Last night’s throngs at the squares in Porto and Lisbon that have become centres for ‘right to housing demonstrations’ dispersed without incident last night, and through the early hours of
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Housing rights groups in Portugal are pushing for a nationwide general strike coordinated with Spain as protests against proposed rental law changes intensify, with a police crackdown on a protest encampment resulting in more than 30 arrests, according to organizers.
RELATED: Portuguese Police Violently Evict Housing Rights Camps in Lisbon and Oporto
Reports on the number of arrests vary. Official accounts put the figure between 11 and 31, while organizers say more than 30 people were detained. The police operation against members of the encampment drew criticism from several sectors.
Housing rights organizations mobilized in Lisbon and Porto on Sunday to build support for a general strike. The proposal has also been discussed at public assemblies and demonstrations held daily across Portugal for more than a week.
“There are thousands of people mobilized, and I think that makes calling a general strike in Portugal increasingly necessary,” João Veloso, a spokesperson for the Lisbon Encampment, told the press. He expressed confidence that the growing demonstrations could pressure the government to withdraw its proposed rental law reforms.
The initiative is being discussed alongside a general strike announced in Spain for Wednesday, Nov. 11. Trade unions and social organizations in Spain are calling for measures to address the housing crisis and improve working conditions.
Demonstrations have extended beyond Lisbon and Porto to Coimbra and Faro. At nightly public assemblies, participants have discussed whether to set up tents again or spend nights in sleeping bags to sustain the protests.
The unrest stems from the conservative government’s proposed changes to rental laws. The legislation would accelerate eviction proceedings, eliminate the minimum three-year term for certain automatic lease renewals, allow landlords to demand up to three months’ rent in advance instead of the current two-month limit, and remove the cap of two months’ rent on security deposits.
As television stations refer to thousands of people flooding the squares of Lisbon and Porto this evening, in a show of strength against police actions in the early hours of
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As darkness fell on a day that saw police charge protesters in Lisbon and Porto, there has still been no word from the prime minister – in spite of calls
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Anyone imagining that this morning’s scenes of violence were an end to ‘right to housing protests’ will be thinking again following news that protesters are set to return to the
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Politicians of all colours are reacting in a form of stampede to the scenes of violence in Lisbon and Porto last night – but the overall focus is on the
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With even members within his own PSD party deeply unsettled by the scenes of police violence early this morning, PS leader José Luís Carneiro has given a press conference in
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The silence of Portugal’s minority AD government in the face of ‘right to housing protests’, and the indignation arising from last night’s police charge on protesters, has seen LIVRE (left
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Police charged housing protesters in Lisbon and Porto early on Sunday, clearing two city-centre encampments in operations that organisers say left dozens injured, including some people with serious injuries. Thirty-one
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Housing campaigners are taking to the streets of Lisbon today (Saturday, October 24), marching from Marquês de Pombal to Rossio Square to demand urgent measures to tackle Portugal’s worsening housing
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The PSP has today deployed police forces to monitor demonstrations for the right to housing in various towns and cities across the country – with particular focus on Lisbon and
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Mayor of Gaia, Luís Filipe Menezes has harshly criticised the government for standing in his municipality’s way over a project to build 2,500 homes for young people on a derelict
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The governor of the Bank of Portugal has called for a national consensus on tackling the country’s housing crisis, arguing that building more homes, expanding social housing and reducing bureaucracy
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Leader of CHEGA, André Ventura, has criticised Prime Minister Luís Montenegro’s silence on the housing crisis and recent protests, warning that the government’s failure to respond could act as a
The post PM “turns up for football, but not to resolve the housing crisis” appeared first on Portugal Resident.
With ‘right to housing protestors’ calling for ‘participation’ in a new protest scheduled for Lisbon on Saturday, president of the government of Madeira, Miguel Albuquerque, has said the equivalent of
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In the Popular Assemblies held by ‘right to housing’ protestors in Lisbon and Porto this evening, votes were taken on whether or not to return to camping in the squares
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The housing crisis was debated in parliament this afternoon after the opposition joined forces to overturn the decision of the president of the Assembly of the Republic who rejected two
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Housing Rights and Public Policies Association (AHDPP) has explained exactly how the housing crisis is threatening Portugal’s very future. In an interview with Executive Digest, the association warns of the
The post “No one has children at their parents’ home”: association warns of impact of housing crisis on birth rate appeared first on Portugal Resident.
With no-one denying Portugal’s desperate housing crisis, the focus this week is on how to fix it – as fast as humanly possible. After “a sea of people” converged in
The post Can Portugal’s politicians deliver new hope for housing? appeared first on Portugal Resident.
Portugal’s housing shortage is being driven largely by a sharp decline in private construction, according to Economy and Territorial Cohesion Minister Manuel Castro Almeida, who has called on local authorities
The post Is a new construction shortage fueling Portugal’s housing crisis? appeared first on Portugal Resident.
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