Porto mayor Pedro Duarte has vowed to take an “absolutely uncompromising” stance against attempts to set up tents in the city’s Praça D. João I, where demonstrators have been camping in protest against Portugal’s housing crisis.
His comments came amid growing tensions over the protest, which began on Saturday and culminated in a police operation in the early hours of Thursday (October 15), when officers moved in to remove tents from the square.
“It is obvious that Praça D. João I is not a campsite, and it will not become one,” Duarte declared. “We will be absolutely uncompromising with any attempt to put up tents in that area.”
The mayor insisted that the right to demonstrate was not being questioned, describing Porto as a free and democratic city where “even nonsense has the right to be expressed”.
However, he stressed that demonstrations must take place within established rules and respect the rights of other residents.
“We do not live in an anarchic regime, and our right to demonstrate cannot conflict with the freedom of everyone else in the city,” he said.
Duarte also questioned the motivations of some of the protest’s organisers, suggesting that certain leaders had connections with international movements whose agendas had little to do with Porto’s housing difficulties.
While acknowledging that the housing crisis affects much of Europe, including Portugal and Porto, he argued that the municipality was already working intensively to address genuine housing problems.
“We feel it every day,” he said, referring to the housing shortage. He added that municipal services were working hard to resolve concrete housing difficulties, which he considered very different from some of the demands being voiced in the square.
According to Duarte, the protest had become a mixture of causes, some of which were only marginally connected to housing.
He also claimed that Porto had more public housing than any other municipality in Portugal.
Police intervention sparks controversy
The mayor’s remarks preceded a tense overnight police operation on Thursday, when around 40 officers from the PSP’s intervention unit moved into Praça D. João I at approximately 3am to dismantle the protest camp.
According to TVI/CNN Portugal, around 150 demonstrators were present when police intervened, after television crews had left the area.
The broadcaster reported that at least 35 protesters were injured, including two people who suffered fractures and required hospital treatment.
However, the PSP told Rádio Renascença that it had no information confirming injuries.
Police acknowledged carrying out a more forceful intervention, which they attributed to resistance from demonstrators who refused to remove their tents.
Protest organisers disputed the police account, describing the intervention as “disproportionate” and insisting that demonstrators had not provoked officers.
The confrontation followed an earlier police operation on Monday, when tents were removed from the same square.
Despite that intervention, protesters continued spending nights outdoors and reinstalled tents on Wednesday evening, determined to maintain pressure over rising housing costs and difficulties accessing affordable accommodation.
As of Thursday morning, it remained unclear whether the square had been completely cleared or whether demonstrators intended to continue their protest.