Portuguese cops clear Lisbon housing protest camp, make arrests

Portuguese police cleared a housing protest camp from the centre of Lisbon in the early hours of Sunday, charging demonstrators and making several arrests, with minor injuries reported, though figures were not immediately available.

Portugal is grappling with one of Europe’s most acute home affordability crises, as prices have more than doubled since 2017, while rents for new leases have nearly doubled, with young people among the hardest hit.

“We have an obligation to fight for what we believe in,” said one marcher, Vitor Gomes, 21, a multimedia communications student, adding that housing speculation, wealth concentration and rising inequality made him pessimistic about the future.

Shortly after 2am, dozens of officers, some with police dogs, moved in on the camp in Rossio Square, after warning protesters to remove their tents or face their dismantling, and threatening disobedience charges for those who resisted.

Protesters had pitched more than 100 tents after Saturday’s protest march by thousands along one of the capital’s main avenues.

Hundreds gathered to protect the encampment after police dismantled a similar camp there on Tuesday.

The police action was “completely disproportionate”, however, as there had been no public disorder, Left Bloc lawmaker Fabian Figueiredo said before the action.

“The worst thing that could happen tonight was having this police force charge hundreds of people who are here peacefully. Why?” asked Figueiredo, who was at the camp.

Protesters say soaring rents and higher living costs are squeezing households and turning housing into a growing source of discontent, with young people among those hardest hit.

The Bank of Portugal estimates a shortfall of 300,000 homes nationwide, equivalent to Lisbon’s entire housing stock.

The protesters are demanding that the government scrap a bill to make evictions easier and end rent caps on new leases, which passed a first parliamentary reading, although the far-right Chega party abstained.

The protest followed similar demonstrations in Belgium, France, Italy and Spain.

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