LISBON, Portugal (AP) — Thousands of people demonstrating against a prolonged and deepening housing crisis gathered outside Portugal’s Parliament in Lisbon on Tuesday, after police in previous days used batons and dogs to break up similar protests in the capital’s main downtown squares.
Protests in recent weeks took their cue from demonstrations that began in neighboring Spain last month over similar complaints about unaffordable housing. Wide social unrest in the streets also has erupted elsewhere across Europe this autumn.
Portuguese President António José Seguro, whose role is mostly ceremonial but who wields political influence, has convened a Council of State, an advisory body, for a meeting next week to discuss the protests in Portugal.
Several thousand mostly young people apparently in their 20s and 30s gathered outside the Republican Assembly, Portugal’s Parliament, chanting, singing and banging drums, while inside the building lawmakers debated the center-right government’s spending plans for next year.
“We’re fighting for the right to have a roof over our heads,” said Gabriel Pais, 30, who works in the entertainment business.
One-bedroom apartments in Lisbon routinely go for 1,500 euros ($1,668) a month, he noted, in a country where the minimum monthly wage earned by hundreds of thousands of Portuguese is just 920 euros ($1,023) before tax.
“It’s just unaffordable,” he said.
A European Union report published at the end of last year said that housing costs surged across Europe by an average of 60.5% between 2015 and 2025. Portugal’s increase over that period was the third highest, at 147%, after Hungary and Lithuania.
There is no sign that the growth in costs is slowing. Between the first quarter of last year and the first quarter of 2026, housing prices rose by almost 20%, the National Statistics Institute, a government agency, said last week.
Rental prices, too, have climbed significantly, recording a 68% increase since 2020, according to the government.
Hugo Silva, a 49-year-old assistant salesman attending the protest, said he felt a sense of outrage and wanted to stand up for his rights.
“This (housing) issue cuts across society,” he said. “We can’t accept this. Silence would be wrong.”
Laura Andre, a 20-year-old Lisbon student, said she was living with her parents but wants to ensure she has prospects. “I want a home, to start a family,” she said. “And it’s getting harder and harder to build a life in Portugal.”
Foreign buyers and investment funds have pushed up prices by buying Portuguese properties, including dilapidated buildings. The country’s pleasant climate and long coastline have helped it grow popular with digital nomads and other remote workers, as well as retirees. Tourism has also surged, with many city center apartments turned into short-term rentals.
Local people say they are being priced out of the property market. Young people complain they can’t get a foot on the property ladder, and parents complain that their children have to move far away to find a home. At the same time, some Portuguese have made substantial profits by selling their homes.
The government has responded with measures such as lowering taxes on new construction, restricting short-term rentals and promising to build 145,000 new homes, although it acknowledges that the effects won’t be immediate.
Infrastructure development funds will be scarcer in 2027 as financing under the European Union’s post-COVID-19 economic recovery program ends this year.
Portugal hasn’t seen the scale of violence, arson and looting witnessed in some other European countries, although protesters have complained about heavy-handed policing during the removal of tents erected in city squares. Authorities are evaluating whether the use of batons and police dogs was excessive.
By BARRY HATTON
Associated Press
