Pedro Santana Lopes facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Pedro Santana Lopes GCC
Santana Lopes in 2005
Prime Minister of Portugal
In office 17 July 2004 – 12 March 2005
President	Jorge Sampaio
Preceded by	José Manuel Barroso
Succeeded by	José Sócrates
Mayor of Figueira da Foz
Incumbent
Assumed office 17 October 2021
Preceded by	Carlos Monteiro
In office 14 December 1997 – 16 December 2001
Preceded by	Aguiar de Carvalho
Succeeded by	António Duarte Silva
Chair of Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Lisboa
In office 14 September 2011 – 20 October 2017
Preceded by	Rui Cunha
Succeeded by	Edmundo Martinho
Mayor of Lisbon
In office 14 March 2005 – 28 October 2005
Preceded by	Carmona Rodrigues
Succeeded by	Carmona Rodrigues
In office 23 January 2002 – 17 July 2004
Preceded by	João Soares
Succeeded by	Carmona Rodrigues
President of the Social Democratic Party
In office 30 June 2004 – 10 April 2005
Secretary-General	Miguel Relvas
Preceded by	José Manuel Barroso
Succeeded by	Luís Marques Mendes
Secretary of State for Culture
In office 9 January 1990 – 30 December 1994
Prime Minister	Aníbal Cavaco Silva
Preceded by	Teresa Gouveia
Succeeded by	Manuel Frexes
Secretary of State for the Presidency of the Council of Ministers
In office 6 November 1985 – 17 August 1987
Prime Minister	Aníbal Cavaco Silva
Preceded by	Alfredo Barroso
Succeeded by	Luís Marques Mendes
President of Sporting CP
In office 2 June 1995 – 11 April 1996
Preceded by	Sousa Cintra
Succeeded by	José Roquette
Member of the Assembly of the Republic
In office 29 October 2005 – 14 October 2009
Constituency	Lisbon
In office 17 December 2001 – 22 January 2002
Constituency	Lisbon
In office 5 October 1980 – 30 September 1995
Constituency	Lisbon
Member of the European Parliament
In office 14 September 1987 – 24 July 1989
Constituency	Portugal
Personal details
Born	(1956-06-29) 29 June 1956 (age 69) Lisbon, Portugal
Political party	Independent (2021–present)
Other political affiliations	Social Democratic (1976–2018) Alliance (2018–2021)
Spouses	Maria Isabel Marques Dias ​ ​ (m. 1979, divorced)​ Maria Teresa de Arriaga ​ ​ (m. 1983, divorced)​
Children	5
Relatives	Kaúlza de Arriaga (former father-in-law) Manuela Ferreira Leite (cousin)
Alma mater	University of Lisbon
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Pedro Miguel de Santana Lopes is a Portuguese lawyer and politician. He was born on June 29, 1956. He is currently the mayor of Figueira da Foz. He is best known for serving as the Prime Minister of Portugal from 2004 to 2005.

Early Life and Education

Pedro Santana Lopes was born in Lisbon, Portugal. He studied law at the University of Lisbon. While there, he was the leader of the Student Union. After finishing his studies, he became a lawyer.

Starting a Political Career

Santana Lopes joined the Social Democratic Party (PSD) in 1976. He began his political journey as a deputy in the Assembly of the Republic, which is like Portugal's parliament.

In 1979, he became a legal advisor to the Prime Minister at the time, Francisco Sá Carneiro. Santana Lopes has always said he followed Sá Carneiro's political ideas.

Roles in Government

• In 1986, he became an assistant to Prime Minister Aníbal Cavaco Silva.
• He later served in the European Parliament for two years.
• From 1990 to 1994, he was the Secretary of State for Culture. He left this role due to disagreements.

Becoming a Mayor

After leaving his government role, Santana Lopes returned to working as a lawyer.

• In 1997, he successfully ran to become the mayor of Figueira da Foz.
• In 2001, he became the mayor of Lisbon, which was a big surprise at the time.

Serving as Prime Minister

In July 2004, the Prime Minister, José Manuel Barroso, resigned to become the head of the European Commission. Santana Lopes then became the leader of the PSD party. Since his party was part of the government, he was chosen to be the new Prime Minister of Portugal.

Challenges During His Term

Santana Lopes' time as Prime Minister was short.

• The country's economy was facing difficulties.
• There were some issues with how his government started. For example, some ministers' roles were changed right after they were announced.
• There were also problems with assigning teachers to schools.
• Some people also raised concerns about pressure on the media.

End of His Term

His time as Prime Minister ended on November 30, 2004. The President, Jorge Sampaio, decided to call for an early election in February 2005. Santana Lopes resigned on December 11, 2004, and his government continued only as a caretaker until the election.

In the 2005 election, his party lost to the Socialist Party. Santana Lopes then resigned as the leader of his party.

After Being Prime Minister

Even after his defeat, Santana Lopes remained active in politics.

• He kept his seat in the Assembly of the Republic.
• He also returned to his role as mayor of Lisbon for a short time.
• In 2007, he led the PSD Parliamentary Group.
• In 2009, he ran for mayor of Lisbon again but did not win.

Leading a Charity

In September 2011, Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho appointed Santana Lopes to lead Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Lisboa. This is a charity that manages Portugal's national lottery. He continued in this role until October 2017.

Forming a New Party

In 2017, Santana Lopes tried to become the leader of the Social Democratic Party again but lost. He then decided to leave the party after 42 years. In June 2018, he announced he would create a new political party.

Alliance Party

On August 18, 2018, his new party was named Alliance. It was officially registered in October.

• The party ran in the 2019 European Parliament election. Santana Lopes was not a candidate himself.
• During the campaign, Santana Lopes and the party's top candidate were involved in a car accident. They recovered, but the accident affected their campaign.
• The party did not win any seats in the European Parliament.
• They also ran in the 2019 Portuguese legislative election but did not win any seats in the parliament.

In 2020, Santana Lopes stepped down as the leader of the Alliance party. In January 2021, he left the party completely.

Return to Figueira da Foz

After leaving Alliance, Santana Lopes decided to run for mayor of Figueira da Foz again. He had been mayor there before, from 1998 to 2001.

• He ran with a group called "Figueira The First."
• His candidacy created a lot of interest.
• In the election on September 26, 2021, his group won the most votes.
• He officially took office as mayor of Figueira da Foz on October 17, 2021.
• As mayor, he announced a deal to build a university campus in Figueira da Foz. This campus opened in December 2022.

In April 2023, Santana Lopes mentioned he might consider running for President of Portugal in the next election. However, in October 2023, he decided not to run.

In January 2024, he attended a meeting of the Democratic Alliance, a group led by his former party. This led to talk about him possibly rejoining the Social Democratic Party.

Outside Politics: Sporting CP

After his time as Secretary of State for Culture, Santana Lopes became the president of Sporting CP, a famous football club. Even though he was president for less than a year, the club won the Portuguese Cup in football under his leadership in 1995.

Honours and Awards

Santana Lopes has received several awards and honours for his work.

From Portugal

• Grand Cross of the Order of Christ (2010)

From Other Countries

•  Austria: Grand Decoration of Honour in Gold with Sash of the Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria (2004)
•  Brazil: Grand Cross of the National Order of the Southern Cross (1991 and 2003)
•  Hungary: Grand Cross of the Hungarian Order of Merit (2002)
•  Morocco: Grand Cordon of the Order of Ouissam Alaouite (1995)

See also

In Spanish: Pedro Santana Lopes para niños

• Politics of Portugal
• Social Democratic Party (Portugal)