Follow-Up: Thousands Rally Outside Portugal's Parliament in Lisbon Over Housing Crisis, as Police Clearances Face an Official Inquiry
LISBON — Thousands rallied outside Portugal's parliament in Lisbon on Tuesday to protest against a deepening housing crisis and recent police operations against housing activists, while lawmakers debated the government's draft budget for 2027, Reuters reported on October 27. GSM previously reported that police again cleared a Lisbon housing protest camp on October 25, with 25 people arrested and later released.
Portugal faces one of Europe's most acute home affordability crises, with prices more than doubling since 2017 and new-lease rents nearly doubling, hitting young people hardest, as wages have not kept up, Reuters reported.
Tuesday's protest followed baton-charging police operations to dismantle tent camps set up by housing activists in Lisbon and Porto on Sunday, sparking allegations of excessive force. Rally organisers said several thousand people packed the area. Police gave no crowd estimate. The Portuguese protests echo recent demonstrations in Spain and elsewhere across Europe over housing shortages and surging rents.
Erica Rodrigues, 39, an actress, said the crisis affects young people and older generations because the "cost of living in Portugal is very high for what people earn. It is unbearable."
Protesters demanded the minority centre-right government scrap a bill that would speed up evictions and end rent caps on new leases, which passed a first reading with the far-right Chega party abstaining.
Portugal's internal affairs watchdog, the IGAI, opened an inquiry into the police operations, while prosecutors launched a separate investigation into officers' conduct. Police reported 11 minor injuries, including 3 officers, in the two operations on Sunday, while activist group Casa para Viver (Homes to Live) said 60 were hurt.
Speaking in parliament on Tuesday, Prime Minister Luis Montenegro said police acted in line with the principles of "necessity, proportionality and adequacy", Reuters reported.
Related:
Source: GSM · America
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：位于里斯本的葡萄牙议会所在地圣本托宫资料图（Einaz80 摄，CC BY-SA 4.0，Wikimedia Commons），非10月27日抗议现场。File photo of the Palace of São Bento in Lisbon, seat of Portugal's parliament (by Einaz80, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons); not the October 27 rally.
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