PS Socialists on Lisbon City Council are highly sceptical of the Mayor’s statements that it is costing the city €100,000 to clean graffiti from the iconic statue in Rossio square
The post €100,000 spent on cleaning graffiti from Rossio statue. Really? appeared first on Portugal Resident.
On Tueday, thousands of people gathered outside Portugal’s parliament in Lisbon to protest a police operation to clear housing rights encampments in the early hours of Sunday.
RELATED:
Portugal Housing Activists Push for Nationwide General Strike
Businesses in the surrounding area closed at the request of municipal authorities, as parliament began debating the 2027 state budget.
The Acampada de Lisboa movement joined the demonstration and called for a popular assembly to be held outside parliament.
Municipal police asked nearby businesses to close for the afternoon, a request that most complied with. Several units of the Public Security Police (PSP), including intervention teams, were deployed to the area, along with emergency medical teams from INEM.
The police operation, carried out in the early hours of Sunday, cleared encampments in both Lisbon and Porto following more than two hours of tension and repeated orders for protesters to vacate the squares. The protesters refused to leave, citing their constitutional right to demonstrate.
Thousands of protesters gathered outside Portugal's parliament in Lisbon demanding affordable housing after police forcefully cleared protest camps, arresting dozens.
— Highlights (@highlightsnews1) October 28, 2026
Follow: https://t.co/Un53LExogy pic.twitter.com/Bfw4f4st3m
Dozens of injuries and arrests on charges of disobedience were reported. Hospitals in Lisbon said they had treated 27 people for injuries, more than double the five cases initially reported by police.
Opening the parliamentary debate on the budget, Prime Minister Luis Montenegro defended the police response, saying the PSP had acted proportionately and had been “particularly careful and competent” in restoring public order.
Montenegro said he wanted to address the issue directly before turning to the details of the budget, as the police operation had come to dominate media coverage.
The debate on the 2027 state budget is scheduled to run through Tuesday and Wednesday. Its passage at the first reading is assured, as the main opposition Socialist Party has pledged to abstain.
teleSUR/ JF
Source: Xinhua
On a lighter note from the grinding right to housing angst playing out in Portugal today, Sábado reports on a ‘digital prank’ that managed to create a ‘fake campsite’ on
The post Fake campsite appears on Google Maps with minister’s private contact number appeared first on Portugal Resident.
Organisers of the Acampada Lisboa (right to housing encampment) decided to pitch tents away from the parliament building last night, citing the need to ensure safety conditions at the site
The post Housing protesters return to Rossio; didn’t erect camp last night appeared first on Portugal Resident.
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.
Login