Police in Portugal have dismantled housing protest camps in Lisbon and Porto, baton-charging campaigners in the early hours of Sunday and arresting more than 30 people.
The raids were the latest incident in days of clashes between police and campaigners who – inspired by similar camps in Spain – had sought to pitch tents in central squares to protest against the country’s deepening housing crisis.
Dozens of officers, some with dogs, moved shortly after 2am on Sunday to clear out the more than 100 tents that had sprung up in Lisbon’s Rossio Square. Police said they had also taken down a smaller camp of about 50 tents in Porto’s Dom João I Square.
The camp in the heart of Lisbon had been set up after thousands of people marched along one of the Portuguese capital’s main thoroughfares to rail against housing prices that have soared past average incomes in the country.
Police described their actions on Sunday as proportionate and said they had earlier urged people to leave the camps of their own accord. The operations in the two cities led to the arrests of 31 people for disobedience and 171 structures were removed, police said on social media. Eleven people were injured, including three police officers.
Reuters reported that 25 people detained in Lisbon had been released with orders to appear in court on Monday.
The group Casa Para Viver (A Home to Live In) contested the police figures, saying the raids had left more than 20 people injured as police moved into the camps with batons, dogs and rubber bullets.
“Choosing the early morning to deploy police dogs and fire rubber bullets at people who were sleeping or peacefully protesting is a political decision,” the group said in a statement as it called for further protests on Wednesday. “It shows that this government would rather crack down on those who speak out against the housing crisis than solve the crisis itself.”
Fabian Figueiredo, an MP with the Left Bloc, described the police action as a “wound that had been inflicted” on the country’s democracy. “Fighting for a home is a right. So is peaceful protest. The constitution guarantees both,” he said on social media. “Let’s keep going – for the sake of our future.”
The housing protest camps in Portugal trace back to early October when campaigners began pitching tents in Porto, prompting police to clear them out. Similar actions soon began sprouting up in Lisbon, leading to dozens of arrests and reports of injuries as police repeatedly clashed with campaigners.
As European cities grapple with a wave of discontent, much of the focus in Spain and Portugal has been on housing costs that have priced many local people out of the market.
House prices in Portugal have more than doubled since 2017, while those seeking to rent have struggled with prices that have nearly doubled, fuelling one of Europe’s most acute home affordability crises .
Residents have long told of bearing the brunt of a market that has surged as a result of liberalisation, the issuing of so-called golden visas, digital nomad schemes and the proliferation of short-term rentals.
Campaigners have called on the centre-right government to scrap proposed legislation that would make evictions easier and end rent caps on new leases. The legislation recently passed a first parliamentary reading.
In Spain, the sprawling housing camp in the centre of Madrid marked its fourth week on Saturday , becoming one of the most tangible symbols of a widespread protest movement that has led to early general elections on 29 November.
With contributions from Reuters and Agence France-Presse
