Portuguese police violently clear protester camp, dozens injured

At around 4:30 a.m. local time on Sunday, dozens of Portuguese police officers advanced into Rossio Square in Lisbon and Dom Joao I Square in Porto and dismantled demonstrators' camps. This comes after protesters held a peaceful march on Saturday (October 31) targeting soaring housing costs. Protesters set up tents in the square.

Police used shields and batons to disperse protesters during the cleanup. In Lisbon and Porto, 69 and 30 tents were dismantled respectively.

Police said demonstrators threw glass bottles and paint at them as they entered the camp. A total of 13 people were arrested in Lisbon and Porto for refusing to carry out the disbandment order. At the Lisbon campsite alone, more than 30 protesters were injured, 10 of whom were sent to hospital for treatment. On the police side, 13 officers were injured, eight of whom were sent to hospital.

A lawyer representing those arrested in Porto told the media that the police response was "excessive" and believed that the scale and methods used by the government were too aggressive.

Hours before the clearing, more than 1,000 demonstrators marched through central Lisbon to protest against Portugal's worsening housing crisis.

They criticize Portugal's center-right minority government for not only pushing for legal amendments to facilitate the eviction of tenants, but also for removing rent caps on new leases.

Portuguese Prime Minister Luis Montenegro has ruled out withdrawing the bill, although he acknowledged that there is still room for revisions to the bill before a final vote.

Portugal has one of the worst housing crises in Europe, with house prices more than doubling on average since 2017.