Dozens of protesters forcibly evicted in Portugal, 13 arrested

In the early hours of today, Portuguese riot police once again cleared out dozens of tents set up by demonstrators denouncing the country's housing crisis in Lisbon and Porto, using batons to disperse the demonstrators and making 13 arrests.

Dozens of officers, some accompanied by police dogs, intervened in the encampment in Rossio Square in Lisbon and in another smaller one in Dom João I Square in Porto (northwest) around 4.30am. Protesters chanted slogans such as 'This smells like dictatorship' and 'We are peaceful' as police advanced. In a statement, the police said that six people were arrested in Lisbon and seven in Porto for refusing to vacate. Protesters threw bottles, paint and firecrackers at the officers, injuring 13, eight of whom were taken to hospital.

In Porto, three plainclothes police officers who were monitoring the movements of protesters were attacked by a group of them. Police said an unspecified number of protesters were injured during the clearance operation, which was conducted "with rigor, balance and respect for citizens' rights". For its part, the activist group 'Acampada Lisboa' (Lisbon Camp) said that more than 30 people were injured, including 10 hospitalized, and called another protest in Lisbon for this afternoon. “We will not be silenced,” the group said in a statement posted on social media, accompanied by photos of protesters bruised or bleeding from injuries they attributed to “police violence.”