Portugal housing protesters return to squares, vow to press on

Thousands of protesters returned to two ‌central squares in Lisbon and Porto on Tuesday and vowed to press on with demonstrations against Portugal's deepening housing crisis, hours after police cleared tent camps before dawn and made 55 arrests. A popular assembly in Lisbon voted on Tuesday evening to return to Rossio square and ‌set up tents again on Wednesday.

Singer Ana Moura joined protesters there and performed in support of the movement. Organisers said more than ‌1,000 people had gathered in each square. Police gave no crowd estimate.

Debora Miranda, 41, a communications consultant, told Reuters she joined the Rossio square protest to represent generations struggling with soaring costs. "If people don't feel at home, in every sense of the word, they can't move forward with their lives...enough is enough." Activists had occupied Lisbon's ⁠Rossio square ​since Saturday, pitching around 200 tents, ⁠and Porto's Dom Joao I square for around 10 days.

The camps mirrored housing protests in neighbouring Spain, and coincided with unrest over rising living costs in countries such ⁠as France, Belgium and Italy. Shortly before 6 a.m., after warning protesters that the camps were illegal, police launched coordinated operations in both cities. The protesters ​took down their own tents in Porto while officers cleared Rossio square.

Carla Valadao, a spokesperson for the Lisbon camp, ⁠described the police operation as "very aggressive". Public Security Police superintendent Sergio Soares told reporters that the eviction had been "calm, proportionate and appropriate, with no police charge".

The 55 detainees were later ⁠released ​pending a court appearance in Lisbon on Wednesday. Portugal is grappling with one of Europe's worst housing affordability crises. Purchase prices have more than doubled since 2017 and rents for new leases have nearly doubled.

The squeeze is most acute in the major cities, where ⁠there has also been opposition to excessive tourism and an influx of so-called digital nomads. The protesters are demanding the centre-right government withdraw a ⁠bill making evictions easier and ⁠ending rent caps on new leases, which passed a first parliamentary reading with the abstention of the far-right Chega party.

Jorge Paixao, 19, a history student, called it "a societal crisis", saying his generation needed "the ability ‌to live with dignity, ‌start families and rejuvenate Portugal."