Portugal cost-of-living protesters return to camps after police clearance

Updated by Faith Barbara N Ruhinda at 1625 EAT on Thursday 22 October 2026

Thousands of protesters have returned to two central squares in Portugal to demonstrate against the worsening housing crisis, hours after police cleared their camps in Lisbon and Porto, arresting 55 people.

The activists are demanding that the centre-right government withdraw a bill that would make evictions easier and abolish rent caps on new leases. The proposed legislation has passed its first reading in parliament.

Demonstrators in Lisbon attempted to rebuild their protest camp at Rossio Square on Tuesday, while protesters in Porto returned to Dom João I Square in the northern city.

Organisers said more than 1,000 people had gathered at each location. Activists had occupied Lisbon’s Rossio Square since Saturday, setting up about 200 tents, while protesters had camped at Porto’s Dom João I Square for about 10 days.

Debora Miranda, 41, a communications consultant, told Reuters she joined the protest at Rossio Square to stand up for generations struggling with rising living costs.

“If people don’t feel at home, in every sense of the word, they can’t move forward with their lives … enough is enough,” she said.

The camps echoed housing protests in neighbouring Spain and came amid growing unrest over rising living costs in countries including France, Belgium and Italy.

Shortly before 6am, police launched coordinated operations in Lisbon and Porto after warning protesters that the camps were illegal.

Demonstrators in Porto complied with police orders and dismantled their tents, while officers cleared Lisbon’s Rossio Square in an operation described as “very aggressive” by Carla Valadao, a spokesperson for the camp.

Public Security Police superintendent Sergio Soares told reporters that the eviction operation had been “calm, proportionate and appropriate, with no police charge”.

The 55 detainees were later released pending a court appearance in Lisbon on Wednesday.

Portugal is grappling with one of Europe’s worst housing affordability crises, with property prices more than doubling since 2017 and rents for new leases nearly doubling over the same period.

Jorge Paixao, 19, a history student, described the situation as “a societal crisis”, saying his generation needed “the ability to live with dignity, start families and rejuvenate Portugal”.

The crisis is particularly acute in major cities, where rising housing costs have also fuelled opposition to mass tourism and the influx of so-called digital nomads — people who travel while working remotely.

-Aljazeera

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