In March 1249, King Afonso III of Portugal captured Faro, the last Muslim stronghold in Algarve, ending the Portuguese Reconquista.

The Portuguese monarchs therefore adopted the title that they would use until the fall of the monarchy in 1910: "Kings of Portugal and the Algarves of either side of the sea in Africa".

During the 19th century, a serious clash between pro-constitutionalism liberals and pro-absolutism antiliberals, caused a civil war in Portugal (1828–1834), and in Algarve an exodus of people from the Algarvian inlands to the coastal cities.

José Joaquim Sousa Reis, an antiliberal known as Remexido, fought in the inlands and attacked the coastal cities, bringing the urban population into turmoil.

On November 26, 1836, Miguel I of Portugal, already defeated and living in exile, named Remexido Governor of the Kingdom of the Algarve and Acting Commander in Chief of all the Royalist Troops, Regular and Irregular Armies, and the Operations in the South.

Remexido, however, was captured near São Marcos da Serra and shot in Faro on August 2, 1838, after being subjected to a summary trial.