Dozens of injuries and arrests on charges of disobedience were reported.

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.

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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.

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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.

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Source: Xinhua

Housing activists seek a strike coordinated with Spain as protests against proposed rental law changes spread across Portugal.

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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.

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“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.

Protests spread beyond major cities

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.

Police operations left 31 people detained and more than 20 injured, prompting parties to criticize PM Montenegro.

Early Sunday morning, Portuguese police violently evicted housing rights encampments that had been taking place in Lisbon and Oporto. The police operations left 31 people detained and more than 20 people injured.

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The police action prompted reactions from most opposition parties, which criticized Prime Minister Luis Montenegro and his convenient silence in the face of the events.

Socialist Party (PS) leader Jose Luis Carneiro demanded a “comprehensive explanation” from the Montenegro administration regarding the police action at the encampments. He emphasized that the solution to the housing problem “is political, never police-related.”

“Montenegro cannot, through his silence, continue to pit the police against citizens and citizens against the police,” the Socialist leader said.

Although the government has not yet commented on the police operation, one of the parties in the governing coalition, the Social Democratic Party (PSD), has spoken out.

Its spokesman, Sebastiao Bugalho, defended the “proportionality” of the police action, which took place “within the legal framework that is supposed to apply to protect the right to demonstrate.”

🇵🇹 Manifestação pacífica pelo direito à habitação, foi violentamente desmobilizada pela polícia de intervenção, no centro de Lisboa. O governo de direita português mandou evacuar a praça do Rossio durante a madrugada. Houve 31 detenções. pic.twitter.com/CgJBaD9cyU

— geopol•pt (@GeopolPt) October 25, 2026

The text reads, “A peaceful demonstration for the Right to Housing was violently dispersed by riot police in downtown Lisbon. The right-wing Portuguese government ordered the evacuation of Rossio Square in the early hours of the morning. There were 31 arrests.”

Meanwhile, far-right politician Andre Ventura, founder and leader of the Enough! party (Chega), defended the eviction, asserting that “the police have been very patient with these people camping out in the squares. Too patient, even!”

Nevertheless, even Ventura criticized the stance adopted by Montenegro and the Social Democratic Party, accusing the prime minister of hiding from problems and failing to come out publicly in support of the police.

In recent weeks, police violence against Portuguese citizens has drawn criticism from international humanitarian organizations such as SOS Racismo and from European left-wing parties, which have denounced the excessive use of force.

The housing movement has called for demonstrations in Lisbon and Oporto on Sunday to reject police violence, as well as another protest on Tuesday outside Parliament, where debate will begin on the 2027 state budget.

teleSUR/ JF

Source: EFE