By Sergio Goncalves and Miguel Pereira
LISBON, Oct 25 (Reuters) – Portuguese police cleared a camp in central Lisbon held to protest against the country’s deepening housing crisis, baton-charging demonstrators in the early hours of Sunday and making 25 arrests.
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.
The Portuguese protests echo recent demonstrations in Spain over home shortages and surging rents. There have also been protests in cities including Paris, where small student demonstrations over school conditions broadened into wider protests against the government’s economic policies.
In Portugal, dozens of officers, some with police dogs, moved in on the camp in Rossio Square shortly after 2 a.m. (0200 GMT), having warned protesters their tents would be dismantled if they weren’t removed and threatening disobedience charges for those who resisted.
POLICE SAY OPERATIONS ‘PROPORTIONATE’
Protesters had pitched more than 100 tents after Saturday’s protest march by thousands along one of Lisbon’s main avenues.
“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.
Police said the operation was “proportionate” and that 25 people arrested for disobedience were later released and are due in court on Monday.
POLICE SAY OFFICERS AND PROTESTERS INJURED
A smaller camp of about 50 tents was also dismantled in Porto’s Praca D. Joao I, where police made six arrests.
While police reported seven minor injuries among officers and protesters in the two operations, activist group Casa para Viver (Homes to Live) said 60 people were hurt and called for a fresh protest outside parliament on Tuesday.
“Choosing the early hours of the morning to unleash dogs and baton-charge peaceful protesters is a political decision. It shows this government would rather repress those denouncing the housing crisis than address it,” the group said.
Protesters say soaring rents and higher living costs are squeezing households and turning housing into a growing source of discontent, with young people among those hardest hit.
The Bank of Portugal estimates a shortfall of 300,000 homes nationwide, equivalent to Lisbon’s entire housing stock.
The protesters are demanding that the government scrap a bill to make evictions easier and end rent caps on new leases, which passed a first parliamentary reading, although the far-right Chega party abstained.
(Reporting by Sergio Goncalves and Miguel Pereira; Editing by Clarence Fernandez, Aislinn Laing and David Holmes)
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