Portugal cost-of-living protesters pour back into camps cleared by police

Thousands of protesters have returned to two central squares in Portugal for demonstrations against an intensifying housing crisis, hours after police cleared their camps in the capital, Lisbon, and the city of Porto, arresting 55 people.

Activists have demanded the centre-right government withdraw a bill that makes evictions easier and ends rent caps on new leases, which passed a first parliamentary reading.

list of 3 items

list 1 of 3Protests spread across France as ‘yellow vests’ set to join
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list 3 of 3How has the cost of living changed in France, Italy, Spain and Portugal?

end of list

The demonstrators in Lisbon sought to rebuild their sit-in camp at Rossio Square on Tuesday, while those in Porto were returning to the northern city’s Dom Joao I Square.

Organisers said more than 1,000 people had gathered at each square. Activists have occupied Lisbon’s Rossio Square since Saturday, pitching around 200 tents, and Porto’s Dom Joao I Square for around 10 days.

A picture taken on October 19, 2026, shows a tent with a sign reading 'Evicted by the State - Evicted by the climate - End to the evictions' in an encampment set up in protest against housing shortage, soaring rents and low wages at Rossio Square in central Lisbon. — A picture taken on October 19, 2026, shows a tent with a sign reading “Evicted by the State – Evicted by the climate – End to the evictions” at Rossio Square in central Lisbon [AFP]

‘Enough is enough’

Debora Miranda, 41, a communications consultant, told Reuters she joined the Rossio Square protest to represent generations struggling with soaring costs. “If people don’t feel at home, in every sense of the word, they can’t move forward with their lives…enough is enough.”

The camps mirrored housing protests in neighbouring Spain, and coincided with unrest over rising living costs in countries such as France, Belgium and Italy.

Shortly before 6am, after warning protesters that the camps were illegal, police launched coordinated operations in both cities. Demonstrators in Porto followed orders and dismantled their own tents. Officers cleared Lisbon’s Rossio Square in what Carla Valadao, a spokesperson for the camp, described as “very aggressive”.

Public Security Police superintendent Sergio Soares told reporters that the eviction had been “calm, proportionate and appropriate, with no police charge”.

The 55 detainees were later released pending a court appearance in Lisbon on Wednesday.

People gather to protest in Rossio Square against the housing crisis and cost of living in Lisbon, Portugal, on October 20, 2026. — People gather to protest in Rossio Square against the housing crisis and cost of living in Lisbon, Portugal, on October 20, 2026 [Pedro Nunes/Reuters]

One of Europe’s worst housing crises

Portugal is grappling with one of Europe’s worst housing affordability crises as purchase prices have more than doubled since 2017 and rents for new leases have nearly doubled.

Jorge Paixao, 19, a history student, called it “a societal crisis”, saying his generation needed “the ability to live with dignity, start families and rejuvenate Portugal”.

The squeeze is most acute in the major cities, where there has also been opposition to excessive tourism and an influx of so-called digital nomads, people who travel while working remotely.