Police clear protest camps in Lisbon and Porto — Deutsche Welle

Portuguese police dismantled tent camps set up by participants in protests against high housing costs at Rossio Square in Lisbon and Dom João I Square in Porto on Sunday morning. As Deutsche Welle reports, the operation began at around 4:30 a.m. local time after participants in peaceful Saturday marches pitched tents in the squares.

Detentions and injuries

Police used shields and batons to disperse the people. Police said that some demonstrators threw bottles and paint at law enforcement officers. According to police, six people were detained in Lisbon and seven in Porto for refusing to comply with an order to disperse.

Police also reported 13 injured officers, eight of whom were taken to hospital. The statement did not specify the number of injured civilians. At the same time, the Acampada Lisboa movement said that more than 30 protesters were injured, including 10 who were hospitalized. One of the lawyers representing those detained in Porto called the police actions disproportionate due to the scale of the operation and the measures used.

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Protests over rental bill

Several hours before the camps were dismantled, more than a thousand people marched through central Lisbon, protesting the deepening housing crisis. Participants in the protests are demanding that the center-right minority government abandon plans intended to make evictions easier and remove rent caps for new contracts.

Portuguese Prime Minister Luís Montenegro ruled out withdrawing the bill but acknowledged the possibility of changes to it before the final vote. According to Deutsche Welle, property prices in the country have more than doubled since 2017.