The Council of Portuguese Communities (CCP), Hilário Cunha elects its members on Sunday, with one of the seats going to a representative of emigrants in Spain.

There are 45 thousand Portuguese registered in Spain, but the community is much larger, probably exceeding 100 thousand people, according to Hilário Cunha.

It is a "very large community" and "without any organisation", without having "a Portuguese association itself", for example, which makes mobilization difficult, said the candidate for councillor, who is 41 years old and has lived in Madrid for 16 years, where he works in the banking sector.

The largest centres of the registered community are in Madrid and Barcelona, and there is also a significant group of Portuguese in the south, in the Malaga region.

In the border regions, there are many Portuguese who work in Spain, but live in Portugal or, as in many other areas, remain registered in Portuguese territory or maintain Portuguese addresses on their citizenship cards.

"We are not far from Portugal, in some cases, many of them, are closer to their families in Madrid than if they had migrated, for example, to Lisbon", explained Hilário Cunha.

Given the little or no organisation in the community, the objective of the candidacy is also to "spread information to the community" and facilitate processes in which the Portuguese find themselves involved in Spain.

"The objective is not just to complain, but also to provoke communication channels in the community for the services we want to have and the processes for the community", said Hilário Cunha.

The Council of Portuguese Communities (CCP) is the Government's advisory body for policies relating to emigration and Portuguese communities abroad.

The CCP is made up of a maximum of 90 members, elected by Portuguese citizens residing abroad who are voters for the Assembly of the Republic.

The term of office of advisors lasts four years.