55 protesters detained in Portugal after camps dismantled — Deutsche Welle

In Lisbon, Porto and other cities in Portugal, thousands of people took to the streets on Tuesday evening to demand affordable housing. The protests took place several hours after police dismantled activists’ tent camps and detained a total of 55 people, Deutsche Welle reports.

The organizers said that more than a thousand participants gathered at each of the two main protest sites — Lisbon and Porto. Police did not provide crowd estimates. At Lisbon’s central Rossio Square, demonstrators voted to set up a tent camp again on Wednesday.

Police operations in Lisbon and Porto

Coordinated police operations began shortly before 6:00 a.m. on Tuesday, after participants had been warned that the camps were illegal. Activists had been staying in Rossio Square since Saturday and set up about 200 tents. In Porto, protesters had camped in Dom João I Square for about 10 days.

During the operation, law enforcement officers seized 228 camping structures. In Porto, participants dismantled their tents themselves after police intervention was threatened. In Lisbon, protesters formed a human chain as officers cleared the square. Local television channels showed footage of clashes that occurred later.

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Carla Valadão, a representative of the Lisbon camp, described the police actions as “very aggressive.” At the same time, public security police superintendent Sérgio Soares said the eviction was calm, proportionate and appropriate, and took place without a police assault. All 55 detainees were later released; they are due to appear in court in Lisbon on Wednesday.

Protesters’ demands

Participants in the rallies oppose the deepening housing crisis, which is making it increasingly less affordable to buy or rent housing. According to the report, property prices in Portugal have more than doubled since 2017, while rent under new contracts has nearly doubled over the same period.

Demonstrators accuse the centre-right government of failing to solve the problem. They demand the withdrawal of a bill that would simplify evictions and abolish rent caps for new contracts. The document has already passed its first reading in parliament.