The far-right Chega party won 18% of the vote in Portugal's early legislative elections. Chega's breakthrough surprised everyone, marking the end of Portuguese exceptionalism.
Corruption scandals propelled Chega, surfed on this anti-corruption dynamic to position itself "as a white knight of democracy and in a very anti-system rhetoric" The far right owes its meteoric rise to its leader, André Ventura, who has managed over the years to occupy the media space and social networks.