Portugal's housing crisis triggers demonstrations, police dismantle tents and arrest many

(Central News Agency, Lisbon, Comprehensive Foreign News Report on the 25th) Portuguese police demolished a protest camp set up by demonstrators in the center of Lisbon, the capital, early this morning. In the process, many people were arrested. It was reported that someone was slightly injured, but the number of injured and arrested has not yet been announced.

Reuters reports that Portugal is facing one of the most severe housing affordability crises in Europe. Since 2017, local housing prices have more than doubled, and rents for newly signed leases have almost doubled. Young people have been particularly hard hit.

Demonstrators set up more than 100 tents in the square after thousands of people marched along the capital's main streets yesterday.

Vitor Gomes, a 21-year-old student who participated in the demonstration, said, "We have an obligation to fight for the ideas we believe in." He also said that real estate speculation, wealth concentration and the widening gap between rich and poor made him pessimistic about the future.

After 2 a.m. this morning, dozens of police officers entered the protest camp in Rossio Square, some of them with police dogs. The police had asked the demonstrators to remove their tents beforehand, otherwise they would be forcibly dismantled and threatened to charge those who resisted with obstruction of official duties.

The police had just demolished another similar local camp on the 20th, so before this operation, hundreds of people gathered at the scene to try to protect the camp.

The Bank of Portugal estimates that the national housing shortage is about 300,000 units, equivalent to the total existing housing stock in Lisbon.

Demonstrators asked the government to withdraw a bill. The bill, which aims to make it easier for landlords to evict tenants and remove rent caps on new leases, has completed its first reading in Congress, with the far-right Chega party abstaining from the vote.