Camping for the right to housing

Peaceful atmosphere before the eviction. Protest against the tenancy law reform in Rossio Square in Lisbon, October 31st.

Peaceful atmosphere before the eviction. Protest against the tenancy law reform in Rossio Square in Lisbon, October 31st.

On average, a one-room apartment in Lisbon costs 1,000 to 1,200 euros. That's more than a monthly minimum wage. A European Council report published in 2025 even ranked the Portuguese capital as the EU's most unaffordable city, well ahead of Barcelona and Madrid. An average apartment rent in Lisbon at the time was equivalent to 116 percent of the Portuguese average wage. In Porto, the country's second-largest city, average rent rose 76.4 percent over the past five years. Statistically, the Portuguese spend around 40 percent of their household income on housing costs; The EU statistics agency Eurostat estimates that more than 26.8 percent of the population lives below the poverty line after paying housing costs.

The rights of tenants should be restricted and terminations and rent increases made easier, among other things by abolishing the so-called rent cap for new rentals.

The reasons for this include the pressure that the tourism industry is putting on the already relatively small rental market – less than a third of Portuguese people rent – ​​and real estate speculation. While hotel construction is accelerating — the number of vacation rentals has quadrupled since 2012 — construction of affordable apartments has almost come to a standstill. Tax breaks for certain groups of foreigners who invest in Portugal and receive residence rights, so-called golden visas, encourage real estate speculation. For years, posters denouncing gentrification have been seen everywhere in Lisbon, as have calls for demonstrations for affordable housing and fair rents, spread by the movement Casa para Viver (A Home to Live).

Against this background, the minority government dominated by the conservative, economically liberal PSD (Partido Social Democrata) presented a bill to reform the rental market at the end of September, which parliament approved in the first reading. The rights of tenants should be restricted and terminations and rent increases made easier, among other things by abolishing the so-called rent cap for new rentals. Tenant protection has not yet been able to prevent the drastic rise in prices and deregulation would further aggravate the situation.

Quite a few MPs and government members who support the bill would benefit from the tenancy law reform, revealed the daily newspaper Público. In total, 220 MPs from the PSD, the right-wing extremist Chega party, the liberal Iniciativa Liberal party and the right-wing conservative CDS-PP (Centro Democrático Social - Partido Popular) as well as ministers own more than 1,000 properties. 41 of them are owners of rental properties and 31 are investors in the real estate sector. The total taxable value of their real estate assets is 55 million euros, the market value is higher.

Social movements for the right to housing began actions on October 10 to oppose this bill. Since then, demonstrations have taken place, and above all, occupations of squares where protesters have pitched tents; in Lisbon and Porto these have become symbols of the housing shortage. This form of action, which is common in the country, has already been used by teachers and firefighters in the past.

The police reaction was brutal: they cleared these camps in October and concentrated them on the night of November 1st, always in the middle of the night. The basis for this is a law from the revolutionary year 1974 that prohibits political demonstrations after 12:30 a.m., but had never been applied until then.

»In Porto the movement was suppressed in a crazy way. I can't remember ever experiencing such repression during peaceful demonstrations," says Ricardo Alves, chairman of the República e Laicidade association, in an interview with Jungle World. Now “there are problems every week. Just last night, people were taken into custody for several hours. Alves believes that the pressure that the extreme right is putting on the rest of the right is a reason for the repressive approach is a plausible hypothesis.

Chega opposes the demonstrations. The right-wing extremist party made it possible for the rent law to be approved in the first reading by abstaining from the vote, but its leader André Ventura is now in favor of a "law of equalization" without the "liberal craziness" but also without "wanting to make everything the same." Basically, Chega blames immigration for the housing shortage.

The still peaceful movement is now adapting to the new conditions. The right to demonstrate is now a main demand. The slogan “Always April 25th, never again fascism” refers to the fall of the dictatorship in 1974. Other important slogans include “A city to live in, not just to work” and “We want peace, bread and the right to housing”.

Ricardo Alves, who was present at a rally after the peak of police repression, was "very impressed" by the motivation of the demonstrators. The audience is “very young, around 20 years old – you don’t normally see something like that. And when the police dispersed the demonstration in Porto, even more people took to the streets. Now it's a big movement and it shows almost every day. In Lisbon this week, 15,000 to 20,000 people gathered in front of the Parliament building.

Although the movement has received support from left-wing politicians, including from the social democratic Partido Socialista, the government continues to turn a deaf ear and has still not received representatives of the demonstrators. She contents herself with the comment that the demonstrations would be “more effective” if they remained within the legal framework.