The decision was announced after an extraordinary meeting of the General Assembly of the Association of Portuguese Wine Municipalities (AMPV) which took place in Alandroal, Évora district.
Baixo Alentejo, whose candidacy involved 13 local municipalities, beat two competing candidacies with 43 votes, one from the Algarve and the other from the Azores.
“The project foresees a series of actions and proposals to be developed in the coming months. A presentation will be made to the European Parliament on the 18th of next month”, revealed José Arruda, secretary general of AMPV.
Baixo Alentejo European City of Wine 2026 is promoted by the Intermunicipal Community of Baixo Alentejo (CIMBAL), in partnership with the Regional Tourism Authority (ERT) of Alentejo and Ribatejo.
In total, it covers 13 of the 14 municipalities in the district of Beja, that is, it reaches all CIMBAL members, leaving out only the municipality of Odemira, which, despite being part of the same district, is part of the Intermunicipal Community of Alentejo Litoral.
On April 22, in statements to the Lusa Agency, the president of Turismo do Alentejo e Ribatejo, José Manuel Santos, considered that the candidacy dossier was “strong and consistent”.
He explained that one of the objectives of the application, which proposes “more than 20 activities, three of which have a global impact”, is to “contribute to increasing the internationalization of the region”.
The project’s initiatives will seek to ensure that “the entire universe linked to wine, culture, heritage and identity of Baixo Alentejo can be better known in international markets”, highlighted José Manuel Santos.
