Portugal: camps cleared at dawn, housing still at stake
· BehindLines newsroom
The mobilization for housing in Portugal is accompanied by a conflict over whether tents can remain in public space. On the night of 31 October to 1 November, police intervened again at Rossio in Lisbon and at Praça Dom João I in Porto, after asking for the camps to be removed, Euronews reports. The Acampada de Lisboa statement describes the Lisbon intervention as the third in less than three weeks.
Housing remains the central demand
These installations extended the marches of 31 October. In its coverage of that day, RTP reports the protesters' demands: more public housing, the reuse of vacant buildings and affordable rents. They also challenge the changes being considered to rental legislation and evictions without rehousing solutions.
The tents thus give physical form to a demand about living conditions. Their presence at night has become a point of confrontation with the authorities. Describing their evacuation is therefore not enough to explain what the mobilization is about.
What the media report about the night
According to Euronews and RTP, the operation began around 4:30 a.m. The police (PSP) say they removed 69 structures in Lisbon and 30 in Porto, detained 13 people for disobeying the dispersal order and had 13 officers injured. Euronews cites about 100 injured in total across the two cities; the 13 detainees were later released. In Porto, a plainclothes officer drew a weapon; the PSP speaks of deterrence and self-defence.
Opposing versions of the intervention
According to RTP's coverage of 1 November, Interior Minister Luís Neves said the police action was not a political decision and that the PSP has technical autonomy. He said the initial intervention was not violent, that any use of a weapon must be justified, and that his post remains at the prime minister's disposal.
The police, for their part, cite active resistance (bottles, fireworks and paint thrown at officers) and speak of premeditation by organized groups. These are its claims, which this article could not independently verify.
The organizers dispute this account. In statements attributed to the two camps and reproduced by Indymedia, they say they demonstrated peacefully and denounce an unjustified use of force. Their lawyer, Ricardo Sá Fernandes, announced a criminal complaint for abuse of power against the minister and the PSP's national director, according to Euronews and RTP. These accusations are those of the movements and their lawyer; they do not constitute a court decision, and no investigation is reported here.
Announced contacts, with no outcome secured
RTP indicates that President António José Seguro spoke with the prime minister and the Ombudsperson. His office also contacted representatives of the camps. The Secretary of State for Housing, Patrícia Gonçalves Costa, said she was available for a meeting. In Porto, Mayor Pedro Duarte invited the protesters to a meeting on 3 November; according to RTP, they declined.
A willingness to talk does not mean that an agreement on rents, tents or policing practices has been reached. These weekend accounts document a social crisis and institutional responses that are still distinct; they do not make it possible to announce its resolution.