Portuguese law enforcement officers deployed shields and batons early Sunday to clear housing protest encampments in Lisbon and Porto, marking the second consecutive weekend of aggressive police clearings amid a severe national affordability crisis.
Dozens of officers, accompanied by police dogs, moved into Lisbon’s Rossio Square at approximately 4:30 a.m. local time on Sunday. The raid followed a large-scale demonstration on Saturday that brought thousands of marchers into the capital’s streets to demand that the government withdraw a controversial rental bill.
Protesters had established a camp of more than 50 tents following the Saturday march. Police commander Iuri Rodrigues issued three sequential warnings ordering demonstrators to clear the tents, declaring the encampment illegal and warning that individuals resisting removal would face criminal disobedience charges.
Officers dispersed hundreds of demonstrators who had formed human shields around the camp. Authorities simultaneously dismantled a smaller tent encampment located in Porto’s Dom Joao I square.
The early-morning operation drew immediate political criticism. Lawmaker Pedro Delgado Alves argued prior to the raid that Rossio Square had remained peaceful and asserted that nothing justified a police intervention involving force, physical violence, or baton charges reminiscent of clashes witnessed the previous week.
Sunday’s sweep followed identical operations in the same squares the prior Sunday, during which law enforcement arrested 25 individuals in Lisbon and six in Porto. Housing campaign organization Casa para Viver reported that 60 people sustained injuries during those earlier interventions, which police defended as proportionate.
The demonstrations underscore escalating public anger over housing affordability across Europe, mirroring recent protests in Spain and widespread opposition to government economic policies in France, Germany, and Albania.
Portugal currently grapples with one of the most acute housing crises in Europe, hitting younger generations particularly hard. Official figures show that property prices have more than doubled since 2017, while rental rates for new leases have risen by nearly the same margin. The Bank of Portugal estimates that the country faces a nationwide deficit of 300,000 residential units—a figure roughly equal to the entire housing inventory of Lisbon.
Demonstrators are demanding that the minority center-right government scrap proposed legislation designed to streamline evictions and lift rent controls on new leases, arguing the measures will exacerbate housing scarcity and leave tenants increasingly vulnerable.
