Raul Perestrello is a Madeiran who is back in his homeland after spending more than half his life outside the archipelago. The 61-year-old businessman was born in the town of Manchico and has family roots that go back to Bartolomeu Perestrelo, one of the first settlers on the island of Madeira. At the age of 20, he left home and, after a long journey across the African continent, he returned to settle in another island territory: Australia. In the continental country of Oceania, the Madeiran lived for 30 years, started a family and embarked on the precious metals industry.

"My activity encompassed the manufacture of fine jewellery, its wholesale distribution to large retail groups with hundreds of shops, as well as direct trade, including family shops and individual designers," he explains on his application page.

After completing a degree in Electrical Engineering, Raul Perestrello and his family founded "one of the largest fine jewellery factories in Brisbane, producing over 30,000 pieces of precious metal jewellery every month," he says of the company that was once one of the three largest producers of this type of metal in the country. However, the candidate assumes that his "great passion" has always been the property market. In Portugal, the Madeiran made investments in the hotel and local accommodation sectors. This return to his home country - which Perestrello justifies with "the desire to bring all the knowledge and ideas that can enhance the country" - ultimately motivated his presidential candidacy. And he hopes that his trump card in this election will be his experience in the business world. "I will bring all this experience, this vision and this desire to make things happen to public life, to better serve Portugal and the Portuguese," he says in a reply sent to Observador .

At the moment, the Madeiran's candidacy is carrying out the collection process, guaranteeing that he will "certainly have the necessary signatures" to go to the polls. Perestrello concedes that he is starting out "with the disadvantage of being unknown to the majority of voters" and recognises that he will be singled out for his "lack of political experience", but believes that he can make up for this with his life and professional experience. The candidate explains that the reason he emigrated was not because he needed to, but "because he wanted to grow more". After more than three decades as a businessman, the Madeiran says he knows what it's like to "create jobs, face crises, manage resources and make difficult decisions".

Raul Perestrello considers that the "great differential" of his candidacy is that he has never been linked to political or institutional positions. Recognising that the geopolitical landscape is changing, he argues that "we need solutions and leadership alternatives based on models and people that are different from what has been the case in the past". mainstream of recent decades". Thus, the Madeiran says he wants to speak like all the Portuguese, regardless of their party colour, and excludes being of the left or the right. "I intend to be a President who collaborates and builds bridges between all parties and with the entire population."

Even so, Perestrello reveals that he believes in the "values of social democracy, as well as Christian and family values" and that he doesn't see himself in parties that "are at the extremes of the political spectrum". Not ruling out accepting potential party support for the time being, the candidate says he wants to take things "one step at a time" and is focused on making himself known. Comparing himself to Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, Raul Perestrello says he is in favour of "a slightly more interventionist presidency, within constitutional limits". The candidate suggests that the next head of state could have this role reinforced, namely by promoting "broad national pacts on fundamental issues".

Regarding a possible declaration of support for another candidate in a second round of the presidential elections, Perestrello rejects the issue at this stage: "I'm in this candidacy until the end and I believe I have the conditions to be the next President of the Republic."