Police in Lisbon have dismantled a protest camp aimed at highlighting the city’s severe housing crisis, resulting in 25 arrests. Officers moved in on the camp in Rossio Square shortly after 2am on Sunday, employing batons and police dogs to disperse demonstrators.
Protesters had set up over 100 tents following a large demonstration through one of Lisbon’s main avenues on Saturday. Police had warned that the tents would be taken down if the protesters did not leave, with threats of disobedience charges for those who resisted. A smaller camp of roughly 50 tents was also cleared in Porto’s Praça D. João I, where six people were arrested.
Police described the operation as “proportionate,” noting that those arrested in Lisbon were later released and scheduled to appear in court on Monday. The police reported seven minor injuries among both officers and protesters. However, activists from the group Casa para Viver claimed that around 60 people suffered injuries and have called for a fresh protest outside parliament on Tuesday.
Casa para Viver condemned the police actions, stating, “Choosing the early hours of the morning to unleash dogs and baton-charge peaceful protesters is a political decision. It shows this government would rather repress those denouncing the housing crisis than address it.”
Portugal is facing one of Europe’s most pressing home affordability crises, with property prices having more than doubled since 2017 and rents for new leases nearly doubling as well. Protesters argue that rising rents and living costs are placing tremendous pressure on households. The Bank of Portugal estimates a shortfall of 300,000 homes across the country, mirroring the entire housing stock of Lisbon.
Demonstrators are demanding the government abandon a new bill that would ease eviction processes and remove rent caps on new leases, which has already passed its first reading in parliament, with the far-right Chega party abstaining.
These protests in Portugal resonate with recent demonstrations in Spain over similar issues of rental increases and housing shortages, and there have also been protests in cities like Paris, where initial student demonstrations expanded into broader discontent against government economic policies.
