CHEGA

CHEGA (meaning "Enough" in Portuguese) held its own demonstration in Lisbon in March 2026 against what it calls "uncontrolled immigration", positioning itself in direct opposition to housing-Justice protests that took place in more than sixteen Portuguese cities in the same period. The two protest movements represent incompatible demands on the same institution, AIMA, which is simultaneously criticised by the left for failing migrants and by the far right for allowing too many.

CHEGA was founded in 2019 by André Ventura and entered Parliament in 2019 with one seat. By 2024 it had become Portugal's third-largest party, winning 18% of the vote in the March 2024 general election and 50 of 230 seats. Its platform combines social conservatism, Eurosceptic rhetoric and an anti-immigration stance. It has refused to join Coalition governments with the mainstream centre-right PSD (Social Democrats), though PSD formed a minority government in 2024 that depends on ad hoc parliamentary arithmetic.

CHEGA's stance on immigration puts it in direct tension with the March 2026 parliamentary vote that doubled the residency-to-citizenship requirement from five to ten years. That vote passed 152 to 64, a majority that included centrist parties rather than being driven by CHEGA alone. The far right is shaping the boundary of permissible immigration policy without needing to be in government.