Portuguese police with dogs and batons dismantle housing protest camps

Portuguese police dismantled housing protest camps in Lisbon and Porto in the early hours of Sunday, using batons and police dogs to clear the sites and arresting thirty-one individuals. The forced removal of more than one hundred tents from Rossio Square in Lisbon and approximately fifty tents from Dom João I Square in Porto marks the latest escalation in a series of clashes between authorities and campaigners protesting the nation's severe housing crisis. Police stated that the operations resulted in the removal of 171 structures and the detention of 31 people for disobedience. While law enforcement officials characterized the intervention as proportionate, activist groups accused officers of employing excessive force, including the use of rubber bullets against sleeping demonstrators. The confrontation in Lisbon occurred shortly after 2:00 a.m., following a massive march through the city center on Saturday evening. Thousands of residents had gathered to demonstrate against soaring property prices that have outpaced average incomes. Dozens of officers, accompanied by canine units, entered the square to enforce prior warnings that the tents would be dismantled if not voluntarily removed. In Porto, police simultaneously cleared a smaller encampment, resulting in six additional arrests according to initial reports, though total national arrest figures cited by authorities reached 31. Discrepancies emerged immediately regarding the number of injuries sustained during the operations. Police reported eleven people injured, including three officers. However, the activist organization Casa Para Viver, known in English as A Home to Live In, disputed these figures. The group claimed that more than twenty people were injured, with some reports citing up to sixty casualties. Casa Para Viver alleged that officers used batons and fired rubber bullets at peaceful protesters who were asleep. The group issued a statement describing the timing of the raid as a political decision designed to suppress dissent rather than address the underlying economic issues. They criticized the government for prioritizing crackdowns over solutions to the housing emergency. Fabian Figueiredo, a member of parliament representing the Left Bloc, condemned the police action on social media. He described the incident as a wound inflicted upon the country's democracy. Figueiredo emphasized that the right to seek housing and the right to peaceful protest are guaranteed by the constitution. He urged citizens to continue their resistance for the sake of their future. The legal status of the detainees varied slightly across reports; while police indicated all 31 were held for disobedience, specific updates noted that 25 individuals detained in Lisbon were released with orders to appear in court on Monday. These events are part of a broader pattern of unrest that began in early October. Campaigners initially established tent camps in Porto, which were subsequently cleared by police. This tactic quickly spread to Lisbon, leading to repeated confrontations and dozens of arrests over several weeks. The movements in Portugal mirror similar protests occurring in neighboring Spain, where a large housing camp in Madrid entered its fourth week of existence. That Spanish protest has become a prominent symbol of a wider discontent that contributed to the scheduling of early general elections for November 29. The core grievance driving these demonstrations is the sharp increase in housing costs. House prices in Portugal have more than doubled since 2017, while rental prices for new leases have nearly doubled. Official statistics indicate that rents have risen by 124 percent over the last decade, a rate roughly double the European Union average. The Bank of Portugal estimates a national shortage of 300,000 homes, a deficit equivalent to the entire existing housing stock of Lisbon. Residents attribute this surge to market liberalization, the issuance of golden visas, digital nomad schemes, and the expansion of short-term rental properties. These factors have priced many locals out of the market, creating one of Europe's most acute affordability crises. Campaigners are specifically targeting legislative changes proposed by the centre-right government. They demand the scrapping of a bill that would facilitate evictions and remove rent caps on new leases. This legislation recently passed its first parliamentary reading, with the far-right Chega party abstaining from the vote. Activists argue that such measures will exacerbate the displacement of vulnerable populations. Despite the police clearance of the current camps, Casa Para Viver announced plans for further protests. Initial statements called for demonstrations on Wednesday, while other reports indicated calls for a fresh protest outside parliament on Tuesday. The government maintains that it acted within legal bounds to restore order, whereas critics view the response as an attempt to silence opposition to the housing policy agenda.