresso also highlights that "the Social Democrats won 22 more chambers and the Socialists lost 22."

"While the PSD swept the five largest, the PS won five district capitals. On a night of defeat for the PCP, Chega fell far short of expectations, but won its first three local councils," the newspaper writes.