The deepening housing crisis in Portugal has brought about anti-government demonstrations. After the march attended by thousands of people in the capital Lisbon on Saturday, more than 50 tents were set up in Rossio Square.
Demonstrators argued that the bill prepared by the centre-right minority government, which aims to facilitate the eviction of tenants, would further aggravate the housing crisis.
At around 04.30 local time on Sunday, dozens of police officers, including teams with police dogs, intervened in the tent camp in Rossio Square.
Police commander Iuri Rodrigues warned the demonstrators three times before the intervention and asked for the tents set up without permission to be removed. The warnings stated that if the tents were not removed, they would be dismantled by the police and those who resisted could face charges of disobeying the order.
Hundreds of demonstrators gathered in the square to protect the tent camp were dispersed after the police intervened with shields and batons.
Police also removed a smaller tent camp set up in Dom João I Square in Porto, another major city of the country.
HOUSING PRICES MORE THAN DOUBLED
Portugal is facing one of the worst housing crises in Europe. Especially young people feel the housing problem more intensely due to rising housing prices and rents.
While housing prices in the country have more than doubled since 2017, the rents in new lease agreements have also almost doubled.
The growing protests in recent weeks coincided with demonstrations against increasing living costs and housing problems in different European countries, especially Spain, France and Germany.
The focus of the protests is the new rent regulation prepared by the government led by Prime Minister Luís Montenegro.
The bill aims to make it easier to evict tenants and remove rent restrictions imposed on new leases.
Protesters against the regulation, which passed the first vote in parliament with the far-right Chega party abstaining, are demanding the full withdrawal of the bill.
Protesters argue that the regulation will undermine tenants' protections and further deepen the existing housing crisis.
PRIME MINISTER REFUSED TO WITHDRAW THE BILL
Portuguese Prime Minister Luís Montenegro announced on Thursday that they will not withdraw the controversial bill.
However, Montenegro said that they are open to making changes to the bill before the final vote, which is expected to be held in the coming weeks.
Stating that political parties should approach each other for reconciliation, Montenegro emphasized that they will not give up on the basic line of the government program.
The police's intervention against tent camps also drew the reaction of the opposition.
Socialist Party Deputy Pedro Delgado Alves stated that the demonstrations in Rossio Square were peaceful and criticized the police intervention.
Alves argued that there was no situation in the square that would justify the use of force or baton intervention.
A week ago, while dispersing the tent camps set up in the same squares, the police intervened with the demonstrators with batons and detained dozens of people.
CALL FROM THE SOCIALIST PARTY TO THE GOVERNMENT FOR NEGOTIATION
Socialist Party leader José Luís Carneiro also called on the government to meet with opposition parties and protesters regarding the housing regulation.
Carneiro stated that the government should take social demands into account instead of imposing its own views.
Carneiro, who criticized the government for displaying an authoritarian approach from time to time, called for dialogue to find a solution to the housing crisis.
The controversial rent regulation is expected to be put to a final vote in parliament in the coming weeks.
