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Portuguese police cleared a camp set up by housing protesters in Lisbon on Sunday, October 25, AnewZ reported. Authorities said several people were detained. Many residents say the housing crisis has made it difficult to buy or rent a home.
Dozens of police officers, some accompanied by service dogs, entered Rossio Square shortly after 2 a.m. Protesters were told to pack up their tents or have them removed.
Some people sustained minor injuries during the operation. The number of people detained or injured was not immediately disclosed, Reuters reported.
Before the confrontation, thousands of people marched in Lisbon on Saturday, October 24. After the march, protesters set up more than 100 tents in the square. Hundreds of people later gathered to defend the camp. Police had dismantled a similar protest camp at the same site several days earlier.
Housing prices in Portugal rising fastest in EU
Housing prices in Portugal rose 16.5% in the second quarter of 2026 compared with the same period a year earlier, according to Eurostat. This was the fastest annual increase recorded in the European Union.
The rise in Portugal was more than three times the EU average of 4.7%. Bulgaria followed Portugal with a 15.5% increase, while Lithuania recorded a 14.3% rise.
Property prices in Portugal are rising faster than in Europe’s overall market, worsening affordability for families seeking to buy a home. According to the International Monetary Fund’s 2026 assessment of Portugal, housing prices in the country rose 180% between 2015 and the end of 2025, compared with a 56% increase in the euro area.
The International Monetary Fund cited slow housing construction, unused properties and inefficiencies in the rental market among the structural factors deepening the country’s housing problems.
Protesters demand withdrawal of bill
One of the protesters’ objections is to a bill they believe would weaken tenant protections. They say it would make evictions easier and remove limits on rents in new lease agreements.
The bill has passed its first reading in parliament. The Chega party abstained in the vote. Protesters are calling on the government to withdraw the proposal, saying the changes would leave tenants more vulnerable amid a shortage of affordable housing.
Sunday’s operation followed clashes in recent days between police and housing rights advocates. On Tuesday, police dismantled protest camps in Lisbon and Porto after ordering demonstrators to leave the sites.
Police said 55 people were detained in Lisbon and 228 items of camping equipment were removed. Some demonstrators resisting the operation linked arms to form a human chain. Officers used batons after objects were thrown at them.
Protesters later gathered in another central square, demanding the release of those detained and the return of their belongings. In Porto, demonstrators left their camp after police instructions, and no confrontation was reported. Despite the earlier clearances, activists returned to Lisbon’s Rossio Square over the weekend.
The protests in Portugal are taking place amid demonstrations over housing affordability in several European countries, including Belgium, France, Italy and Spain. Protesters in Lisbon say the problem is not limited to rising property prices: housing is becoming increasingly unaffordable for ordinary workers and young people. They say the shortage of affordable homes is driving up costs.
The repeated demonstrations and their continuation despite police interventions are making the housing crisis one of the more visible sources of political and social tension in Portugal.
