Portuguese police cleared housing protest camps in Lisbon and Porto overnight, with organisers reporting dozens of demonstrators injured in the crackdown.
MADRID: Portuguese police again cleared tents set up by protesters against skyrocketing housing prices overnight Sunday, with organisers criticising the brutality of the officers involved.
Officers have frequently moved in to dismantle the camps that have sprung up in Lisbon and Porto in recent weeks, at a time when countries across Europe are grappling with a wave of rising discontent over the cost of living.
In a message on X, the police said officers had “intervened early this morning… to put an end to these illegal encampments”.
“Once dialogue ended, the operation led to 31 arrests for disobedience,” the police added.
According to the force, 11 people were injured, of whom eight were civilians with the remaining three police officers, while 171 structures were taken down.
Cited in the Portuguese press, organisers of the movement put the toll at 37 protesters injured as a result of the police raids, most of them in Lisbon.
The protesters have accused the government of failing to act to tackle Portugal’s housing crisis and trying to push through rent reforms to make eviction easier.
The Portuguese demonstrators have followed the lead of protesters in neighbouring Spain, where tents have been set up in central Madrid for weeks.