Portugal saw a series of demonstrations this Saturday, in several cities across the country, in protest for the right to housing and climate justice, promoted by movements organized and joined by thousands of people who have difficulty paying rent or who are in precarious housing situations.
At 3 pm, hundreds of protesters gathered at Alameda D. Afonso Henriques, in Lisbon, equipped with banners, drums and flags. The Casa para Viver and ‘Their Time to Pay’ platforms are two of the organizations that promoted demonstrations for the right to housing and climate justice. “We fight for the right to housing and to remain in spaces, for a dignified life for all people and for measures to stop the climate crisis. These are two fights against capital, which places speculation and profit above life”, reads the information disseminated by the two platforms.
The protesters, including many young people, shouted slogans such as “A house costs, we want a fair life” and carried posters and banners with phrases such as “Your profit is our misery” or “More empty spaces, fewer landlords”.
Demonstrations took place in other cities. At least eight thousand people occupied the entire length of Rua de Santa Catarina, in Porto, from Praça da Batalha to Rua de Fernandes Tomás, demonstrating for the right to housing while tourists watched the march. The estimate was provided to Lusa by a PSP source, with a visible mass of people that completely filled most of the pedestrian area of that artery in the city of Porto, with protesters passing by tourists who observed in amazement the scale of the protest.