Protesters had pitched more than 100 tents in Rossio Square to demonstrate against soaring rents and the high cost of living.
Key takeaways
Portuguese police dismantled a housing protest camp in Lisbon's Rossio Square, making arrests after warning demonstrators to remove their tents. The action followed a large march highlighting Portugal's severe housing affordability crisis, which has seen prices and rents rise sharply since 2017.
- Police used dogs and threatened disobedience charges to clear the camp in Rossio Square shortly after 2am.
- Protesters erected over 100 tents following a Saturday march by thousands of people through Lisbon.
- Left Bloc lawmaker Fabian Figueiredo criticized the police response as disproportionate given the lack of public disorder.
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Riot police remove tents as they advance on demonstrators during a rally for the right to housing in Lisbon. (EPA Images)LISBON: 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.
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