The measure will come into effect from March 1st, according to a proposal from FAGAR, the company that manages the service, approved by the City Council.

The proposal clarifies that the update will only come into effect “after municipal deliberation and assessment by ERSAR [Water and Waste Services Regulatory Authority], on 1 March 2026”, with the 2025 tariff remaining in effect until that date.

“Thus, to comply with ERSAR's tariff recommendation, the 2026 tariff, which will only affect the user over 10 months, was subject to a 2.14% update, instead of the 1.8% that would normally be applied over 12 months,” reads the proposal approved by the Faro City Council.

The approval of the water tariff increase was criticised by the PSD of Faro, which rejected the argument invoked by the PS majority that the increase aimed to address FAGAR's “financial difficulties” and avoid “possible financial losses” due to prices not having been readjusted.

“It is important to emphasise that Faro, along with Tavira and Olhão, has some of the highest water prices in the Algarve region. In contrast, in 2023, the Socialist Party opposed the increase proposed by the previous executive [led by the PSD], classifying it as unjustifiable, serious and a ‘plunder of the people of Faro’, and highlighting that ERSAR - the regulatory entity - had recommended reducing the price because it considered it above what was necessary to cover the company's operating costs,” the PSD argued in a statement.

The PSD criticized the PS's “inconsistency” for “radically changing its position” and “dishonouring its previous position” and considered that, “instead of increasing the price of water, measures should be implemented to improve the company's efficiency” and “reduce losses and recover obsolete pipelines”, benefiting from the “100% non-refundable funding” available for this area in the Algarve. “This is an opportunity that cannot be missed. Raising prices without further ado is neither knowing nor doing,” the PSD added.

The Lusa news agency asked the municipal executive, with a socialist majority, for a reaction to the PSD's criticism, and the mayor of Faro, António Miguel Pina, replied that “the interpretation that the PSD is now making constitutes, in practice, a reversal of reality.”

“Today, the law and regulatory guidelines are being followed; before, the opportunity was exploited for the benefit of the citizens and to their detriment; that is, in 2023, the former PSDB executive increased rates by more than 300% in some cases – well above what was recommended,” the mayor stated.

Antonio Miguel Pina considered that the accounts are “simple, incomparable and deserving of intellectual honesty” and demonstrate that, taking into account the 12 months of the year, “in 2026, the adjustment is only 1.8% - below the inflation recorded in 2025, which was 2.3%”.

The mayor classified the PSD's position as “political theatre” and assured that the PS majority will “ignore the noise” and “continue working rigorously and calmly to project the municipality's accounts with transparency, reinforce the structural solutions that protect the purchasing power of families and guarantee the sustainability of essential public services”.