Lisbon and Porto: Police clear protest camps against housing shortage

The housing crisis is hitting young people in Portugal particularly hard - and they are taking to the streets to demand cheap rents. Now the Portuguese police say they have again cleared protest camps set up by demonstrators against the housing shortage in the cities of Lisbon and Porto. They intervened early in the morning "to dismantle these illegal camps," the police said in the online service X.

Dozens of officers descended on Rossio Square after asking demonstrators to remove their tents. "When the dialogue ended, the operation resulted in 31 arrests for disobedience," it continued. The organizers of the protest camps denounced the disproportionate use of force by the officers. According to media reports, they spoke of 37 injured demonstrators, most of them in Lisbon. According to differing information from the police, eleven people were injured, including three officers.

Left Bloc MP Fabian Figueiredo called the police operation “completely disproportionate” because there was no disruption to public order. The demonstrators are demanding that the government overturn a bill to ease evictions and cap rents for new contracts. According to estimates by the Portuguese Central Bank, there is a shortage of 300,000 apartments across the country. There have been similar protests recently in Belgium, France, Italy and Spain.

The housing crisis in Portugal is one of the worst in Europe. Real estate prices have more than doubled since 2017, and rents for new contracts have risen almost as much. Young people are particularly affected. "We have a duty to fight for what we believe in," said 21-year-old demonstrator Vitor Gomes. Housing speculation, wealth concentration and growing inequality made him pessimistic about the future.

The housing shortage is also a major issue in neighboring Spain. In September, the forced eviction from the apartment of 87-year-old pensioner Maricarmen Abascal, who later died, sparked nationwide protests. The owner wanted to massively increase the rent. The dispute over housing policy led to Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez calling new elections for November 29th.