Thousands of protesters gathered outside Portugal’s parliament in Lisbon on 27 October, demanding action over soaring housing costs and criticising police operations against housing activists, as the country’s long-running property crisis developed into a broader political confrontation.
The demonstration coincided with parliamentary debate on the government’s proposed 2027 budget and followed several days of protests in Lisbon and Porto.
At the centre of the dispute is an increasingly familiar European contradiction: property values continue to rise, while wages and household incomes have failed to keep pace with the cost of obtaining accommodation.
For Portugal, the problem has become particularly pronounced.
House prices have more than doubled since 2017, while rents for newly agreed tenancies have almost doubled over the same period.
According to figures reported during the demonstrations, the cost of housing in Portugal increased by 147 per cent between 2015 and 2025, compared with an EU average of 60.5 per cent.
The result is a growing disparity between earnings and the cost of independent living, particularly among younger adults.
In Lisbon, a one-bedroom flat can routinely command monthly rent of approximately €1,500.
Portugal’s minimum wage stands at €920 per month before tax.
Although these figures do not represent every household or property, they illustrate the scale of the affordability problem for lower-paid workers.
Between the first quarters of 2025 and 2026, Portuguese house prices increased by almost 20 per cent, according to national statistical figures cited in recent reporting.
Rental costs have also continued rising, recording an increase of approximately 68 per cent since 2020.
The country’s attractiveness to foreign investors, retirees and remote workers has contributed to demand, particularly in Lisbon, Porto and coastal areas.
Tourism has introduced additional competition for residential property, with some homes converted into short-term accommodation.
However, investment and tourism are only part of the explanation.
Restrictions on construction, administrative delays, limited affordable housing supply and the geographical concentration of employment have also contributed to pressure on the market.
These conditions have produced a widening gap between those who already own property and those seeking to purchase or rent their first home.
The immediate political confrontation concerns government proposals that would accelerate certain eviction procedures and remove restrictions on rents for new tenancy agreements.
The legislation passed its first parliamentary reading, with the right-wing Chega party abstaining.
Housing campaigners argue that removing protections without first increasing affordable supply could leave tenants more exposed to rising rents and displacement.
The minority centre-right government, led by Prime Minister Luís Montenegro, has pursued measures intended to encourage construction and increase the availability of housing.
These include tax reductions for new building projects and a commitment to deliver 145,000 homes.
Such measures, however, require time before additional properties become available, while many households face immediate financial pressures.
The housing dispute intensified following police operations to remove protest encampments in Lisbon and Porto during the weekend.
Police used batons during the clearances, while campaigners alleged excessive force.
According to accounts of the subsequent parliamentary demonstration, police reported 11 minor injuries, including three officers. The housing organisation Casa para Viver claimed that 60 people had been injured.
Portugal’s internal affairs watchdog has opened an inquiry, while prosecutors are conducting a separate investigation into officers’ conduct.
Montenegro defended the police response in parliament, arguing that officers had acted according to the principles of necessity, proportionality and adequacy.
President António José Seguro has convened a meeting of the Council of State to consider the growing protests.
The dispute has consequently expanded beyond housing economics to include questions about policing, public demonstrations and political accountability.
Portugal’s demonstrations follow similar protests in Spain and growing political scrutiny of housing affordability elsewhere in the EU.
The European Commission has begun addressing the issue through initiatives intended to encourage construction, facilitate investment and give authorities greater legal certainty over short-term rental restrictions.
As EU Today recently reported, the proposed European Affordable Housing Act would provide additional regulatory tools for areas facing severe housing pressure.
Yet the principal responsibilities for housing supply, planning and tenancy law remain with national and local governments.
This division creates a political challenge: Brussels can support investment and coordinate legislation, but the most immediate decisions affecting rents, construction and evictions are taken elsewhere.
For Portugal, the next test will be whether the government’s housing measures can deliver sufficient additional supply while responding to demands for immediate tenant protection.
The demonstrations outside parliament show that housing affordability has become more than a question of property prices. It now affects the government’s legislative agenda, the 2027 budget debate and the relationship between the authorities and an increasingly organised protest movement.
© RODRIGO ANTUNES/LUSA
O primeiro-ministro, Luís Montenegro, recusou, esta terça-feira, ter estado em silêncio perante as manifestações de protesto pela falta de acesso à habitação em Portugal, contrapondo que falou nos dois dias seguintes aos protestos de rua.
Luís Montenegro fez apenas esta breve referência sobre a questão da habitação na parte de debate com o presidente do Grupo Parlamentar do PSD, Hugo Soares, na abertura da discussão na generalidade da proposta do Governo de Orçamento do Estado para 2027 na Assembleia da República.
“Àqueles que dizem que o primeiro-ministro não falou, nunca se esqueçam que falou no primeiro e no segundo dia em que houve manifestações na rua em Portugal”, declarou.
A anterior intervenção de Hugo Soares foi caracterizada por um ataque cerrado ao secretário-geral do PS, José Luís Carneiro, lembrando os tempos em que exerceu o atual líder socialista desempenhou as funções de ministro da Administração Interna no terceiro Governo chefiado por António Costa.
De acordo com o líder parlamentar do PSD, face à posição que tomou o secretário-geral do PS na sequência das intervenções policiais, “a máscara de moderado caiu agora” a José Luís Carneiro, que “saltou para os braços da extrema-esquerda em Portugal”.
“Foi isso que o deputado José Luís Carneiro fez na última semana, saltou para o colo da extrema-esquerda em Portugal e caiu-lhe a máscara de moderado”, acentuou.
Hugo Soares citou depois o que defendia José Luís Carneiro enquanto ministro da Administração Interna: Nessa altura, considerava “que qualquer ofensa a agentes das autoridades era uma ofensa ao Estado”.
“José Luís Carneiro tem hoje oportunidade de se pôr do lado certo, de se pôr contra aqueles que ofenderam e praticaram crimes contra as forças e os serviços de segurança, colocando-se ao lado das nossas polícias que zelaram pela ordem e pela segurança de cada um”, declarou o líder parlamentar social-democrata.
Hugo Soares desafiou ainda o secretário-geral do PS a deixar um duplo pedido de desculpas: “um às forças e aos serviços de segurança, outro aos portugueses pela política de imigração do PS”.
“José Luís Carneiro fica sempre muito zangado, muito ofendido, quando lhe lembro que é o pai – se não gostar é o padrinho – da extinção do SEF (Serviço de Estrangeiros e Fronteiras). E é também o rosto do problema da habitação em Portugal. Fazia parte do governo que permitiu a entrada de cerca de um milhão de pessoas em Portugal, de forma desregulada, e que criou a pressão no setor da habitação em Portugal”, acrescentou.
© ANTÓNIO COTRIM/LUSA
© MANUEL DE ALMEIDA/LUSA
O coletivo algarvio exige a demissão de Luís Montenegro e o arquivamento dos processos contra as pessoas detidas nos protestos pelo direito à habitação.
O conteúdo Movimento Algarve em Resistência condena repressão policial em Lisboa e Porto aparece primeiro em Barlavento.
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