According to reports the 60-year-old died suddenly, at home. Few other details were immediately available.

Just Thursday the Albufeira Mayor had signed a joint declaration along with the heads of ten other Algarve and Alentejo councils to demand an end to the prospecting of oil off the Portuguese coast.

In a statement released this morning the council said: “Albufeira was today confronted with the sudden and unexpected death of the Mayor, Carlos Silva e Sousa.

“Albufeira lost a great, honest and open man, cheerful and generous and, above all, always available to all. Through his example of dedication to others, to the public cause, to his unusual democratic culture and public elevation, Carlos Silva and Sousa will always be in the memory of all the inhabitants of Albufeira, as well as of all those who have had the privilege of meeting him personally.”

Terming Silva e Sousa’s death an “irreparable loss to Albufeira”, the council decreed three days of municipal mourning, to be enforced as of Friday, February 23.

The municipal flag has been lowered to half-mast in the municipal buildings as “a form of expression of regret for the loss” of the mayor.